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Tom Wiskopf’s golf skills far surpass his 16 wins on the PGA Tour and his only major at the Tron Grand Slam at the British Open. He was always outspoken, often outspoken and always accurate in the TV booth. He found more success designing golf courses.
Weiskopf died Saturday at his home in Big Sky, Montana, at the age of 79, his wife said. He was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in December 2020.
Laurie Weiskopf said Tom worked at the Spanish Peak Club last week and attended a traditional luncheon at the Signature Club, where he was designing “Legacy: Tom’s Ten,” a collection of his 10 favorite par 3s .
“He worked to the end. It was fantastic,” she said. “He had a good life.”
Weiskopf, the son of an Ohio railroad worker, has said he fell in love with the sport even before he started racing. His father took him to the 1957 U.S. Open in Inverness, and he was fascinated by the sheer touch of Sam Snead.
“You had dinner with Tom and loved every minute of it,” Andinos said Sunday. “The sad thing to lose is how good he is. Every time he hits it, it’s beautiful.”
Pure touch was his hallmark at Ohio State, and then his career on tour. Weiskopf was 6-foot-3 — golf heights of the era — and Weiskopf’s swing was powerful and rhythmic, natural and athletic. His best year was in 1973, when he won seven championships around the world, including the Claret Jug and the World Golf Series at Firestone, before officially on tour.
He’s also known for the majors he hasn’t won and the competition he’s faced — especially Jack Nicklaus, the Ohio star who led him a few years on the tour and played in Weskop Husband’s entire career has cast a huge shadow.
Weiskopf was runner-up four times at the Masters, the most of any player who didn’t win the green jacket. Most memorable was in 1975, when Weiskopf and Johnny Miller stood on the 16th tee as they watched Nicklaus make a 40-foot birdie down the slope to put him in another. a victory.
He is famous for speaking of Nicklaus: “Jack knows he’s going to beat you. You know Jack’s going to beat you. Jack knows you know he’s going to beat you.”
More tellingly, he told Golf Digest in 2008: “Going head-to-head with Jack Nicklaus in a major is like trying to suck up the Pacific with a teacup. You’re on the first tee. You know your best golf might not be good enough.”
Weiskopf is excellent in many ways, but he often says he doesn’t make the most of his talents. He attributes most of it to drinking, which he once said ruined his golf career. He quit drinking in 2000 and considers it one of his great victories.
Nicklaus once said of him: “Tom Weiskopf is as talented as any player I’ve ever seen on tour.”
He also said he never had enough passion for golf. He enjoys the outdoors, especially hunting and fishing. Weiskopf once skipped the 1977 Ryder Cup so he could go sheep hunting.
His free spirit and unfiltered mind are an important part of his personality. His temper led to nicknames like “Towering Hell” and “Scary Tom”. When it comes to golf, a large part of it can be traced back to his high standards.
“I can’t accept failure when it’s my fault,” he said after winning the U.S. Senior Open in Congress in 1995. “It’s just used to tear me apart.”
Weiskopf’s last PGA Tour victory was the 1982 Western Open. His last full year on the PGA Tour came a year later. He’s in the PGA Tour Championship, and maybe the only major for him is the Senior Open, four shots ahead of Nicklaus.
His television commentary at the Masters for CBS and ABC/ESPN was all about candor.
He was competing in the 1986 Masters, when Nicklaus was 46 years old on his way to victory. When Nicklaus was on the 16th tee, CBS host Jim Nantz called Weiskopf and asked, “What’s Jack thinking now?”
“If I had known what he was thinking, I would have won this title,” Weiskopf replied with a smile.
Weiskopf worked with golf course architect Jay Moorish, and their first collaboration was Troon Country Club in Scottsdale, Arizona, which Golf Digest named the Best New Course of 1986. He worked on 25 courses with Moorish and then with Phil Smith.
Of the 80 courses Weiskopf designed, Scotland’s Loch Lomond and the 2016 renovation of Torrey Pines’ north course met his standards – challenging at the highest level and enjoyable for all.
His design standard is a drivable 4 pole. Inspired by playing at the old course in St Andrews, where he can hit four 4’s depending on the wind.
Weiskopf summed up his contributions to golf last summer in Golf Digest.
“For me, golf has always been a big challenge for me, and sometimes I wish I could handle it better,” he said. “But I love the sport. I love talking about it and thinking about it, and for me it’s endless.”
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