WEBVTT - A Tribute to Tom Weiskopf 0:00:03.360 --> 0:00:06.240 Seeing him as always brought a smile to me. And 0:00:06.440 --> 0:00:09.600 I'll tell you what I was when I was when 0:00:09.640 --> 0:00:12.119 I just when he was just coming on tour and 0:00:12.200 --> 0:00:14.240 he was coming up, I said, Man, that's the guy. 0:00:14.480 --> 0:00:16.880 That's the guy I want to follow. Right there. He 0:00:17.000 --> 0:00:22.439 was so much fun to follow, uh. And as I said, 0:00:22.480 --> 0:00:28.840 I was just like a little kid around him. Put 0:00:28.920 --> 0:00:36.880 another log on the fire nobody here and get the time. 0:00:41.520 --> 0:00:53.760 Welcome to the fire Pit with Matt Chanella. I wish 0:00:53.760 --> 0:00:56.360 I didn't have to do this, but in this podcast 0:00:56.600 --> 0:01:00.760 we celebrate the life and legacy of Tom Weiscoff. Born 0:01:00.800 --> 0:01:04.640 in nineteen forty two in Massillon, Ohio, Wiskoff was the 0:01:04.680 --> 0:01:08.560 oldest of three kids. His father, a railroad worker, and 0:01:08.640 --> 0:01:12.760 his mother, Eva, both played golf. Weiskoff grew up in 0:01:12.840 --> 0:01:15.920 awe of Sam Snead and in the shadow of Jack 0:01:16.000 --> 0:01:19.280 Nicholas at Ohio State and on the PGA tour, so 0:01:19.319 --> 0:01:22.520 it's no wonder he had a lauded swing and game, 0:01:23.760 --> 0:01:27.680 nicknamed the Towering Inferno for his height six ft three 0:01:27.720 --> 0:01:30.760 inches and a bit of a temper. In his younger years, 0:01:30.959 --> 0:01:35.360 Weiskoff considered a fashion east had three careers in and 0:01:35.400 --> 0:01:40.000 around the game of golf, winner of sixteen PGA Tour events, 0:01:40.280 --> 0:01:44.119 one Open Championship in nineteen seventy three atroon he finished 0:01:44.280 --> 0:01:47.840 second and four Masters, was part of two winning Ryder 0:01:47.840 --> 0:01:52.000 Cup teams, and won a Senior US Open in beating 0:01:52.120 --> 0:01:57.720 Jack Nicholas at Congressional. In addition to playing golf, Wiskoff, 0:01:57.720 --> 0:02:02.000 who battled alcoholism and was sober since two thousand, was 0:02:02.040 --> 0:02:04.920 also an analyst, calling the action at both the Masters 0:02:04.920 --> 0:02:09.360 for CBS and later the Open Championship for ABC and ESPN. 0:02:10.200 --> 0:02:14.520 And on my ranking of former players turned architects, Weiskoff, 0:02:14.560 --> 0:02:19.320 who was credited with seventy course designs, redesigns, or renovations, 0:02:19.440 --> 0:02:22.520 is second to Ben Crenshaw, who we heard off the 0:02:22.520 --> 0:02:28.560 top of this podcast diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in Weiskoff 0:02:28.600 --> 0:02:31.840 died on August at the age of seventy nine at 0:02:31.880 --> 0:02:34.840 his home in Big Sky, Montana, where he lived with 0:02:34.919 --> 0:02:37.960 his second wife, Lori. Today we're going to hear from 0:02:37.960 --> 0:02:40.600 a pair of journalists and a pair of contemporaries on 0:02:40.720 --> 0:02:45.760 Tom Weiskoff, the man, the player, the analyst, and the architect. 0:02:46.440 --> 0:02:49.280 Michael Bamberger, who wrote a tribute to Tom Weiscoff, for 0:02:49.400 --> 0:02:53.640 the Firepit Collective dot com offers his thoughts throughout this podcast. 0:02:54.840 --> 0:02:58.160 Guy Yoakum, who spent thirty years writing for Golf Digestors 0:02:58.240 --> 0:03:02.400 Here Ben Crench continues to offer his thoughtful perspective on 0:03:02.480 --> 0:03:08.120 Weisskoff's life and career. Dave Stockton, who like Weiskoff, has 0:03:08.160 --> 0:03:11.560 a passion for hunting and fishing, agreed to offer his thoughts, 0:03:12.639 --> 0:03:15.680 and we hear from Tom Weiskoff, who I interviewed in 0:03:15.720 --> 0:03:20.359 May of I couldn't be telling these stories without our sponsors, 0:03:20.360 --> 0:03:22.359 so before we get started, I want to thank links 0:03:22.400 --> 0:03:25.240 Soul for their support. The lifestyle brand that I've worn 0:03:25.320 --> 0:03:28.680 exclusively for ten