Sanders ‘aged 20 years’ after missing short putt
A Scottish golfer has recalled being told that Doug Sanders “aged 20 years overnight” after missing a three-foot putt to win the 1970 Open Championship at St Andrews.
Alan Tait shared the story from a conversation with Sanders’ then wife as he joined the golfing world in expressing sadness over the American’s death at the age of 86.
Sanders, a colourful character, won 20 times on the PGA Tour, but he will be remembered as much for what happened at the home of golf in 1970.
He had one hand on the Claret Jug following a last-day battle with Jack Nicklaus only to agonisingly take 5 at the 18th hole on the Old Course before losing an 18-hole play-off to his compatriot the following day.
“I was lucky enough to play in the Doug Sanders European and World Junior Championships in 1986 at Kings Links in Aberdeen,” recalled Tait, the Scottish Boys’ champion at the time.
“He was there for the full two weeks of the championships and was a great character who engaged with the kids and parents the whole time. He had time for everyone and I got to know him and his then wife, Scotty, during that fortnight.
“I remember sitting up talking to Scotty one night in The Atholl Hotel in Aberdeen. It was just the two of us, and, as a 17-year-old, it was intriguing and fascinating as she reminisced with me about that infamous day at St Andrews. I was hanging on to every word she was saying!
“He and his wife and all their friends were staying at The Old Course Hotel, just a short walk from the 18th tee. Needing a 4 to win The Open, Sanders hit his drive and finished only about 30 yards from the green.
“One of the friends of Scotty said, ‘you go and walk up to the green and we’ll head off and help get the hotel room ready with the champagne, banners and balloons etc and we’ll see you shortly’. There were other friends apparently in his room setting everything up for the celebrations. They had the TV on in his room watching him play the 18th ‘live’.
“Four more shots and 20 minutes later and when he missed that putt, it was a mad rush to get everything ripped back down and start hiding the champagne etc, before he got back to the hotel.”
Twenty-four hours later,
Sanders lost by a shot to Nicklaus in their 18-hole play-off for the Claret Jug. “I vividly remember Scotty telling me she was amazed he only lost to Nicklaus by one that day,” added Tait. “She said he was up all night on the toilet, never slept a wink and was physically sick most of the night.
“He couldn’t eat a thing at breakfast and, like it was yesterday, I remember her saying, ‘my husband had aged 20 years overnight’.”
Tait landed both the European and World titles in that 1986 event. “At the end of the two weeks, he took me and my mum and dad aside and told me he thought I should go to America on a golf scholarship, and if I wanted he would arrange everything and also get all the costs covered,” he recalled. “I took up his offer and spent two great years at Paris Junior College, just outside Dallas, Texas. I am forever indebted to Mr Sanders.”
Sanders had three other second-place finishes in majors – the 1959 US PGA Championship, the 1961 US Open and the 1966 Open Championship.
But it was 1970 that stuck in his throat.
“I feel very sick about the British Open,” said Sanders, who earned the nickname “Peacock of the Fairways” due to being a stylish and flamboyant dresser, later of that disappointment. “Not so much for myself, but for my wife and my son. I’ll tell you something, I never got so many letters and wires than after the British Open. They came from people who said they felt so bad to see me miss winning. Many of them weren’t even signed, just ending with ‘A fan’. ”
Two years before Tait achieved the feat, another Scot, Royal Burgess member Kenny Walker, also pulled off the double in the same event in Aberdeen.
“I remember I was playing very well at the time, having just won the Scottish Boys Strokeplay a few weeks before,” he said. “I was painfully shy but very confident in myownveryunimpressivebut effective game.
“I tried to pretty much stay out of the way and watched Doug as he put on clinics for us. He had amazing skills and trick shots and he loved to have some banter with all the competitors.
“I won the European event by many shots then, in the World final, I found myself up against Bradley Hughes and
Ken Tanigawa, both very highly-ranked players in Australia and the US.
“After it was all over, I remember thinking, ‘I wonder what Mr Sanders will say to me’ because he hadn’t really said anything to me other than good luck or well done. He was always busy chatting with the other more outgoing players.
“Anyway, he talked to Bradley and Ken before me and he was talking about which colleges they were about to go to. Finally he came to me and said ‘well done, great playing in both events and if I can give you one piece of advice, make sure your long putts always reach the hole because you can have a chance to hole them and you can see which way the ball breaks after it goes past the hole, helping you to make the one coming back’.
“I was a bit disappointed and immediately said, ‘but Mr Sanders, these last two holes, I didn’t need to make birdies, I just needed pars. I think he didn’t really like me and was a bit sad I won, probably because I was a very quiet, shy boring golfer, exactly the opposite of him.
“But my memory of the week was just how much he loved being there in Scotland, partying every night, hanging out with so many of his friends and he loved joking around with all the competitors. Just not me!”
“Four more shots and 20 minutes later and when he missed that putt, it wasamadrushtoget everything ripped back down and start hiding the champagne etc”