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My Thoughts on The Open Championship The game of golf sets itself apart by its very nature. I would challenge anyone to name any other sport, or indeed any other “thing” in life, that embodies all of what comes to mind when a list of words like the following are written down: History There is also no place in the game of golf for such things as jealousy and cheating. Add to that a No Age Limit clause and a handicap system in the nonprofessional game that is the envy of all other competitive sports and you have the greatest game in the world. Let’s take history for starters and you go back to S. Andrews in Scotland, the place considered to be the “Home of Golf”. I first became acquainted with St. Andrews in 1964 when I finished second to Tony Lema in the Open Championship. I really loved the course and the atmosphere created there. Contrary to popular wisdom, the old course, as we know it, was designed mostly by man rather than nature and yet when many players come upon it for the first time, it really doesn’t look or feel like a golf course at all, particularly if the player is an American. The unpredictable and ever-changing winds make an Open Championship at the Home of Golf the most intriguing and maybe the most demanding challenge in the entire game. I must add that the Scots are the most knowledgeable golf watchers in the world and the most appreciative of good play. Not all great golfers have won an Open Championship at St. Andrews and I had a burning desire to achieve this from the time I set foot on the course. Bob Jones had been quoted as saying that to be considered a great golfer, one must win at St. Andrews – the Home of Golf. My chance came in 1970 when the Open went back to St. Andrews. I had won my first Open Championship at Muirfield in 1966, then finished second in 1967, second again at Carnoustie in 1968 and sixth at Royal Lytham and St. Annes in 1969. Not only did I manage victory in 1970, I was fortunate to do it all again at St. Andrews in 1978 after two consecutive seconds in the Open in the two previous years. Little wonder that St. Andrews stands tall as one of my all-time favorite places in the world, along with Pebble Beach in California and, of course, Augusta National in Georgia. The U.S. Open at Pebble Beach became a part of my record book in 1972, the second leg of my “if only” Grand Slam. That was the first ever U.S. Open to be held at Pebble Beach. By the way, add that to my list of why golf is the greatest game – you can play the same golf courses where I won those Majors on hallowed turf, because they are courses for public golfers. Golf is certainly an inspirational game. I was inspired by the great golfers and their deeds, before me and during my playing career, and if I have been an inspiration to other people I am pleased about that.
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