years, on and off the course, in 0:03:28.840 --> 0:03:31.200 and out of the water is the product of my 0:03:31.320 --> 0:03:34.679 friends John Ashworth and Jeff Cunningham. Use promo code fire 0:03:34.720 --> 0:03:41.040 Pit your next purchase at link soul dot com. I'd 0:03:41.040 --> 0:03:44.040 also like to thank Dormy Workshop, our partner in all 0:03:44.080 --> 0:03:46.480 of the leather goods we offer at the pitch shop 0:03:46.520 --> 0:03:50.200 at fire Pit Collective dot com, a family business based 0:03:50.240 --> 0:03:53.400 in Canada. I'm honored the Bishop Brothers put our logo 0:03:53.560 --> 0:03:56.760 on their artistry and the part points the innovative app 0:03:56.800 --> 0:03:58.840 that changes the way you can score the game of golf. 0:03:59.200 --> 0:04:01.560 I love it for le golf. It's great for kids 0:04:01.560 --> 0:04:04.440 and beginners, and I suggested for Buddy's trips. Looking for 0:04:04.520 --> 0:04:07.640 something different, download the part points app now and go 0:04:07.760 --> 0:04:11.640 make par We start this tribute to Tom Weiscoff with 0:04:12.040 --> 0:04:16.279 Michael Bamberger. What do we need to know about Tom Weisscoff, 0:04:16.360 --> 0:04:21.919 the man, the husband, the father, the grandfather. You know 0:04:22.120 --> 0:04:26.360 he was He married a woman who was a far 0:04:26.520 --> 0:04:29.719 bigger celebrity than he at the time of the marriage. 0:04:29.800 --> 0:04:33.719 His wife, Jennie Ruth was her name. Then she was 0:04:33.800 --> 0:04:36.480 Miss Minnesota when they married, and part of her gig 0:04:36.480 --> 0:04:39.960 at Miss as Miss Minnesota was handing out invitations to 0:04:40.040 --> 0:04:42.280 a pro am tournament in St. Paul's or whatever might 0:04:42.279 --> 0:04:45.440 have been, something along those lines. And uh, and they 0:04:45.440 --> 0:04:49.240 had a long successful marriage. Um. You know, marriages many 0:04:49.279 --> 0:04:51.360 many are I don't know the number half of all 0:04:51.360 --> 0:04:53.760 marriages and the divorce. But this marriage went for thirty 0:04:53.760 --> 0:04:58.960 three years and buried two wonderful children. Tragically, Tom's son 0:04:59.240 --> 0:05:03.120 died last year. UM. Eric Wiskoff, Eric Thomas Wiskoff, who 0:05:03.400 --> 0:05:06.480 loved music and love golf and and live large, but 0:05:06.600 --> 0:05:09.040 you know, had had issues in his life as Tom did. 0:05:09.080 --> 0:05:12.000 Many people who followed Tom's life would know that he 0:05:12.080 --> 0:05:15.680 quit drinking in two thousand and without getting into I'm 0:05:15.720 --> 0:05:17.280 not qualified to get into it, and I would in 0:05:17.320 --> 0:05:20.120 this format anyhow. But Eric had had had his own 0:05:20.560 --> 0:05:23.240 similar kind of issues and and tragically they caught up 0:05:23.240 --> 0:05:25.719 with him and and and claimed his life has long 0:05:25.800 --> 0:05:28.560 before that. His his his first marriage broke up and 0:05:28.560 --> 0:05:31.479 he remarried. But he has the surviving daughter, Heidi, with 0:05:31.520 --> 0:05:34.240 whom I spoke this morning for for two hours, and 0:05:34.279 --> 0:05:38.000 she was or a remarkable person, really bright and really articulate. 0:05:38.640 --> 0:05:40.359 And one of the things I mentioned her was that 0:05:40.400 --> 0:05:42.800 one of my favorite stories ever wrote was about Nan 0:05:42.880 --> 0:05:46.160 Nicholas had Jack had four sons and one daughter, and 0:05:46.200 --> 0:05:48.760 the daughter Nan Nicholas and Big Jack. They had one 0:05:48.800 --> 0:05:50.479 trip every year, and that was to go to the Open. 0:05:50.520 --> 0:05:53.480 That was the British Open, and that was their week together. 