It was 50 years ago that Team USA won the 1967 Ryder Cup by a 15-point margin that, to this day, remains the largest thumping in the history of the biennial team event. The American team was an experienced group of rock-solid golfers led by Arnold Palmer, Billy Casper, Julius Boros and current Lake County resident Johnny Pott. When I say experienced, I do mean experienced. Al Geiberger was the youngest member of the team at age 30, Pott was 31, Garner Dickinson was a 40-year-old, and three-time major champion Julius Boros was 47 years young. Their captain was Ben Hogan although that too is part of our story.
I sat down recently with Johnny Pott. He spent several hours giving me a behind-the-scenes look at those 1967 Ryder Cup matches. During the next several weeks, we’ll reminisce with Johnny about the dynamics that played a role in the greatest Ryder Cup victory of all time.
Unlike the American Ryder Cup team of 2016 that added three wild-card picks in mid-September and completed the roster with the addition of Ryan Moore on the Sunday of Ryder Cup week, the squad representing the United States team was finalized following the completion of the 1967 Masters. The ’67 Ryder Cup was scheduled to be played six months later at Champions Golf Club in Houston from October 20-22. Things took a lot longer to accomplish in those days and perhaps the lag time was due to the effort it took to get together programs, uniforms, support personnel and airline flights for the visiting team. Whatever the reason, the 10-man American Ryder Cup team was finalized on Sunday, April 9.
Five weeks later, the 10-man team met with PGA of America president Max Elbin in the club room following a practice round at the Colonial Invitational at Fort Worth. Elbin talked about the course, the format and the festivities. Then the discussion turned to a team captain. From 1927 through 1963, the American Ryder Cup team had employed a player-captain for its matches. In 1965 they acted outside the box and had the venerable Byron Nelson serve as the non-playing captain for the matches at Royal Birkdale in England. Elbin wanted to continue that trend, but he also wanted player input. Discussion about possible captains ensued. Finally, the consensus was to try to encourage the iconic Ben Hogan to take on the captaincy for the ’67 matches.
Whether it was because Johnny Pott’s father, golf professional Ben Pott, knew Hogan during their formative playing days in the 1930s and 1940s or because Johnny just so happened to be sitting at the end of the table closest to the door, the others induced Pott to seek out Hogan and attempt to recruit him to be their captain. Pott went to the far end of the driving range where Hogan was diligently practicing. Pott went up to Hogan and said, “We would be honored if you would be our captain this October at Champions. It’s the course owned by your friends, Jimmy Demaret and Jackie Burke Jr. We would appreciate a positive response.” Hogan told Pott he would think about it for a day or so and let him know one way or the other. The following day the two men crossed paths in Colonial’s locker room and Hogan, a man of few words, said, “I’ll do it.”
In 1965, when Pott played under Nelson, he and his teammates received weekly letters in the mail from Lord Byron. In 1967, the squad received only one letter from Hogan, approximately two weeks before the matches. Hogan letter said, “I’ll be at Champions on Monday. I hope you’ll be there too.”
Nine of the 10 team members were there on Monday. Hogan had an informal meeting with them and said they’d go off in a pair of fivesomes the following day at 11a.m. The 10th member of the team made his presence known the next day. At approximately 10:30 a.m. on Tuesday morning, a plane buzzed the golf course. It was piloted by seven-time major champion Arnold Palmer. Palmer was the last man to the tee that morning. Unlike many of his teammates who called their captain Mr. Hogan, Arnie was much less formal. Palmer walked up to Hogan to ask him which size golf ball would be used for the matches, the longer American ball or the smaller English ball. Palmer said, “Hey Ben, what size golf ball are we going to play?” The taciturn Hogan curtly responded, “Mr. Palmer, when I pair you, I’ll let you know.”
The golfers paired up. When it was Pott’s turn to tee off, he could see Hogan out of the corner of his eye, watching at close proximity. Somewhat unnerved by Hogan’s near presence, Pott backed off from his shot. He looked at Hogan and said, “If you wouldn’t mind, could you please walk two or three holes with me so that I can get used to you being around me? It’s kind of hard to make a perfect swing.” Hogan retorted by saying, “Well, who makes a perfect swing?” Nonetheless, Hogan agreed to walk a few holes with Pott’s group. After he played solidly on the first hole, Pott went up to Hogan, told him he felt more comfortable, and that he would be just fine. It was a portent of things to come, as Pott would go undefeated that week.
At the Tuesday afternoon meeting, Hogan showed a side to him that caught the players off guard. Normally a rigid personality, Hogan told the players they didn’t have to adhere to the Ryder Cup dress code. He stated that he wasn’t always comfortable in playing in the Ryder Cup uniform when he had been a competitor. He looked at Doug Sanders and said, “Sanders, if you want to come out here and look like a peacock, that’s fine. Whatever you want.” Hogan then laid out his philosophy as captain. “Boys, there’s nothing to being the captain of the Ryder Cup. You guys are all great players. Pairing is real easy. I’m going to pair together you boys who drive it crooked. I’m going to pair together you boys who drive straight. I don’t want you having to play from somewhere you’re not used to. And the first ball is going to be hit by Julius Boros because he doesn’t give a (bleep) about anything. So y’all just go play your game.”
However, just in case Team USA thought that this would be a loose affair with no dress code, pairings of choice, free reign regarding the golf ball, and limited coaching, his final words to the team that day were most telling. Hogan concluded the meeting by stating, “But let me tell you boys just one more thing. I don’t want my name on that trophy as a losing captain.”
Next week, the flags will be raised, the University of Houston band will walk through the fog playing God Save the Queen and the Star Spangled Banner, and Julius Boros will hit that first tee shot.
