110 golfdigest.com | may 2019
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imagesdefeating Palmer prompted
the media’s battle-of-the-sexes
story line to accelerate. In 1961,
Wright had won the third of her
four U.S. Women’s Open titles
at Baltusrol, and Palmer’s loss
to Jack Nicklaus at the 1967 U.S.
Open there left scars that never
fully healed.
Playing from a shorter set of
tees—terms Wright reluctantly
agreed to—she took a 2-up lead
through 10 holes. But birdies
at the 11th, 12th and 13th gave
Palmer a 1-up lead, and birdies
from long range at the 16th and
17th ended the match, 3 and 1.
“If I felt pressure like that
every time I played golf,” Palm-
er said, “I’d climb right back on
that tractor for good.”
PHIL MICKELSON
vs. WALTER HAGEN
muirfield scotland
▶ on the 17th tee, Hagen, in
a mild display of gamesman-
ship at 1 down, asked Phil for
his thoughts on advances in
deep-space exploration, but
Mickelson responded with si-
lence and blistered a 320-yard
drive. With the par-5 hole eas-
ily within Mickelson’s reach,
Hagen gambled with his second
and hit his ball against the lip
of a greenside bunker. The
wonders of the 64-degree sand
wedge unknown to Hagen—he
later gasped when Phil showed
him his—Sir Walter took two
shots to escape, handing the
match to Phil, 2 and 1.
Mickelson, in a typical dis-
play of generosity, offered Sir
Walter a ride home on his jet,
but Hagen demurred, noting
he preferred to go by luxury
cruise line. Said Hagen: “Don’t
hurry, don’t worry, and don’t
forget to smell the flowers along
the way.”GREG NORMAN
vs. TIGER WOODS
firestone c.c. akron, ohio▶ tiger arrived looking
tense. He had won at Firestone
a staggering eight times, but it
wasn’t lost on him that Norman
had won there twice.
There was brief, comedic
relief on the 14th, when two
overserved spectators—one
dressed in a shark costume, the
other in a tiger suit—engaged
in a hapless brawl. As Akron
police hauled the miscreants
away, Norman, smiling broadly,
pointed at Woods from across
the fairway and playfully put
his dukes up, but Tiger was hav-
ing none of it. He grimly made
par at the 14th to keep it even,
then stiffed a 2-iron at the par-3
15th to take the lead. Tiger then
swung all-out on the 667-yard
16th, an incredible drive catch-
ing the downslope. An equally
stupendous second put him
on the green, and the two-puttbirdie made him dormie. A
halve at the 17th—Norman
lipped out a long birdie try—
gave Tiger a 2-and-1 decision.JACK NICKLAUS
vs. RORY MCILROY
scioto c.c. columbus, ohio▶ mcilroy’s camp howled
in protest when informed he
would play Nicklaus on the
course where Jack grew up.
Rory silenced them, announc-
ing he was capable of beating
anyone, anywhere. But right
away, Rory ran into problems,and Nicklaus won three of the
first five holes and went on to
win, 4 and 3.
“If that were a football game
and I was Woody Hayes, I’d tell
you it was closer than the final
score indicated,” Nicklaus said
back at the clubhouse. “If that
young man gets it together, he
has 10 majors in him.”BOBBY JONES
vs. GARY PLAYER
royal lytham & st. annes
england▶ to commemorate Player’s
1974 Open victory at Lytham,
local golfers, for a $500 dona-
tion to charity, were invited to
re-create Player’s famous left-
handed shot with a putter near
the clubhouse at the 18th green.
To honor Jones’ 1926 Open
conquest, amateurs were chal-
lenged to copy Bobby’s incred-
ible mashie shot at Lytham’s
17th hole, near the plaque
planted there in his honor.
The match was level as they
played the par-4 17th hole.
With Jones safely on the green
in two, Player hit his second
shot into deep rough near the
green, precisely as he’d done in- In that Open, Player’s ball
was found only seconds before
the five-minute time limit for
search had expired. This time,
the ball was found inside four
minutes. Player’s caddie, Alfred
(Rabbit) Dyer, said, “Found it,
Boss!” But the walking officials,
Joseph C. Dey of the USGA
and Sir Michael Bonallack of
the R&A, informed Player that
the time limit, reduced to only
three minutes under the updat-
ed rules, had been surpassed.
Player conceded the hole, and
a halve at the 18th meant Jones
had prevailed, 1 up. “I’m sorry
for Gary,” Jones said. “He truly
was a dogged victim of inexo-
rable fate.”
SEVE BALLESTEROS
vs. LEE TREVINO
pine valley (n.j.) g.c.▶ at the conclusion of his
practice round, Seve looked
tight-lipped and worried. In a
brief interview, he informed
reporters he was removing thedriver from his bag and replac-
ing it with the 1-iron he’d used
at Oakmont at the 1983 U.S.
Open. Pine Valley’s fairways, he
said, were expansive enough,
but a big miss off the tee meant
an automatic bogey or worse.
Trevino, meanwhile, was a
portrait of relaxed confidence,
his cap tipped back on his head
as he spewed one-liners to any-
one who would listen. “If I were
driving it any straighter, I’d
put the laser companies out of
business,” he said. “If I lose, the
snapper soup’s on me.”
Trevino led 1 up after nine
holes, not missing a fairway. At
the par-3 10th, Ballesteros went
2 down when he failed to es-
cape from the tiny pot bunker
fronting the green. “Odio el gili-
pollas del diablo,” Seve hissed.
Trevino translated for onlook-
ers: “That’s Spanish for, ‘I hate
the Devil’s A-hole.’ ”
Seve hung tough and
squared the match at 17. At the
par-4 18th, with the flagstick
positioned at the front of the
green, Seve played a towering
6-iron to four feet. Trevino, out
of his element when he tried to
hit the ball high, thinned his
6-iron into a front bunker. Lee
Buck exploded out to 20 feet,
but after he missed his 20-foot-
er for par, he conceded the hole
and the match to Seve.SAM SNEAD
vs. TOM WATSON
the greenbrier
(old white tpc)
white sulphur springs, w.va.▶ returning to the haunt
where he’d played countless
rounds, Snead carelessly fell
victim to The Greenbrier’s vast
number of nongolf activities.
At the gun club, he entered
an impromptu trap-shooting
contest—which he won—then,
rather than practice, spent two
more days engaged in falconry,
bowling (where he rolled a 262),
fly-fishing and even pickleball.
Watson, meanwhile, was
all business. But this was the
course where Sam had shot 60
an incredible six times, three-
putting the 18th hole on each
occasion. Beginning at the 11th
hole, the Slammer made four