0:05:54.000 --> 0:05:56.080 And that sort of opened up a door for Heidi 0:05:56.160 --> 0:06:00.120 to talk about the many many uh E lab were 0:06:00.120 --> 0:06:05.479 at fishing trips that big macho tall Tom Weiscoff and 0:06:05.520 --> 0:06:08.960 his daughter went on to Alaska. She's talking about Kodiak 0:06:09.040 --> 0:06:11.960 bears and you know all these different trouts and rainbow 0:06:12.000 --> 0:06:15.000 trouts and steel heads and arctic charred, all these things 0:06:15.080 --> 0:06:17.760 you see him menus like. She doesn't know him as 0:06:17.800 --> 0:06:19.880 a menu item. She knows him as a fish in 0:06:19.880 --> 0:06:21.760 your hands, and they would cook it up right there. 0:06:22.200 --> 0:06:25.800 So they had a very rich life together. Tom clearly 0:06:25.880 --> 0:06:29.000 loved both these children. Life is for all of us 0:06:29.040 --> 0:06:32.120 has all sorts of curveballs in trauma, and I'm sure 0:06:32.160 --> 0:06:35.800 they had their share, maybe more. But the underlying love 0:06:35.839 --> 0:06:37.640 he had for his children and i'm sure for his 0:06:38.320 --> 0:06:41.600 for his first wife as well, really carried the day. 0:06:41.640 --> 0:06:44.919 And you know, we of course think of Tom Weiscoff 0:06:45.000 --> 0:06:49.880 the golfer. But with his son Eric, uh they shared 0:06:50.000 --> 0:06:54.480 hunting like he shared fishing with with Heidi, and they 0:06:54.520 --> 0:06:56.840 went all over the world. You know, this is not 0:06:56.920 --> 0:06:58.520 my thing, but this is not about me, you know, 0:06:58.600 --> 0:07:02.680 big game hunting, uh uh. And with Heidi it was fishing, 0:07:02.680 --> 0:07:04.800 and they went all over all over the world, maybe 0:07:04.839 --> 0:07:06.359 in all over the world, below over the country, and 0:07:06.360 --> 0:07:10.320 all over Alaska especially. He grew up, you know, working 0:07:10.360 --> 0:07:14.840 class at best, and made money and enjoyed spending it, 0:07:14.880 --> 0:07:17.200 but was but not in a crazy way, actually in 0:07:17.240 --> 0:07:19.600 a in a conservative ways as high to as describe it. 0:07:20.200 --> 0:07:23.800 One thing that we were really almost laughing about where 0:07:23.800 --> 0:07:29.440 this fascination for fancy dressing came from. You would never 0:07:29.560 --> 0:07:32.760 guess that this guy's profile, but would would lend itself 0:07:32.760 --> 0:07:36.440 to like really caring, Like Jack ever cared Arnold. I 0:07:36.480 --> 0:07:39.320 don't think every cared Trevino. I don't think ever cared. 0:07:39.360 --> 0:07:41.960 Watson definitely didn't carry is one of the worst dresses ever. 0:07:42.320 --> 0:07:44.640 But Wi Scoff really cared. And one of the amusing 0:07:44.680 --> 0:07:47.080 things that Heidi said was that when you know, his 0:07:47.240 --> 0:07:49.760 thing on tour was three weeks on, one week off, 0:07:49.840 --> 0:07:54.119 and they played hard from February to October, like really 0:07:54.120 --> 0:07:57.080 the end of September, and then he took October, November, December, 0:07:57.080 --> 0:07:59.640 and January. He basically took off and hunted and fished. 0:08:01.600 --> 0:08:02.960 So when he was going to go on the road 0:08:03.000 --> 0:08:06.680 for three weeks, she said she had he had an 0:08:06.800 --> 0:08:09.520 enormous wardrobe room whatever you might call it, with you know, 0:08:09.520 --> 0:08:11.360 one of those mirrors like you see at the tailor 0:08:11.440 --> 0:08:13.920 with the three sides, and the whole floor would be 0:08:13.960 --> 0:08:17.640 carvered with rejects before he would decide what. So, you know, 0:08:17.680 --> 0:08:19.760 my Christen hers, how did he get so interested in 0:08:19.800 --> 0:08:21.880 purple and how did he get so interested in clothes? 