|
Jackie Burke wins Masters by one stroke 2nd place is grabbed by Venturi, Middlecoff takes third
By Johnny Hendrix
Chronicle Sports Editor
Augusta, Ga., Monday, April 9, 1956 -- Jack Burke Jr., almost a forgotten man in the championship ranks of professional golf, came out of nowhere with a one-under par 71 yesterday to win the 20th Masters golf tournament with a 72-hole total of 289. Eight strokes behind the leader going into the final round, the 33-year-old native of Ft. Worth, Tex., was one of two players to equal or better par as Ken Venturi and Cary Middlecoff blew sky high.
Venturi cards 80
Venturi, who had led since the opening day when he walloped par on the 6,965-yard Augusta National with a six-under 66, finished with an 80 for second place at 290. Middlecoff, the defending champion and the only man given a chance to overhaul Venturi as the final round started, had a 77 for a 291. Burke's 72-71-75-71-289 tied the highest score ever recorded in the 20 glory-filled years of the dream tournament of Bobby Jones. Sam Snead, a three-time winner, tied Ben Hogan at the same score two years ago and won the playoff. Snead had a 71 yesterday to bring him from deep in the pack to a tie for fourth place with Lloyd Mangrum at 294.
Inman has 304
Augusta's Walker Inman Jr., the first native ever to play in the storied tournament, was also a victim of a horrible final day. Actually, Inman played superbly, but a 10 on the par five 15th hole ran his tournament score to 304. He missed qualifying for next year's tournament as one of the top 24 by one stroke. In fifth place, five strokes back, came Doug Ford and Jerry Barber. Ford was actually in the tournament until the last nine holes, which also proved disastrous to Venturi and Middlecoff. Although Venturi's game went to pieces and Middlecoff was no more than a shell of the champion who won last year by seven strokes, the deciding factor was the 17th hole.
15-foot putt
Burke ran in a 15-foot putt for a birdie there while Middlecoff had a double-bogey six on a three-putter. Venturi took a bogey five. That climaxed a mad up-and-down scramble between the two leaders and let Burke in by virtue of a four-foot putt on the 18th hole for a par.
For Burke, it was the first tournament victory since he won at Inverness in 1952 with a 72-hole total of 273. It was his first win in the major tournament category since he turned professional at the age of 18. The high winds which had plagued the players for two days, subsided somewhat, but only Burke and Snead were able to conquer the treacherous course on the final day. After their 71s, the next best score was 73 and there were many of these.
Old jinx
Such a tremendous reversal of form by Venturi again socked home the solid realization that no amateur seems destined to win the Maters. The same held for Middlecoff. Although there are two three-time winners and two who have won it twice, no one has ever won two in a row.
Possessing a tremendous potential and evidently in complete control of himself after posting an opening 66, Venturi withstood all challenges on the crucial third day to carry his too bad, and all he had to do was mind his business on the back nine and he would have won driving. But the shots kept slipping away. The boy made but three pars over the final nine, amassed a 42 for a fat 80 and he ended up only a sensation, not a winner, same as Billy Joe Patton two years ago. In 1954 Patton went for a 7 and a 6 on the Ben Hogan playoff for the title because he was one shot out of the picture.
Not much to tell
There truly isn't much to tell about Burke, except that the 33-year-old representative of Lake Kiamesha, N.Y., simply went out in front of Venturi, did a good job and obviously won. He played well at the beginning and then when he heard that Venturi was slipping, Jackie had enough sense to keep plugging away. He never until the last minute thought he could close the eight-shot gap Ken had set up with starting rounds of 66, 69 and 75, but examine the result your own self. Burke shot 72, 71, 75 and 71.
If you think Venturi, bidding to become the tournament's first amateur winner, had grief of an indescribable nature, consider Middlecoff. Even halfway decent golf on three holes would have brought him in but Cary actually four-putted No. 5 from 45 feet, hit a little pitch six feet dead into a trap on No. 7 and took four to get down from the fringe on No. 17. Cary's a master. He proved it by winning last year, but he never experienced any double bogeys when single bogeys would win. It all just proves the golfers are somewhat human - which makes it somewhat better for people who play the game day in and day out. In fact, what about Charley Kunkle of Johnstown, Pa., who qualified to play here because he was a quarterfinalist in last year's national amateur. He racked up a 95 yesterday. Take heart, bro.
|
