“Tom was a tremendous player and competitor, and he was one of the great storytellers in our game. He was wonderful to be around,” said eight-time major champion Tom Watson, who was first to publicly report on Weiskopf’s passing in a Twitter post Sunday morning. “He knew a lot about the game. He had a passion for it. That was apparent throughout his life.”

The news hit Watson, 72, particularly hard. After Weiskopf was diagnosed in late 2020, he had reached out to Watson, whose wife Hillary had been stricken with the same disease and died in 2019. “They were on the same protocol,” Watson told Golf Digest somberly on Sunday. “Pancreatic cancer is just so lethal.”

Weiskopf swings during the Champion Golfers’ Challenge ahead of the 2015 Open Championship at St Andrews. R&A

Weiskopf died slightly more than a year after undergoing Whipple surgery for his cancer, which at the time was deemed successful and had allowed him to return to a limited amount of course design work. Laurie Weiskopf said her husband was declared cancer free late last year, but the disease came roaring back in April.

“He really fought it for a long, long time, and he did so bravely,” Laurie said. “It was a shock, but not a surprise.”

A native of Massillon, Ohio, and a standout at Ohio State University in the years after Jack Nicklaus starred for the Buckeyes and captured an NCAA individual title, Weiskopf won 16 times on the PGA Tour between 1968 and 1982. The highlight came in 1973, when he claimed his lone major title in the Open Championship at Troon. Weiskopf won wire to wire, defeating reigning US Open champion Johnny Miller and Neil Coles by three strokes.

The son of a railroad worker, Weiskopf captured another four titles on the PGA Tour Champions, including the 1995 US Senior Open at Congressional Country Club, beating Nicklaus by four shots.

With a lanky 6ft 3ins frame, Weiskopf was long known to have one of the most rhythmic and picturesque swings. He was also long known to have a fiery temper, which earned him the nickname ‘The Towering Inferno’. The combination produced impressive results, but only mixed success in major championships. At the Masters, he finished second four times, the most of any player to never claim a Green Jacket. In 71 major starts he posted 21 top-10 finishes and 12 in the top-five.

“I definitely was over par for my career,” Weiskopf told Golf Digest colleague John Huggan in 2010. “Even par would have been three majors and twice as many regular tour wins. I have to admit that. I’ve always been honest with myself.”

Because of their common Ohio roots, the man he was most often measured against was Nicklaus. It was a standard that no other player of that generation could necessarily match, creating unfair comparisons. Weiskopf aptly described the challenge of going up against the 18-time major winner, saying: “Jack knew he was going to beat you. You knew Jack was going to beat you. And Jack knew you knew he was going to beat you.”

Weiskopf was a four-time runner-up at the Masters, including a T-2 finish behind Jack Nicklaus in 1975. Bettmann

“Tom was a good friend and one heck of a player, one of the four or five most talented players I’ve ever seen, one of the top five ball-strikers I’ve ever known,” Nicklaus said by phone on Sunday. “That tall straight posture that he had, just so natural over the ball.”

Nicklaus, three years older than Weiskopf, said he didn’t get to know Weiskopf well at Ohio State, but became friends when they played on the tour. “I know he always felt like he was sort of in my shadow because he followed me at Ohio State, and he shouldn’t have felt that way,” Nicklaus said. “He was a great player in his own right. He was impressive.”

In all, Weiskopf collected 28 professional wins, and he qualified for the US Ryder Cup team three times, but only played for the US twice, going 7-2-1. He skipped the 1977 matches to go sheep hunting, one of his great passions. After his Whipple surgery, one of his first goals was to be ready for hunting season in the autumn.

Weiskopf transitioned to golf course design in the mid-1980s, partnering with Jay Morrish, a protégé of Nicklaus’, for much of his career on some 70 courses, including Troon North, TPC Scottsdale, Double Eagle Club and Loch Lomond in Scotland. His design work received praise from players, fans and media.

Weiskopf’s signature playing moment came in 1973 when he won the Open Championship at Royal Troon. Arthur Jones

His knowledge of the game and his candour also served him well as a broadcaster and he commentated on the Masters in 1981 and from 1985 to 1995.

During the 1986 Masters, as Nicklaus rallied to his sixth Green Jacket, Weiskopf was asked by Jim Nantz what might be going through the Golden Bear’s mind as he stood on the tee at the par-3 16th tee. Weiskopf replied with one of the greatest quips in golf broadcasting history, saying: “If I knew the way he thought, I would have won this tournament.”

Few remember that Weiskopf then said Nicklaus “is going to fire this at this pin. He’s going to think: ‘Jack, this is the time right now. Make the swing that you are capable of making.’” And Nicklaus proceeded to nearly make an ace, the ball skirting just past the cup before stopping three feet away.

In a phone interview last summer, Weiskopf summarised his relationship — and eventual contentment — with the game.