0:08:21.920 --> 0:08:24.360 And he's like, I don't know, but he did love purple, 0:08:24.400 --> 0:08:27.000 and he did love clothes. Who knows. One of their 0:08:27.040 --> 0:08:29.280 things from Heidi that was really interesting was that they 0:08:29.280 --> 0:08:32.079 were letter writers, like whoever writes letters anymore? But they 0:08:32.480 --> 0:08:35.800 they handwrote letters to another Eric and Heidi and the 0:08:35.840 --> 0:08:39.520 mom and the dad. And there's a treasure trovial letters 0:08:39.520 --> 0:08:42.840 and actually Heidi shared one with me, which I'm going 0:08:42.920 --> 0:08:44.600 to write about later for those who are who are 0:08:44.640 --> 0:08:48.120 interested in it. But you know that also a state 0:08:48.200 --> 0:08:51.920 amount of value system from Yester from another area really 0:08:52.679 --> 0:08:55.840 And here's Guy Yoakum, my former colleague get Golf Digest 0:08:55.960 --> 0:08:58.400 who spent a lot of time with Tom Weiscoff over 0:08:58.400 --> 0:09:01.880 the years. For Yoakum my shot on Wiscoff in a 0:09:01.920 --> 0:09:05.559 Golf Digest in two thousand two. Wiskoff said his favorite 0:09:05.559 --> 0:09:08.680 actor was Clayton Moore, the man who played the Lone 0:09:08.800 --> 0:09:13.960 Ranger and so on Wiskoff's horse in Paradise, Arizona. We 0:09:14.040 --> 0:09:17.840 had photographer Chip Simon's posed Tom as the Lone Ranger 0:09:18.720 --> 0:09:24.280 horse hat and mask. Wiscoff very willingly played along. Here's 0:09:24.280 --> 0:09:28.520 Guy Yoakum, reflecting on his friend. On a personal level, 0:09:29.480 --> 0:09:34.120 he was he was noticed a towering inferno, terrible Tom. 0:09:34.160 --> 0:09:37.640 He was known as temperamental and having a short temper 0:09:37.640 --> 0:09:39.480 and all that, and there was some of that, but 0:09:39.559 --> 0:09:42.640 you know, you look back, he never got suspended. He 0:09:43.240 --> 0:09:46.960 never did anything that really, uh caused a ruckus or 0:09:47.120 --> 0:09:49.840 where he really raised hell or through tantrums or that 0:09:49.920 --> 0:09:52.959 type of thing. But he he kind of he had 0:09:53.000 --> 0:09:57.880 a certain world view. He had a certain set of principles, 0:09:57.920 --> 0:10:00.640 the way that he thought the golf and life should 0:10:00.679 --> 0:10:04.640 be conducted. And it's something or something. If there was 0:10:04.679 --> 0:10:07.920 a policy that he didn't like, if there was a 0:10:07.960 --> 0:10:12.080 person that he didn't care for for his behavior or 0:10:12.120 --> 0:10:15.360 a breach of etiquette, I mean, he would he would 0:10:15.559 --> 0:10:17.520 he would go nuts. I mean he just could. He 0:10:17.520 --> 0:10:19.959 would just he would raise hell. And you didn't want 0:10:19.960 --> 0:10:22.160 to be on the wrong side of wise comp he was. 0:10:22.920 --> 0:10:26.640 Uh So he was that. But but you know, he 0:10:26.679 --> 0:10:28.840 had he had a lot of friends. He helped a 0:10:28.840 --> 0:10:31.320 lot of people. You know, not everybody knows about this, 0:10:31.520 --> 0:10:35.120 but he secretly helped a lot of old friends. He's 0:10:35.200 --> 0:10:38.120 like one of the most loyal, loyal people to have 0:10:38.600 --> 0:10:41.439 loyal friends, you could have, and he expressed he had 0:10:41.480 --> 0:10:45.840 one friend, UH boy, his name. I always remembered his 0:10:45.960 --> 0:10:48.280 name because he was there for a couple of interviews 0:10:48.320 --> 0:10:50.440 I did with him, and his name was Dudley Merkel. 0:10:51.559 --> 0:10:54.880 There's a euphonious appellation for you. But he would he 0:10:54.920 --> 0:10:59.760 would talk about what an incredible uh friend that Tom was. Like. 0:11:00.000 --> 0:11:02.680 One year there was a caddy Tom's caddy at the 0:11:02.760 --> 0:11:07.280 Masters for many years, a guy named Leroy Schultz was 0:11:07.440 --> 0:11:10.959 in sort of a bad way and he needed help financially, 0:11:11.120 --> 0:11:14.400 and he he called Tom. And you know, he only 0:11:14.400 --> 0:11:16.960 worked for Tom maybe two or three times a year, 0:11:17.600 --> 0:11:20.040 but he knew Tom was somebody that he could turn 0:11:20.160 --> 0:11:22.880 to in his an hour of need, and he just 0:11:22.960 --> 0:11:25.000 dropped a call. It was hard for him to do that, 0:11:25.120 --> 0:11:28.280 and Tom came to his rescue and I mean built 0:11:28.320 --> 0:11:31.680 him up. Tom would never tell this, uh tell these 0:11:31.760 --> 0:11:35.840 kinds of stories on himself, but he was He was 0:11:35.920 --> 0:11:40.120 