Word: stroke
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Dates: during 1960-1969
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Once he was the hottest player in golf. Arnie Palmer was just a promising young pro when Venturi, a 24-year-old amateur, shot a final-round 80 and lost the 1956 Masters by a single stroke. Jack Nicklaus was a chubby-cheeked Ohio State freshman when Ken was winning four tournaments in 1958 and hearing himself hailed as "the new Ben Hogan." In his first four years as a pro, Venturi won $141,276. Critics raved about the silky smoothness of his swing. "Ken stands up to the ball," said one, "as if he, the club, the ball...
Plodding Along. Palmer did not do badly the next day, either: a one-under-par 69. But that was only good for second place, a stroke off the pace set by a curly-haired Californian named Tommy Jacobs, 29. Only twice all afternoon did Jacobs stray from the fairway; only twice did he fail to reach a green in par figures; and he did not miss a single putt under 12 ft. Jacobs' six-under-par 64 tied for the lowest score ever recorded in a U.S. Open. In all the excitement, who was going to notice Ken Venturi...
Using the tulip-shaped oars popularized by Germany's 1960 Olympic-winning Ratzeburg crew, the high-stroking Californians soon jumped into a boat-length lead. From then on, they unconcernedly looked back at their pursuers for the length of the Olympic-size 2,000-meter course. At the finish, the coxswain took the stroke up to 40 for kicks, and California slid across in 6 min. 31 sec. Adding insult to injury, another Western crew, the University of Washington, was second, nearly two lengths back, and exhausted Cornell was a sorely beaten third...
With 15 holes to go, Lema was 12 under par, seven strokes ahead of burly Mike Souchak. A sudden thundershower made the pros dive for their umbrellas -and almost literally Tony landed on his nose. He lost a stroke at the sixth hole, another at the eighth, two more on the 480-yd. ninth when he bombed his drive under the branches of a lowhanging pine tree (see cut) and barely managed to salvage a bogey. ("I just crawled in there on my hands and knees, said a quick prayer, and backhanded the ball," said Tony.) But the real disaster...
...Within min utes, waiters were wheeling case after case of MoÖt et Chandon champagne into the press headquarters. At week's end, once again at the top of his game, Lema knocked in six straight birdies in Michigan's Buick Open, had a two-stroke lead at the end of 54 holes, and started dreaming about the blast he will throw if he wins the U.S. Open. "Champagne won't be enough," he said. "I win that and I'll spring for the hors d'oeuvres...