“Golf, to me, was always such a great challenge of the mind, and there were times I wish I had handled that challenge a little better,” Weiskopf said. “But I love the game. I love talking about it and thinking about it and to me it is endlessly fascinating.”

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By Ryan Herrington
Three days after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, Tom Weiskopf received his first chemotherapy treatment in Miami, according to a report from Golfweek.

The 78-year-old former Open Championship winner experienced sharp pain in his stomach in late November while working with his course design company in Scottsdale on the reopening of Troon Country Club. He followed up with doctors at home in Montana, where CT scans revealing a legion in his pancreas. Weiskopf went for more tests at Miami Baptist Cancer Institute the week after Thanksgiving, including a biopsy that confirmed the diagnosis.

“I’ve got a rough four to six months ahead of me,” Weiskopf told Golfweek, describing the news as “quite a blow” but remaining optimistic about the future.

Weiskopf was a 16-time winner on the PGA Tour and added four more titles on the PGA Tour Champions. He biggest victory was his win at the 1973 British Open at Royal Troon. After his playing career, he turned his attention to golf architecture, having built hundreds of acclaimed courses around the world.

Weiskopf told Golfweek that he’s already been in touch several friends in the golf community, including fellow Ohio State alumni Jack Nicklaus and Ed Sneed, Tony Jacklin, Andy North and Lanny Wadkins.

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By Daniel Rapaport
PONTE VEDRA BEACH — The inevitable happened early Thursday UAE time. In perhaps the least surprising bit of news any golf fan could hear, Tiger Woods has been elected into the World Golf Hall of Fame.

“I am both honoured and humbled to be inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame,” Woods said in a statement. “This past year has been such an incredible journey, and the support I’ve received from my family, friends and fans has been overwhelming. This achievement is the ultimate recognition to never give up and keep chasing.”

Woods is the first member of the Class of 2021 picked by the Hall of Fame’s 20-member Selection Committee. The Committee voted on Wednesday from a list of 10 finalists. Additional inductees will be announced later, according to officials with the Hall of Fame. Specifics on the formal induction ceremony, which will take place next year, are also to be determined.

Woods, 44, has amassed 15 major championships and a record-tying 82 PGA Tour victories over his storied professional career. He’s one of the few phenoms who end up surpassing expectations—Woods won three straight U.S. Junior Amateurs and three straight U.S. Amateurs before turning professional in 1996.

He won his first major at the 1997 Masters, where he set the scoring record of 18 under par and won by a record 12 shots. He’d add 13 more majors over the next 11 years—including winning four in a row, the Tiger Slam, from the 2000 U.S. Open through the 2001 Masters—before winning his 15th last April at Augusta, after an 11-year drought marked by personal and physical struggles.

“Tiger has done more for the game of golf than anyone ever thought possible, and his historic feats on the course are only one aspect of his impact,” said PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan. “His imprint on the game is immeasurable, and his unparalleled legacy is one we look forward to celebrating as he’s inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame next year.”

Woods holds a number of PGA Tour records, including the most made cuts in a row (142) and most weeks spent atop the World Golf Rankings (683).

The only surprise is how soon Woods has been elected into the Hall of Fame—the minimum age for enshrinement had been 50 until it was moved to 45 earlier this year. Woods will turn 45 on Dec. 30.

The announcement comes during the Players Championship, which Woods is missing for the first time since 2017 to rest a sore back. He has maintained throughout the year that the singular goal of his preparation is to be ready to mount a strong title defence at Augusta National next month.

The remaining finalists who are being considered to join Woods are Johnny Farrell, Padraig Harrington, Tom Weiskopf, Susie Maxwell Berning, Beverly Hanson, Sandra Palmer and Dottie Pepper, and contributors Tim Finchem and Marion Hollins.

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By Dave Shedloski
AKRON, Ohio — Goodbye iconic water tower. Goodbye chicken wraps and crunchy cream pies. Goodbye Arnold Palmer Bridge. Goodbye Monster.

Today’s final round of the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational is the PGA Tour’s farewell sojourn over the South Course at Firestone Country Club, which annually has hosted a professional golf tournament since 1954 when the Rubber City Open was elevated to an official tour event and moved to the facility that tire magnate Harvey S. Firestone built for his employees. Sure, the PGA Tour Champions will continue the tradition next year with the Senior Players Championship, but Firestone always has been a traditional home for the game’s top players, whether it was hosting the PGA Championship, the American Golf Classic, the World Series of Golf or 19 editions of this WGC event.

The tournament moves to TPC Southwind in Memphis next year, sponsored by FedEx, which pours an exorbitant amount of money into the FedEx Cup and wanted a WGC event.

“It’s a sentimental favorite,” said Paul Casey, who has nine top-25 finishes in his previous 13 appearances in this event. “It’s easy to like it here. We’ve made friends here. The whole community is wrapped up in it. There’s a nice familiarity that’s been built up through the decades here, and you can’t minimize how that makes a tournament special.”

