Bill Rogers - "The 1981 Open Win That Almost Didn't Happen...Twice!" SHORT TRACK

Intro Music 0:07

Straight down the middle. It went straight down the middle.

Mike Gonzalez 0:13

Then it started to Well, we're gonna have you take us through it. Uh one of the questions I have is is having finished uh uh pretty well the previous year at Muirfield, I think you were T19 at Muirfield the previous year, which was I think your first open, is that right?

SPEAKER_00 0:28

It was.

Mike Gonzalez 0:29

So uh if this is true, is it true that Ben Crenshaw sort of had to convince you to come over for this one?

SPEAKER_00 0:36

100%. And uh he was of course, he and uh Bruce Litsky, myself, and Bobby Watkins, a few others, Jay Hoss, they're all close in, very close friends. And uh Bruce or uh Ben was always encouraging us uh to experience open golf and you know, Lynx golf. And uh heck we finally bought in and because it will we were in an era where not everybody was that keen and quick, certainly from an expense standpoint, but just all you know, it it really encompasses uh a two-week buy-in as much as it does just a a week to play the tournament. So be that as it may, uh we were we finally relented and and agreed to uh take Ben's advice and come over and and play. We all stayed together, which made it extra special, and uh uh I'm certainly happy we did because Muirfield arguably one of the well it is way high on the list of open venues, but uh I'll never forget we stayed at Greywalls, which is right there at Muirfield, and Tom Wiskoff and I had finished our round early, and we're sitting there uh in the in the kind of the gathering study area in Greywalls, and he said, Come on, let's go out and watch uh Watson's gonna win. Let's watch him walk up the 72nd hole. So we get up and we walk uh and we get under the TV tower, and here comes Watson, and they, you know, the fans had already stormed the fairway. And he said, Bill, I'll tell you what, he says, you know, that could be you one of these days. You could win this tournament. And he didn't know it, but I kind of took that to heart, and I said, Well, I'm I'm gonna give it another try. You know, so anyway, he spoke uh spoke confidence into me as a player, and I took it to heart, and I'll never forget it actually, but then then 81 rolled around.

Mike Gonzalez 2:34

You know, you're there and and uh uh getting ready to play your first round. I heard you almost missed your your first tea time.

SPEAKER_00 2:40

I absolutely did. My caddy and I completely lost track of time. I was on the putting green and a sports writer, I'll never forget his name, John Whitbred. He was sitting there and he comes out on the putting green and he says, uh, Bill, I believe that uh you're on the tee. And I look over there and absolutely I'm playing with Maurice Bembridge and I think uh Manuel Pinero, I think, were my and they're they were they're about to hit. And by the time I my caddy and I get to the T, they had hit and it was my time to hit off. I mean, you talk about good fortune. I mean, uh by all rights, I could have missed it so easy. Had he not come on the putton green, uh, like I said, my caddy and I had completely lost all track of time.

Mike Gonzalez 3:29

We hope you've enjoyed this short track of For the Good of the Game. And please, wherever you listen to your podcast on Apple and Spotify, if you like what you hear, please subscribe, spread the word, and tell your friends until we teat up again with the good of the game. So long, everybody.

Intro Music 3:53

It went smack down the fairway. When it started to slice, just smitch off line. It headed for two, but it bounced off nine. My candidates, as long as you're still in the stage, you're okay.