106 golfdigest.com | may 2019
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Viera:paulmounCe/CorBis/CorBisViagettyimagesbe like pulling teeth.” Middle-
coff, an erstwhile Memphis
dentist, was accustomed to
dispensing pain in other ways,
having won 40 tour events,
including two U.S. Opens and a
Masters. He also knew every dip
and swale at Oak Hill, having
won the 1956 U.S. Open there.
Hagen showed up four min-
utes late for their starting time,
which meant an automatic loss-
of-hole penalty. The rumor was
that Sir Walter did it on purpose
to get in Middlecoff ’s head,
but it didn’t work. Middlecoff,
whom golf writer Herbert
Warren Wind referred to as “a
happy refugee from subgingival
curettage,” won the first four
holes. Hagen rallied and took
the lead at the 13th. Doc, a noto-
riously poor sand player, left his
ball in the bunker at the 16th to
go 2 down. From there, Hagen
coasted, 2 and 1. “Dentists used
to administer whiskey to their
patients,” Hagen said, “but all
Doc gave me was grief.”
NICK FALDO
vs. GREG NORMAN
turnberry (ailsa) scotland
▶ norman’s past included a
devastating loss to Faldo at the
1996 Masters and being over-
taken by Sir Nick after shar-
ing the lead of the 1990 Open
Championship at St. Andrews.
But Norman saw himself as the
man who had blitzed Faldo at
the 1986 Open on this course
and who got the better of him
at the 1993 Open at Royal St.
George’s.
Norman was 1 up as they
arrived at the par-4 18th. He
hit driver and blocked it to the
right, into precisely the diffi-
cult spot where Jack Nicklaus’
drive had come to rest during
his Duel in the Sun against
Tom Watson in 1977. Faldo was
straight down the middle and
followed with a commanding
7-iron to eight feet. The pres-
sure now was on Norman, and
with his ball in a poor lie near
the edge of a gorse bush, he
made a ferocious swing that
launched the ball to within two
feet of the flagstick. When Fal-
do’s putt for birdie burned the
edge, he conceded the hole and
the match. Norman removed
his hat, delivered a handshakeand with sincerity uttered the
same remark Faldo made to
him after the 1996 Masters:
“Don’t let the bastards get you
down.”TIGER WOODS
vs. JOHNNY MILLER
riviera c.c.
pacific palisades, calif.▶ miller’s occasional TV criti-
cisms of Tiger clearly overshad-
owed the frequent praise, and
Woods arrived at the first tee
determined to not merely de-
feat Miller, but humiliate him.
It didn’t go as planned. Miller’s
1-up lead disappeared when he
three-putted the 12th hole, but
the real turning point occurred
at the par-3 14th. After stiffing
a 5-iron to 18 inches, Miller
blithely asked Woods, “Is this
putt good?” Woods replied with
an icy “No.” Miller, taken aback,
promptly missed. Although
Miller made nice putts for
halves at the next two holes—
he putted with his eyes closed
at the 15th and while looking
at the hole on the 16th—Woods
kept a 1-up lead. Tiger nearlyreached the par-5 17th in two,
but Miller uncharacteristi-
cally thinned his third over
the green, and when Woods
chipped his third to within a
foot, Miller conceded the hole
and the match, 2 and 1.
“Tiger was just too good,”
Miller said. “If he and Jack
Nicklaus wind up in the final,
I’ll come out of retirement to
call it on TV.”JACK NICKLAUS
vs. HARRY VARDON
royal st. george’s
sandwich, england▶ the two immortals ex-
changed gifts on the first tee,
Vardon presenting Nicklaus
with a dozen Vardon Flyer gutta
percha golf balls, Jack pressing
into Vardon’s hand three Ohio
buckeye nuts. “Starting today,”
Nicklaus said, “they’ll never fail
to bring you luck.”
But Nicklaus outdrove
Vardon by 30 yards at the par-4
15th for a birdie that gave him
the lead for the first time. After
matching par 3s at the 16th,
Nicklaus had only a short iron
to the 17th green. Vardon dra-
matically removed his suit jack-
et to free up his swing but flared
his drive to the right into the
deepest rough on the course.
The bogey that resulted gave
Nicklaus the match, 2 and 1.RORY MCILROY
vs. GENE SARAZEN
portmarnock g.c.
dublin, ireland▶ portmarnock’s firm fair-
ways matched Sarazen’s low-
trajectory style perfectly, and
the Irish galleries loved his wit.
When Sarazen lofted a bunker
shot close to the flagstick on the
sixth hole, McIlroy said, “You’re
pretty good with that sand
wedge.” Retorted the Squire:
“I ought to be—I invented it.”
McIlroy regained the lead with
a 6-iron to five feet and birdie at
the 204-yard 15th.
Then came the telling point
of the match. At the par-5
16th, McIlroy went on the of-
fensive again, hitting a 2-iron
second to four feet. Sarazen
said, “Looks like a good timeto make a double eagle, like
I did at the 1935 Masters.”
Replied McIlroy, “You mean,
‘albatross.’ ” Sarazen replied,
“I hate the word ‘albatross’ and
never used it, but thanks just
the same.” The Squire’s caddie,
Skip Daniels, nodded in agree-
ment and then handed Sarazen
his Turf Rider 4-wood, which
he spanked onto the green.
McIlroy made eagle and
Sarazen didn’t, leaving Rory
dormie. And when the North-
ern Irishman won the 17th, he
advanced, 3 and 1.JORDAN SPIETH
vs. BOBBY JONES
merion (east) ardmore, pa.▶ the immortal Bobby had
seen good short games before,
but nothing compared with
the wizardry Spieth brought at
Merion. On a short, tight course
made even more confining
with 20-yard-wide fairways
and juicy, four-inch rough—not
the setup Jones experienced
in his U.S. Amateur victories
there in 1924 and 1930—Spieth
repeatedly performed up-and-
downs but was still 3 down after- Jones drove perfectly at the
16th, the famous Quarry Hole,
and after drilling his approach
shot over the chasm to 30 feet,
banged home the putt for a
4-and-2 victory—the widest
margin of victory in The GOAT
so far. Spieth’s disappointment
was palpable, but Jones, ever the
sportsman, consoled him with a
parting gift of corn whiskey and
a suggestion that Jordan sip it
while soaking in a warm bath.
GARY PLAYER
vs. ERNIE ELS
the links at fancourt
george, south africa▶ player never was one to
conduct psychological warfare,
but at a media conference the
week before the match, he
performed 100 sit-ups, drank
a 20-ounce protein shake and
said to Els, “Let’s see you match
that.” Els, expressionless, lifted
the table off the floor with one
hand, guzzled a 32-ounce beer
with the other and said to his
countryman, “Match that.” ▶