just a good person. I think after he had a 0:11:40.200 --> 0:11:45.560 bad drinking problem. Self confessed bad drinking problem. Uh for 0:11:45.720 --> 0:11:48.839 most of his career. He always said that he God 0:11:48.880 --> 0:11:50.880 gave him all the tools and he kind of threw 0:11:50.920 --> 0:11:53.120 them away. He thought that he should have won a 0:11:53.160 --> 0:11:56.800 half full of agents and could have won three times 0:11:56.840 --> 0:11:58.880 as many tournaments that he did, but he said he 0:11:58.960 --> 0:12:02.439 pissed it away, you know. And uh, but there was 0:12:02.520 --> 0:12:05.440 redemption in that story because I mean, he had been 0:12:05.520 --> 0:12:08.760 sober when he passed. Uh, he had been sober for 0:12:08.800 --> 0:12:12.560 twenty years, and he really, he really was on a 0:12:12.640 --> 0:12:17.360 course for self improvement. He did improve himself. And UM, 0:12:18.040 --> 0:12:21.679 I think the game has really lost somebody special. I mean, 0:12:21.760 --> 0:12:24.960 if you want to go to YouTube and watch some 0:12:25.040 --> 0:12:28.319 of those masters and watch some of those u US 0:12:28.440 --> 0:12:32.319 opens and just things on Tom wisecoffin and uh and 0:12:32.480 --> 0:12:35.000 and look at that gorgeous golf swing again and know 0:12:35.120 --> 0:12:38.800 that the man uh making those wings was a gorgeous 0:12:38.840 --> 0:12:42.480 person on the inside too. On to Ben Crenshaw, let's 0:12:42.480 --> 0:12:49.439 start with Tom Weiscoff, the player. I you know, I 0:12:49.760 --> 0:12:54.160 wrote a little just like a three sentence deal yesterday 0:12:54.320 --> 0:12:58.160 for I sent it to my manager, Scottie Sayers. I said, 0:12:58.160 --> 0:13:03.440 if anybody wants to uh to read this, and it 0:13:03.559 --> 0:13:08.079 was basically this, Matt, and he said, I said, we've missed, uh, 0:13:08.120 --> 0:13:14.600 we've lost a great friend h and a great golfer. Uh. 0:13:14.720 --> 0:13:21.160 And I said that I had such high esteem for him. Matt. 0:13:21.200 --> 0:13:23.320 I can remember when I was sixteen years old, I 0:13:23.360 --> 0:13:27.319 went to Houston and watched him play at Champions Golf 0:13:27.360 --> 0:13:31.160 Club in Houston. I was sixteen, and I was so 0:13:31.440 --> 0:13:35.280 I just followed him around like a puppy dog, and 0:13:35.920 --> 0:13:39.320 I was just he had this golf swing that was 0:13:40.280 --> 0:13:45.480 ah his posture. I think it was the best posture 0:13:45.520 --> 0:13:49.520 I've ever seen about any golfer. He he always was 0:13:49.760 --> 0:13:54.679 very tall and straight and he I asked him about that. 0:13:54.840 --> 0:13:59.320 I said, I said, Tom, you're I said, you always 0:13:59.400 --> 0:14:03.600 walk so tall and you sit sometimes. He said, my 0:14:03.679 --> 0:14:07.600 mother always told me to sit up straight. And I 0:14:07.600 --> 0:14:12.920 mean it was a paramount part of his golfpeling. He was. 0:14:13.640 --> 0:14:16.280 He just had this golf swing that was so powerful 0:14:17.160 --> 0:14:21.840 and so high, and but he could hit golf shots. Uh. 0:14:22.000 --> 0:14:26.000 The long driver of course, and a beautiful iron flayer. 0:14:26.840 --> 0:14:29.600 Back to Bamburger. I came of golf age when Tom 0:14:29.600 --> 0:14:33.120 White scope was at the height of his powers mid seventies. 0:14:33.960 --> 0:14:39.800 So tall, so slender, narrow hip, wide shoulders, beautiful dresser, pring, 0:14:39.880 --> 0:14:46.400 old kashmere sweaters, argyle, purple yellow brown. He wasn't like 0:14:46.640 --> 0:14:49.240 who would think yellow and brown works. But Tom White 0:14:49.240 --> 0:14:53.560 Scoff made it work so handsome, great teeth, great smile, 0:14:54.160 --> 0:14:57.160 and endured so much pain on the golf course, and 0:14:57.200 --> 0:14:59.480 we were in pain for him because there were so 0:14:59.600 --> 0:15:02.400 many year mrs. Of course, there was the great triumph 0:15:02.440 --> 0:15:07.400 of the seventy three Open Championship at Shroon. So I 0:15:07.520 --> 0:15:10.400 was always run to Tom Wiscoff. You know, it's hard 0:15:10.400 --> 0:15:13.040 to think of someone with that physique as being the underdog. 