Chips + Putts

If there was a Golf Hall of Fame for shoulda-coulda-wouldas, Bruce Crampton might be its first inductee. In 1973, the Aussie became the first non-American to break the million-dollar ceiling in career winnings. He was also the first non-American in more than thirty years to be awarded the Vardon Trophy, the annual prize for the PGA's lowest scoring average. Crampton's '73, however, was as much about what he didn't take home. He won four events but placed second five times and, with official earnings of $271,235, came in second to Jack Nicklaus on the money list. His maddening tendency to best everybody except Jack was previously exhibited at the '72 Masters and U.S. Open, but it was Crampton's runner-up finish at the '73 PGA Championship at Cleveland's Canterbury that cemented his reputation. Crampton repeated the second-to-Jack finish at the '75 PGA, by which point some had dubbed him "Nicklaus's Bridesmaid." How does he feel about that label now?Quips Crampton, "It was a shame he was around when I was doing so well."

Last November, at a charity event at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Arizona, Champions Tour legend Miller Barber won a Ford Expedition when he ripped a three-iron at the 197-yard fifth hole and saw the ball drop into the cup for his twenty-fifth career hole in one—admirable, but well behind the record (amateur Norman Manley made fifty-nine). It is likely, however, that nobody has won more automobiles for such shots than Barber, now seventy-two. With that ace, the man known as Mr. X netted his thirteenth car. The first dozen were Mercury Cougars given away as promotions back in the '60s. Barber drove away with new wheels nine years in a row, once in back-to-back weeks. So what does a septuagenarian do with twelve Cougars?"Let the IRS know every time."
—Joe Passov

"Ever seen the film Zorro?It was like that."
—British pro Chris Gane, after carding a seventeen on one hole at the Diageo Championship at Gleneagles, including nine slashes from the greenside rough

Scientific Golfers' The One putter ($175; 800-433-1574, scientificgolfers.com) is designed to be used while facing the hole, with the club at your side, to capitalize on a true frontal view. You swing it in a pendulum motion that its inventors say is as natural as moving your arms while walking. The USGA and R&A have cleared it for competition, and remember, the long putter was laughed at once, too.