WEISKOPF SEEN AS DANGER Nicklaus in top form for U.S. Open golf

Press, Volume CXIII, Issue 33252, 15 June 1973, Page 22

WEISKOPF SEEN AS DANGER Nicklaus in top form for U.S. Open golf

(From FRANK OPEL, of United Press International, through N.Z.P.A.) OAKMONT (Pennsylvania). There are two theories about the 1973 United States Open golf championship starting today. Either Tom Weiskopf is so hot that nobody in the world is going to beat him, or who is Tom Weiskopf any time Jack Nicklaus seriously puts his mind to winning. Then, how much is Jack Nicklaus putting his mind to this i tournament where he is the defending champion? He likes to win. and when he makes his mind up he usually does so.

Nicklaus is at the top of his game, and so far this year he has won four tournaments and finished in the money in the other seven in which he has competed. Also, he is nearing the $2 million mark in winnings, and a victory at Oakmont worth $35,000, would give him another leg up to become the first professional to win such a huge amount in prize monev. So far he has won $1,884,972. Weiskopf cannot be overlooked, and this seventy-third championship might settle down to a battle between the two former residents of Columbus, Ohio, who played golf in the Ohio State University I golf team. I Weiskopf has set a torrid pace for the last month. He has had three victories in his last four starts, and he finished second to Nicklaus in the other. In his last three tournaments, Weiskopf had 21 birdies and a hole in one in the Atlanta Classic where he was beaten by Nicklaus; had 23 birdies in the Kemper open, and another 25 at the Philadelphia Classic last week. He says his fellow professionals are looking at a “new Weiskopf” — because “I’m thinking positively.” “In the past, I was satisfied after 1 won a tournament,” he said. “But the mark of a really great player is that he keeps on winning.” Fairways wide Weiskopf, a tall angular type (6ft 3in, 1851 b) who hits the ball a long way, played his first Oakmont round on Monday, and was anything but awed. “I was surprised that the fairways are as wide as they are,” he said. “The landing

areas are ideal — not what 1 had expected — and the greens remind me of the English and Scottish courses. In fact, the whole course, if you cut down all the trees, could be in England or Scotland.” Oakmont also reminds Nicklaus of the Scottish courses, and he compares it to Muirfield because of the numerous hazards and bunkers. Nicklaus says that Oakmont has changed little, if any, since his victory over Arnold Palmer in 1962 to win the United States Open in an 18-hole play-off. That championship started him on his way as a professional, and since that time many consider him the finest golfer in the world. At the time, he was aged 22 and had been on the professional circuit a year. Lee Trevino also must be reckoned with despite his withdrawal from the Philadelphia Classic last week. He has won two tournaments this year that have pushed him in to the $1 million in winnings category. There is also a fellow who lives east of Oakmont and commutes to the course — a drive of about an hour and a half. ‘Home’ course This is Arnold Palmer, the sentimental favourite in Oakmont whose game lately cannot compare with the charging Palmer of old. But he is serious about winning his second United States Open. Palmer says he has played Oakmont “about 100” times starting in the 1940 s where as a teen-age wonder he whipped many a low handicap member. No-one knows Oakmont better than he, so he cannot be ruled out. There is strong support, too, for the Australian, Bruce Crampton, a three-time winner on the cricuit this year and second to Nicklaus in prize-money earnings in 1973 but who, like Weiskopf. has never won a major international title. Also regarded as a strong challenger in the field of 148 is the 23-year-old, Lanny Wadkins, who in his third year as a professional, has won the Byron Nelson Classic, and amassed more than $114,000 in earnings since January.