Age Was No Bar To His Par

Meanwhile, Morey was trampling the opposition. He won four of the first five holes of his opening match, and had a total score of one under par against his first three opponents. Morey is an advocate of physical fitness and each morning he was up early for a zesty two-mile jog before teeing off. He gulped his vitamins regularly, sipped health drinks and retired early each evening, along with his roommate, Tutwiler. Both players were making their first appearance in the tournament and each wanted the title, pointing out that it was comparable to the Miss Teenage America crown—you only have a few years in which to win it.

Morey was once a pro in two sports, golf and basketball. He played the golf circuit as a youngster but quit to play basketball with the Anderson Packers after he shot his best round, a 64 in the Montgomery Open, and Ben Hogan came in with a 63. A few years later he regained his amateur status in golf.

Morey and Tutwiler were paired in the semifinals on Friday and caution seemed to be Morey's style. He had gauged the course with a measuring wheel to get the exact yardages to the greens and gave Tutwiler a copy of the information before the tournament. "Now he wants it back," Tut said.

The match was close until the 15th hole, where Morey saved a par with a dandy chip and Tutwiler three-putted to lose a hole he seemed certain to win. Morey went on to register a 3 and 2 victory, then graciously drove Tutwiler to the airport. "I wouldn't mind driving all of them there," he said.

Oehmig moved into the final with a victory over the gloriously euphorious Norando Nannini of Chicago that was almost as much the result of luck as of skill. On the 17th, Oehmig was faced with an exceedingly difficult pitch shot, but his ball had landed near a flight of wooden steps leading down into a bunker and he was given a free drop that moved him up onto the fringe of the green. He went on to win two up.

The bane of Morey's game is a duck hook, a deadly fault on a course like Harbour Town. But throughout the week he controlled his driver, and his confidence surged in the final against Oehmig. He birdied the first two par-5s, hitting a pair of solid wood shots at each, and regularly outdrove Oehmig by as much as 30 yards. At the turn, Morey's lead was three up, but by virtue of some minor miracles like a chip-in at the 12th hole, Oehmig managed to trail by only a hole going to the 14th. There, something happened that canceled whatever good fortune the banker may have enjoyed against Nannini. Oehmig was on the edge of the green, preparing to chip when he grounded his club in what was clearly defined as a hazard. He instantly realized his error, looking like a man who had just snubbed a stop sign and then caught sight of a police car a few feet away. He lost the hole, and the next, and the next, and Morey won 4 and 2.

The triumph was sublime for the man from High Point. It was his first national title, although he had come close in the 1953 U.S. Amateur when victory had been snatched from him by Gene Littler's 40-foot putt on the last hole. Now, 21 years later, he had proved that you are never too old to win.