Tommy Bolt won the first tournament played at Firestone, and four years later, as the reigning U.S. Open champion, he played a bit of gamesmanship on a young and unsuspecting Jack Nicklaus, who as an 18-year-old amateur was making his debut in a tour event.

“I remember Tommy putting his arm around me walking down the first hole. ‘Don’t you worry, Jackie boy, old Tommy will take care of you.’ He was giving me the business right off the bat,” Nicklaus recalled. “I missed six three-foot putts on the front nine, little short things. He got rid of me fast on that front nine. It’s part of the education of a golfer.”

After beginning the third round just one shot off the lead, Nicklaus slid to a 76. But he rallied with a 68 the last day to finish at seven-under 277, tied for 15th place. He would go on to win at Firestone seven times, including the 1975 PGA Championship.

“This has been a pretty special place for me,” the Golden Bear said in 2013 after visiting Firestone to receive the annual Ambassador of Golf Award that year from Northern Ohio Golf Charities. “I have so many great memories of Firestone and all the years I played here. I loved coming up here. I loved playing the golf course. It suited my eye. It suited my game. I always said, ‘I don’t care what’s going on. I’m going to get to Firestone, and I’ll be able to play well there.’ ”

Bettmann
Gary Player, Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus walk up a fairway in a practice round at the Firestone Country Club during a tournament in the 1960s.

Like Nicklaus, Tiger Woods first saw Firestone when he was an amateur, playing casual rounds on the South and North Courses—the facility has 54 holes—with his father, Earl. And like Nicklaus, Woods always seemed capable of raising his game when he arrived, winning on the South Course eight times, a tour record he shares with himself (at Bay Hill and Torrey Pines) and Sam Snead (at Greensboro). The last of his 79 tour titles came on these grounds in 2013 when he equaled the course record of 61 for a second time.

“It’s always been one of my favorite golf courses on the entire tour, and it’s unfortunate that it is leaving,” said Woods, who climbed from 696th in the world at the start of the year to 50th after the Open Championship to squeak into the field. “This has been one of the very few tournaments that is kind of a small-town atmosphere. It’s a very simple, straightforward golf course, which we don’t see very often anymore. This is away from the stadium golf that we seem to play a lot now on tour. As far as the future of this event, I know it has to move, and it has to go forward and off to Memphis, but it’s one of the reasons why I tried so hard to get in this event, is because it does mean something special to me.”

RELATED: 7 takeaways from the new 2019 PGA Tour schedule

Winners at Firestone through the years have included many of the game’s biggest names: Nicklaus, Woods, Arnold Palmer, Gary Player, Tom Watson, Lee Trevino, Tom Weiskopf, Nick Price, Greg Norman, Curtis Strange, Jose Maria Olazabal, Phil Mickelson, David Duval, Adam Scott, Dustin Johnson and Rory McIlroy.

It has seen the ridiculous and the sublime. “Ridiculous” was the first word Palmer used to describe the long par-5 16th hole on the South Course, created in 1959 when Robert Trent Jones redesigned Bert Way’s truculent layout for the 1960 PGA Championship, won by Jay Hebert. Palmer was in the hunt until he suffered a quadruple-bogey 8 in the third round after hitting into the new pond in front of the green. Later he called it “a monster,” and the name stuck. Last year, a bridge near the 16th green was dedicated in honor of the late Palmer.

Ridiculous was the 8-iron Woods used to airmail the ninth green in the second round of the ’06 tournament. His ball ricocheted off the cart path, over the clubhouse roof and into a loading area, where it was picked up by a staff worker delivering crunchy cream pies. After a frantic search, Woods was allowed a free drop—the clubhouse was not deemed out of bounds—and saved par.

Andy Lyons/Getty Images
The water town at Firestone has become an iconic part of the Akron, Ohio, course.

Even more ridiculous was the melee that unfolded in the 1994 edition, played on the North Course, when an impatient John Daly hit into the group in front of him the final day. One of the players ahead was club pro Jeff Roth, whose father confronted Daly after the round and ended up scuffling with him.

The sublime includes the ridiculous 262 aggregate total Olazabal posted in 1990, well before the advent of the Pro V1 and grasp of trampoline effect. (His win in ’94 makes him the only man to win official events on each course.) Only Woods has bettered the mark, submitting a commanding 259 total to win by 11 strokes in 2000, punctuated by the “shot in the dark,” the 8-iron he struck in the gloaming that fell out of the sky and magically appeared two feet from the hole.

“Being there in person, it was inconceivable that someone could actually hit a golf ball and hit it on the green, find the green, much less land it within a foot of the cup,” CBS golf anchor Jim Nantz said recently. “Of the great shots Tiger hit all time, that would have to be on that pretty special list.”

