Tom Weiskopf, one of the most gifted golfers during the game’s golden era, passed away last Saturday at his home in Big Sky, Montana, from pancreatic cancer. Weiskopf was just a few months short of his 80th birthday and lived a full life as an outstanding professional golfer on the PGA Tour and the PGA Senior Tour (now Champions Tour). He also was one of the more highly regarded golf course architects of the modern era.
Weiskopf was born in suburban Cleveland and was a top-notch junior golfer. He attended Benedictine High School and parlayed his high school successes into a golf scholarship at Ohio State University. He was a younger teammate of Jack Nicklaus at OSU. Weiskopf won the prestigious Western Amateur at Point O’ Woods in 1963 and upon completion of his senior year in college, he immediately turned pro. This was during the days of Monday qualifying, no Q School, and only the top 60 gaining exempt status, and yet Weiskopf was capable of going low, making cuts and becoming exempt. Tom lost a sudden-death playoff to Doug Sanders in 1966 at the Greater Greensboro Open. In 1967 he shot a course-record 64 in the Western Open at Beverly although Jack Nicklaus would eventually win the event. One year later he had his breakthrough moment on tour, winning the Andy Williams San Diego Open at Torrey Pines by defeating Al Geiberger by one stroke for his first PGA Tour victory.
Weiskopf had arguably the most beautifully fluid swing on tour and he showed his true ability during the 1970s in the era of Nicklaus, Tom Watson, Lee Trevino, Billy Casper and Johnny Miller. He won twice in 1971, once in 1972, five times in 1973, twice in 1975, and added victories in 1977 and 1978. His 1973 campaign was nothing short of brilliant. From late May through late July he found the winner’s circle at Colonial, the Kemper Open, the Philadelphia Golf Classic, the British Open at Royal Troon, and the Canadian Open. In those days there was a Mark McCormack World Golf Ranking and Weiskopf found himself ranked second. He would win two more times in the early 1980s, and then backed off on his PGA Tour career as a 40-year-old. Tom was a well-known television commentator for CBS from 1985 through 1995. He returned to competitive golf with the senior set and during a 22-month period of time from 1994 through 1996, he won four times, including the 1995 U.S. Senior Open at Congressional.
Weiskopf was an impact player in golf’s four major championships. He had seven top-10 finishes at the Masters, finishing as runner-up in 1969, 1972, 1974 and 1975. Tom finished among the top 10 in six U.S. Opens, tying for second place in 1976. He finished in the top 10 at five PGA Championships as well as three consecutive top 10s at the British Open. His victory in the 1973 British Open at Troon was the high-water mark of his career as he finished three strokes clear of the field over runner-ups Neil Coles of England and his chief rival, Johnny Miller.
Of course, longtime fans of the game could easily ascertain that Tom Weiskopf was an underachiever. For someone as gifted as Weiskopf was, it’s surprising to think that he won just 16 times on the PGA Tour and, for that matter, that he had just one major win alongside seven top-three finishes. He was especially snake bitten at the Masters, most notably in 1975 when Nicklaus ran down both Weiskopf and Miller on the back nine. Yet one of his contemporaries, Lanny Wadkins, was once quoted as saying that Tom “was the greatest talent” he ever saw.
Weiskopf was as equally known for his hot temper as he was for his graceful swing. There were times he got into his own way on the golf course with his outbursts. He could be his own worst enemy. At various times his nickname among the press was “The Towering Inferno.” Yet he always seemed to carry himself with class and dignity and was very much a pro’s pro.
Tom Weiskopf had a third career as a highly regarded golf course architect. He initially connected with Jay Morrish as a design partner and then began his own business. He had a role in the design of such well-known courses as TPC Scottsdale, Troon North, Lahontan in Truckee, Loch Lomond in Scotland, and the par-3 Cliffs Course at San Francisco’s Olympic Club. He gets lots of well-earned credit for one of his design formulas, namely the “feast or famine” short par-4 hole. He had a hand in the design of approximately 40 golf course.
Weiskopf has a Lake County connection and as a result, I have a connection with him as well. Some 12 years ago, former five-time PGA Tour winner Johnny Pott was serving as the liaison for the Langtry Winery and their new golf course. Tom Weiskopf and his associate, Phil Smith, were the course designers. They were going to make a field trip to the developing site on Butts Canyon Road outside Middletown. Their intention was to walk the course with Pott and make comments, changes and adjustments to all that was going on. I was invited to join the walk-through as was Aetna Springs Golf Course superintendent Dick Rudolph.
I figured out fairly quickly that Weiskopf was the visionary of the project while Smith and Pott dealt with the nuts and bolts of golf course design. He had a great eye for what could be and what would be. Smith used his yellow legal pad to put the thoughts onto paper, and Pott pushed his idea for one of the par-3 holes on the back nine to mirror the Postage Stamp, the iconic eighth hole at Royal Troon, site of Tom’s British Open triumph.
It was about a six-hour journey, and during some dead moments I fell into conversation with Weiskopf. He was highly intelligent, had a great memory for courses and past tournaments, and even talked to me about blowing off the 1977 Ryder Cup to go hunting. He said, “You know John, we were going to kick Great Britain’s butt whether I was there or not.” He also asked me to hold off on one part of our conversation “until I’m not around to read about it.” He told me a story about one of his earlier designs at Loch Lomond. He was walking the property on his own and slipped into a bog. He was sinking deeper and deeper and feared he would end up suffocating to death. He ended up pulling on an overhanging tree branch and extracted himself from the bog after four hours. When he finally got to land, he was completely blackened from the bog and was totally naked as well. He had feared he would never be found and that people would surmise that “Flakey Tom Weiskopf had walked away from Loch Lomond and was hiding out in Singapore.”
From my weak perspective I someday hope that the golfer and the course designer Tom Weiskopf will deservedly enter the World Golf Hall of Fame. Rest in peace Tom.