0:15:13.760 --> 0:15:17.160 With that swing, this guy's the underdog. But he was 0:15:17.200 --> 0:15:21.120 the underdog. So I just gravitated to Tom Wiskoff as 0:15:21.120 --> 0:15:23.920 they did Lee, Rovino and others. Of course, the gravity, 0:15:23.920 --> 0:15:27.920 said Watson Nicholas too. I was an equal opportunity gravitate tour, 0:15:28.880 --> 0:15:32.560 but Wiskoff was near the very top. And and and 0:15:32.680 --> 0:15:35.680 believe me, I'm not alone. I would say literally millions 0:15:35.680 --> 0:15:39.800 of others would Fel would say the same. Here's Dave Stockton, who, 0:15:39.840 --> 0:15:42.880 along with Tom Wiskoff, is thought to have a resume 0:15:43.000 --> 0:15:45.840 worthy of the World Golf Hall of Fame, which we'll 0:15:45.840 --> 0:15:48.080 get to a little later. We kind of came up 0:15:48.120 --> 0:15:51.160 sixty seven, was kind of He was champions choice of 0:15:51.200 --> 0:15:53.760 Colonial in sixty six and I got it in sixty 0:15:53.800 --> 0:15:56.720 seven and it was a dog fight obviously when I 0:15:56.760 --> 0:15:59.680 won there in sixty seven. Uh, he got the advantage 0:15:59.680 --> 0:16:02.320 of playing with Hogan last day, which didn't exactly work 0:16:02.400 --> 0:16:05.840 out for him, but uh, you know I mean through that, 0:16:05.880 --> 0:16:08.080 I mean, there's made some funny things. I mean, the 0:16:08.480 --> 0:16:11.120 all the rational crap he got for not playing the 0:16:11.160 --> 0:16:14.000 Ryder Cup when he had the sheep hunt planned that 0:16:14.160 --> 0:16:17.000 I understood completely well why he was sheep punting. I mean, 0:16:17.040 --> 0:16:19.080 it's hard to get it, and he was going for it, 0:16:19.160 --> 0:16:22.760 and uh, you know the feeling I got. I think, 0:16:23.280 --> 0:16:25.240 you know some of the stories, one of the really 0:16:25.280 --> 0:16:28.600 neat ones, uh to come to mind, But one where 0:16:28.600 --> 0:16:32.360 he got me and and he had divine help was 0:16:32.520 --> 0:16:36.240 the year that Nancy got died when we were playing 0:16:36.280 --> 0:16:42.320 park City and Tom had to have Nancy on his shoulders. 0:16:42.800 --> 0:16:45.040 When Tom makes it to like a twenty five ft 0:16:45.200 --> 0:16:48.080 on seventeen and then makes it like a thirty five 0:16:48.160 --> 0:16:50.680 or forty ft on eighteen to get in a playoff 0:16:50.760 --> 0:16:54.840 with me and then probably makes another long putt, I know, 0:16:54.960 --> 0:16:57.200 good for a fact, he never made three long putts 0:16:57.200 --> 0:17:00.200 in a row, I don't think, but I mean he 0:17:00.280 --> 0:17:03.240 did it for Bert, and that's Tom. Tom is a 0:17:03.360 --> 0:17:07.600 very deep person. When you mentioned Bert Yancy earlier, I mean, 0:17:07.640 --> 0:17:10.640 I don't know much about him. What was the reference 0:17:10.720 --> 0:17:13.360 there that you felt like Yancey was was helping him. 0:17:14.119 --> 0:17:17.840 Yancy and and Tom are good friends, very very good friends. 0:17:18.440 --> 0:17:21.240 And where Yancy. You know, he's the only one that 0:17:21.320 --> 0:17:25.760 built the greens of Augusta, you know, and just he went, 0:17:25.840 --> 0:17:28.199 he was he really got deep into it, you know. 0:17:30.000 --> 0:17:33.320 Just to clarify, Bert Yancey was so committed to winning 0:17:33.320 --> 0:17:36.399 the Masters. The West Point captain of the United States 0:17:36.400 --> 0:17:40.479 Military Academy's golf team once built clay models of the 0:17:40.520 --> 0:17:44.359 greens at Augusta National. Back to Stockton, he had some 0:17:44.440 --> 0:17:48.480 issues and I think Tom kind of relayed a lot 0:17:48.760 --> 0:17:51.840 to him, saw himself in different things, and but he 0:17:51.920 --> 0:17:55.240 and he and he and Tom are good friends. And 0:17:55.640 --> 0:17:58.440 I think it was