Whatever the name, PGA Tour tournaments in the desert have always been events featuring top players and historic moments.
Officials hope this week’s 64th Annual American Express Tournament in La Quinta will make some history. But the tournament also marks a significant moment in the history of both tournaments and the PGA Tour. This year marks the 50th anniversary of Arnold Palmer’s fifth win on the American Express and his 62nd and final win on the PGA Tour.
Palmer loves the desert and has spent most of his professional life working part-time in the area, winning a PGA Tour event in the area in 1960, a year before the debut of what is now American Express. Of course, Palmer won his first American Express Tournament. He won in 1960, then in 1962, 1968 and 1971. Few would have thought that the 1973 Bermuda Dunes title with his country club would be his last.
Here are 7 things to know about Palmer’s final PGA Tour win at American Express, then known as the Bob Hope Desert Classic.
it rained
Rain at a desert PGA Tour event is usually as rare as it was at the 80’s rounds. However, it was raining that day, and it was chilly and windy. This was not a mild drizzle either. It rained so hard at times that Jack Nicklaus and Johnny Miller said after the round that they thought the play would be called several times during the round. Didn’t face any problem. Palmer was at a stage in his career when he wore glasses while playing. This meant that Palmer had to constantly wipe the drizzle out of his glasses, sometimes making them so foggy that he only had to remove them for a few shots. But officials said the rain did not hold back the crowds, saying 22,000 people were on the track for the Palmer-Nicklaus showdown.
Palmer hasn’t won in 18 months
Palmer won the National Team Championship in August 1971 with partner Jack Nicklaus. Although this was his fourth win of the season (including Hope in February), Palmer did not win at all in his 22 starts in 1972. Palmer achieved 10 top 10 finishes, including 3rd at the US Open in 1972 and 6th at the PGA Championship. However, he did not win and was winless in his first five weeks of the 1973 season. Palmer needed a win. Hope couldn’t have been better off at a tournament in his adopted desert home, where he has won five of his last, including his four wins in the tournament.
Palmer loved the Bermuda dunes
Perhaps it was an omen that the final round of Hope in 1973 was played at the Bermuda Dunes Country Club. This is because Palmer has won this tournament his four times. Three of those came in years when the Bermuda Dunes hosted the pro-only fifth round. Palmer had a home at his Dunes in Bermuda throughout his 1960s, so it’s likely that he was comfortable on the course, but over the years he’s played at Indian Wells, Tamarisk, La Quinta, Eldorado, Country Club, etc. The tournament would have been equally comfortable on his course. Palmer’s only win in a year not hosted by the Bermuda Dunes was his first event of 1960, hosted by Thunderbirds his country club.
Palmer made it in the fifth round
The desert PGA Tour event was one of the few 90-hole PGA Tour events, and the extra round helped Palmer a lot. Palmer won the tournament only twice since becoming the 72-hole leader, when he defeated Dean in the 1968 playoffs, when he beat Beeman, and in the 1971 playoffs, when he beat Raymond, who beat Floyd. bottom. Other years, Palmer rallied in the fifth round, overtaking Johnny Palmer (unrelated) in 1960, Gene Littleler in 1962 and Nicklaus in 1973. Palmer rallied for the 90-hole lead again in 1966, but lost in the playoffs to Doug. Saunders.
Palmer scored early in the final round
Palmer trailed Nicklaus and Miller in a shot going into the final round of 1973. “Ladies and gentlemen, I am here to referee this match.” replaced the positions of the giants. Nicklaus somehow never caught Palmer for the rest of the day. Two down on the par-5 18th hole, Nicklaus missed an eagle putt and hit a birdie, and Palmer added another birdie to finish at 3-under 69 for the day. Nicklaus and Miller both fired 72 rounds.
1973 was Palmer’s last good year
Palmer finished 1973 with 7 top 10 finishes and 15 top 25 finishes, running at the US Open before finishing fourth in the year Miller won the Open in the final round of 63. It was his fifth title for Hope and never again reached those figures with a top 10 or top 25 finish on the Tour.
Palmer and Nicklaus in top 10
Palmer and Nicklaus dominated golf in the 1960s, but only Hope in 1973 faced off in the desert. In fact, his 1963 is the only time both players have finished in the top 10 in the same year’s tournament. Defending his champion Palmer, Nicklaus and Gary in his players’ playoffs he was tied for sixth place, four shots behind him. Nicklaus won easily 65 to 73 Players in the 18-hole playoff at Indian Wells Country Club on Monday.