Nicklaus also authored a memorable shot at Firestone. He blasted a 9-iron over a maple tree from 137 yards to the back of the 16th green to save par in the ’75 PGA. He called it “your basic miracle par,” and one of the biggest gambles he ever took in a major championship. Former PGA champion Bob Rosburg, working for ABC Sports, sized up Nicklaus’ prospects and uttered the words, “he’s got no shot,” that became his catch-phrase over his broadcasting career.

Because of Firestone’s long run and the fact that it hosted multiple events some years—in 1974 there were three events on the South Course: the World Series of Golf, CBS Golf Classic and American Golf Classic—it is believed that no facility, not even Augusta National Golf Club, has been televised more.

In all, there have been 88 tournaments here. Only three tour venues have had a longer consecutive run than Firestone’s 65 years—Augusta National, home of the Masters Tournament, Pebble Beach Golf Links and Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth.

CBS golf producer Lance Barrow first came to Firestone in 1976 as a runner working for broadcaster Pat Summerall, and he couldn’t believe he was seeing the iconic water tower in person.

“I remember watching the CBS Golf Classic as a kid and then coming here and seeing it for real, and thinking that might be one of the great landmarks in golf,” Barrow said. “I couldn’t believe that I was actually here to watch them play golf. It’s probably one of the most recognisable golf courses in America. Later I loved listening to guys like [producer] Frank Chirkinian and [director] Chuck Will talking about all the years they did the CBS Golf Classic. You saw Nelson, you saw Hogan, you saw Snead, Sarazen, Palmer, Nicklaus. That was cool. It was like being in a history class.

Harry How
Tiger smiles as he receives an ovation for his win on the 18th green during at the 2005 NEC Invitational, one of his eight victories at Firestone.

“Tournaments come and go, but this is one where you look back and say I was fortunate to do that tournament, to see the players who have played here and who won here,” he added. “You come back to a place over and over and you get to know people. You invest a lot of your life in one place.”

Sadness. It’s a genuine reaction players express, Mickelson and McIlroy among them, when they ponder the end of a tradition at Firestone. And that’s the crux of it. It’s not an annual tournament. It’s a tradition—perhaps not the haughty “tradition unlike any other” that Nantz says of the Masters, but a tradition rich and warm and meaningful in its own right.

“Yeah, this is our last go-around for a while,” Woods said wistfully after Saturday’s third round and thinking of his final walk on the sylvan property. “This is one of the great classic golf courses. Leish [Marc Leishman] and I were talking about it today—all it is is about a month away from [being able to] host whatever major championship you want. Just dry it out, maybe grow in the fairway here and there, and you have a major. That’s what this golf course has been over the years and we’re going to miss playing it.”

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The 17-year-old Dubai-based Indian amateur No.1 was two-under at the turn in his opening round at Skokie Country Club but eventually mixed five birdies with as many bogeys (including dropped shots on 16 and 18) to sign for an even par 71. It left the dual Dubai Creek and Emirates GC member, ranked 66^th in the official world amateur rankings, in a 17-way share of 49^th place in the 156-player field.

The leading 44 players and ties after today’s second round advance to Thursday’s final 36 holes of stroke play. Thereafter, the top 16 progress to the ‘Sweet 16’, the historic event’s match play phase to be decided over Friday and Saturday.

Thomas tees it up at 8.40am (5.40pm UAE time) today and surviving the first cut would be another huge confidence boost after he missed the match play phase of The (British) Amateur in Northern Ireland by a solitary stroke before becoming the first Indian to progress to the semifinals of the U.S. Junior Amateur at Flint Hills GC in Kansas last month (he was beaten 5&4 by eventual runner-up, Texan Noah Goodwin).

Thomas moved inside the top 1000 of the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) on the back of his U.S. Junior Amateur performance. To put his 972^nd rating into context, injury-sidelined former world No.1 Tiger Woods is currently ranked 1046^th.

The Emirates Golf Federation star is five shots adrift of the Western Am’s overnight leaders – Americans Stephen Franken, Dawson Armstrong and Collin Morikawa, Australian Ruben Sondjaja and New Zealander Nick Voke – and a sub-par round is likely to do the job Wednesday. Among other notable scores, former Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo shot 80 in his first big amateur event while defending champion Dylan Meyer ( Indiana), made two bogeys over his final five holes to finish with a 72. Morikawa is the world No.2 and 2013 Western Am champion while Armstrong captured the 2015 edition of the tournament first played in 1899.

The Western Am is one of the most prestigious events on the amateur calendar. Past champions include Francis Ouimet, Jack Nicklaus, Tom Weiskopf, Ben Crenshaw, Curtis Strange, Chris DiMarco, Phil Mickelson, Justin Leonard, Woods, Ryan Moore and Danny Lee.

Catch the first round highlights here:

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