Thursday that Yancy passed away when 0:17:58.440 --> 0:18:00.840 we're playing up there, and like I said, I mean, 0:18:00.880 --> 0:18:03.280 Tom was really distraught and we talked about it during 0:18:03.280 --> 0:18:06.000 the round and he says, yeah, I'm playing this, I'm 0:18:06.000 --> 0:18:08.800 playing this for Bert, And I said, you go for it. 0:18:09.160 --> 0:18:12.080 I mean, that's that's great. And the end, I mean 0:18:14.080 --> 0:18:16.199 it was it was meant to be I'm sitting there going, 0:18:16.240 --> 0:18:18.840 there's no way Tom can put this good. There's no 0:18:18.880 --> 0:18:22.280 way he's draining these things because Yancey could put And 0:18:22.359 --> 0:18:24.119 so I just figured I was two on one. It 0:18:24.160 --> 0:18:26.119 wasn't really fair. But like you say, I've lost so 0:18:26.160 --> 0:18:28.960 many playoffs, you kind of lose track of it. Back 0:18:29.000 --> 0:18:34.040 to Gyokum and I say, Tom Wiskoff, what do you say, Um, well, 0:18:34.080 --> 0:18:37.600 we've lost We've lost a unique guy. Uh. He's a 0:18:37.640 --> 0:18:41.520 special guy. It's a person you immediately think he should 0:18:41.520 --> 0:18:45.280 be remembered. But unfortunately, you know, I think there's a 0:18:45.280 --> 0:18:49.119 whole generation that they don't really have a Tom Weiskoff 0:18:49.200 --> 0:18:52.720 to remember he was. He was kind of gone off 0:18:52.720 --> 0:18:57.480 the scene, certainly as as a player before before young 0:18:57.560 --> 0:19:00.280 people had gotten a chance to see him. You know, 0:19:00.359 --> 0:19:03.639 we have evidence. I would break it down this way. 0:19:03.760 --> 0:19:08.000 If you're over the age of say, you'll remember sixty. 0:19:08.040 --> 0:19:12.040 You'll remember Tom Wiskoff as a player, and what a 0:19:12.160 --> 0:19:16.760 player he was. I mean he Uh, he's fabulous, underrated. 0:19:16.800 --> 0:19:20.600 He had the most gorgeous swing. Uh, it's as good 0:19:20.640 --> 0:19:24.439 as it gets. And it was unusual in a way 0:19:25.000 --> 0:19:26.920 that you know a lot of golf swings they may 0:19:26.920 --> 0:19:30.199 not be technically perfect. But when you put them in 0:19:30.280 --> 0:19:34.040 motion and watched them in film, the rhythm other swings 0:19:34.240 --> 0:19:37.240 is so good that it makes kind of an unorthodox 0:19:37.359 --> 0:19:40.640 swing look beautiful. Um with Tom it but it's kind 0:19:40.640 --> 0:19:43.080 of just the opposite. And he's the only guy can 0:19:43.160 --> 0:19:46.800 think of that way. Like, Uh, if you look at 0:19:46.840 --> 0:19:52.000 these photographs, the swing sequence of his positions and the 0:19:52.040 --> 0:19:54.879 mechanics of that golf swing, it's just a set piece 0:19:55.080 --> 0:19:59.879 of perfection. You just can't you can't uh make or 0:20:00.080 --> 0:20:03.760 draw a skullf swing better that better than that. I mean, 0:20:03.800 --> 0:20:06.200 I don't think he was the logo of the PGA 0:20:06.320 --> 0:20:08.800 towards logo that when we've seen him, but he very 0:20:08.800 --> 0:20:10.800 well could have been. And you could have chosen any 0:20:10.800 --> 0:20:13.679 one of ten positions in his swing and it was 0:20:13.760 --> 0:20:17.639 just the stuff of dreams. But but his he but 0:20:18.119 --> 0:20:20.800 when you saw him swing, his tempo was it was 0:20:20.840 --> 0:20:23.639 an up tempo swing. It was kind of a quick swing. 0:20:24.080 --> 0:20:26.480 We we tend to be drawn to kind of drowsy 0:20:26.560 --> 0:20:29.800 beautiful swings. But for a great, big, tall guy, he 0:20:30.080 --> 0:20:35.440 his swing was quite brisk and up tempo. Uh. But so, 0:20:35.600 --> 0:20:38.040 I mean it could look better and still photographs than 0:20:38.040 --> 0:20:41.000 a can in motion but in in In any case, 0:20:41.119 --> 0:20:45.359 it was a beautiful swing and his accomplishments were exceptionally. 