Tom Weiskopf Died Yesterday

Seventy-nine year old Tom Weiskopf died yesterday after suffering a two-year bout with pancreatic cancer. Tall and handsome, Weiskopf excelled as both a player on the PGA Tour and a golf course designer in his post-Tour life.

Tom Weiskopf won 16 tournaments on the PGA Tour. He won one of the four major championships in pro golf–the 1973 (British) Open. His most frustrating tournament was the Masters, where he finished second four times. That golf course fit his game.

Tom Weiskoph was known for having an outstanding golf swing that also provided him with extraordinary length off the tee. Since Tom hailed from Ohio State, as did Jack Nicklaus, Tom was often compared to Jack as though Tom might have been as good as Jack was. And Jack Nicklaus acknowledged this by saying, “Tom Weiskopf had as much talent as any player I’ve ever seen play the Tour.” Jack also asserted that Tom was never passionate enough about golf, since his interest in hunting and fishing competed with it.

Like his mentor–the colorful and beloved Tommy Bolt, who was nicknamed “The Thunderbolt,” who won the 1957 U.S. Open at Tulsa–Tom Weiskopf also was known for having trouble controlling his temper on the golf course. His peers always said that that hindered him from winning more tournaments, probably including majors.

Indeed, Tom Weiskopf could get so mad that he would quit during a PGA Tour tournament and just walk off the course. The Tour invokes fines for that, and you rarely see it done. I think Tom did that one year at the Kemper Open at Congressional Country Club in Washington, D.C. on the regular Tour. Yet many year later, he won the U.S. Senior Open there.

It’s interesting to me how a person can excel brilliantly at one profession for many years, and then do the same in another profession. Tom sure did that, although those two professions are similar. Tom Weiskopf became one of the best golf course designers ever. That is a creative art. Like his golf game, Tom was really good at it. Later in our careers, I loved to play golf courses designed by Tom Weiskopf.

If I recollect correctly, Tom Weiskopf and I started the PGA Tour the same year, in 1964. We played many rounds together in PGA Tour tournaments. I first learned how stubborn Tom could be when we were paired together early in our careers at the Indianapolis 500 tournament. That golf course used to weave in and out of the famous race track. The first hole (it may have played as the tenth hole then), a par four, used to run parallel alongside the race track to the left, which was out-of-bounds.

That day, Tom aimed his driver to the left, at the edge of the track, intending to hit a fade into the fairway. Instead, he hit a perfectly straight shot that barely sailed out-of-bounds. That’s a two-stroke penalty, and you must re-tee. Tom then proceeded to do likewise three more times. I’m tellin’ ‘ya, he hit the same exact shot four times. Finally, he hit his fifth drive into the fairway and made four with that ball. Tom therefore suffered an eight-stroke penalty to finish with a 12 on the hole. I don’t recall if he gave up his stubbornness and aimed in the fairway on his fifth drive. He may not have!

Decades later, Tom and I were paired one day on the Senior Tour. I forget, now, which tournament that was. Tom played first on a downhill par three. It was about a five iron shot in distance. He hit an excellent shot, and the ball settled about two feet short of the cup, which appeared to be right on line to the hole. It was then my turn to play. I teed up my ball, turned to my fellow competitor, and said, “Tom, go down there and mark that ball, will ‘ya?” and I then smiled. Tom said, “You’re not that good!”