0:20:45.640 --> 0:20:50.240 He won I think fifteen times, he got his major. Uh. 0:20:50.320 --> 0:20:52.600 In some ways he was a case of what might 0:20:53.040 --> 0:20:56.119 of what could have been, because he he finished second 0:20:56.119 --> 0:20:59.320 in the Master's four times, and each one was more 0:20:59.400 --> 0:21:04.320 heartbreak then the last. Uh. He told me that he 0:21:04.320 --> 0:21:07.720 has lost in necklace at the seventy five Masters, where 0:21:07.800 --> 0:21:11.720 Jack ran in that long patit at sixteen that famous 0:21:11.840 --> 0:21:14.520 bear tracks. But he said that that did him in 0:21:15.040 --> 0:21:20.160 uh psychologically, that he never quite came back from that emotionally. 0:21:20.560 --> 0:21:24.520 Weiskoff actually won sixteen times and again won the Open 0:21:24.600 --> 0:21:27.199 at Troon in nineteen seventy three. But for more on 0:21:27.320 --> 0:21:31.200 the seventy five Masters, here's Weiskoff on Golf Channel's Morning 0:21:31.280 --> 0:21:34.520 Drive being interviewed by my former colleagues there, Gary Williams 0:21:34.680 --> 0:21:37.119 and Damon heck Well. Thomas, surely didn't take you a 0:21:37.119 --> 0:21:39.480 long time to adapt to Augusta Nastal. He just showed 0:21:39.520 --> 0:21:42.120 your record the seven top tens, four runner up finishes 0:21:42.480 --> 0:21:45.520 at Augusta National. When you reflect on nineteen seventy five, 0:21:45.600 --> 0:21:49.480 that magnificent Masters, that incredible duel involving Johnny Miller and 0:21:49.560 --> 0:21:53.520 Jack Nicholas. What do you remember the most well? I, 0:21:53.920 --> 0:21:56.120 you know, I go back to the last nine holes 0:21:56.520 --> 0:22:04.040 and basically I mishit my my second shot. I pulled it. 0:22:04.040 --> 0:22:06.840 It was a poorly played shot at whole number eleven. 0:22:07.240 --> 0:22:09.440 It actually hit on the green about three or four 0:22:09.520 --> 0:22:13.560 feet into the green, but uh, the contour of the 0:22:13.600 --> 0:22:16.200 slope next to the pond took it down into the water. 0:22:16.320 --> 0:22:19.280 I did get it up and down for a bogey. 0:22:19.280 --> 0:22:22.240 So that was a great jump start right there, because 0:22:22.760 --> 0:22:26.240 that is a very uh tough place to try to 0:22:26.440 --> 0:22:29.200 get it, get the ball up and down when you 0:22:29.320 --> 0:22:32.439 have to drop it behind the pond, pitch over the 0:22:32.440 --> 0:22:35.000 pond to that back left pin placement, which it was 0:22:35.080 --> 0:22:41.120 that particular day. Then I mishit my t shot at sixteen, 0:22:41.480 --> 0:22:44.040 and the game of golf is a game of missus, 0:22:45.280 --> 0:22:49.280 and uh, I went right to my putter. I was 0:22:49.320 --> 0:22:51.480 on the front of the green and I had to 0:22:51.480 --> 0:22:55.280 put across the slope. I had a very unusual situation 0:22:56.240 --> 0:22:59.920 on that green that if I hit it real hard, 0:23:00.000 --> 0:23:03.800 hard and play way right of the pin, I was 0:23:03.840 --> 0:23:07.280 gonna give myself probably a six to ten foot put 0:23:07.280 --> 0:23:10.720 at best and I just miss hit my putt. I 0:23:10.760 --> 0:23:12.560 think I looked up a little bit. I was a 0:23:12.560 --> 0:23:16.040 little bit anxious. I was feeling the pressure. So there's 0:23:16.119 --> 0:23:18.800 three shots right there in nine holes, and that was 0:23:18.880 --> 0:23:22.359 the difference. Other than that, you know, it was a 0:23:22.560 --> 0:23:27.399 very exciting uh Masters for all three of us. Obviously, 0:23:28.119 --> 0:23:32.600 Johnny played fantastic. He got off to a very poor start, 0:23:33.440 --> 0:23:36.480 and then I got back into contention and had had 0:23:37.000 --> 0:23:41.159 his chances also, But you know, Jack is just Jack. 0:23:41.280 --> 0:23:44.679 You know, if there's anybody that's gonna make a put 0:23:44.680 --> 0:23:47.040 like he did at six to be him, you know, 0:23:47.200 --> 0:23:52.080 because he just never makes mistakes, and he made the 0:23:52.160 --> 0:23:58.479 fewer that particular day. And consequently John and I finished second. 0:23:59.280 --> 0:24:02.639