Golfer Weiskopf dies at age 79

Tom Weiskopf’s golf skill went far beyond his 16 victories on the PGA Tour and his lone major at Troon in the British Open. He was always candid, often outspoken and unfailingly accurate in the television booth. He found even greater success designing golf courses.

Weiskopf died Aug. 20 at his home in Big Sky, Montana, at the age of 79, his wife said. He was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in December 2020.

Laurie Weiskopf said Tom was working last week at The Club at Spanish Peaks and attended a legacy luncheon at the signature club where he was designing “The Legacy: Tom’s Ten,” a collection of his 10 favorite par 3s.

“He worked to the end. It was amazing,” she said. “He had a big life.”

The son of a railroad worker in Ohio, Weiskopf once said he fell in love with the game before he even began to play. His father took him to the 1957 U.S. Open at Inverness and he was mesmerized watching Sam Snead make such pure contact.

“You had dinner with Tom and loved every minute of it,” Andy North said Sunday. “The sad thing that gets lost is how good he was. Every time he hit a shot, it was beautiful.”

Pure contact was his hallmark at Ohio State and then his career on tour. At 6-foot-3 — tall for golf in that era — Weiskopf had a swing that was powerful and rhythmic, natural and athletic. His best year was in 1973, when he won seven times around the world, including the claret jug and the World Series of Golf at Firestone before it was an official tour event. BENNETT WINS U.S. AMATEUR » Texas A&M senior Sam Bennett won the U.S. Amateur, building a 5-up lead over Ben Carr and holding on for a 1-up victory at Ridgewood Country Club.

Bennett is No. 3 in the world amateur ranking and had to get past three straight players ranked in the top 10 to reach the championship match.

Bennett was 3 up after the first 18 holes and won two more holes early in the afternoon to seize control. Carr kept chipping away and pulled within one hole with a 15-foot birdie putt on the par-5 17th.

Needing to win the 18th to extend the match, Carr missed the fairway to the right and came up short. He chipped to 8 feet. Bennett was on the green and had two putts from 12 feet to win. He lagged it to within inches for the win.

Bennett is exempt into the Masters, U.S. Open and British Open next year.

HARRINGTON’S 67 EARNS WIN » Padraig Harrington won the DICK’S Sporting Goods Open for his second PGA Tour Champions victory of the year.

Harrington closed with a 5-under 67 at En-Joie Golf Club for a three-stroke victory over Mike Weir and Thongchai Jaidee.

A stroke behind Weir entering the day, Harrington birdied Nos. 2, 3, 9, 11 and 12 in a bogey-free round to finish at 16-under 200.

WNBA

STORM GET SWEEP » Breanna Stewart had 21 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists, Sue Bird added season highs of 18 points and 10 assists and the Seattle Storm beat the Washington Mystics 97-84 on Sunday to sweep the firstround series.

Fourth-seeded Seattle will face top-seeded Las Vegas in the second round. The best-of-five series begins next Sunday in Las Vegas.

Jewell Loyd was 5 of 10 from 3-point range and finished with 19 points for the Storm. Gabby Williams, who suffered a concussion in the third quarter and did not return, scored 14 points.

WINGS FORCE GAME 3 » Kayla Thornton scored 20 points, Teaira McCowan had 17 points and 11 rebounds and Dallas beat Connecticut to force a deciding third game on Wednesday.

Allisha Gray had 15 points, eight assists and three steals for Dallas.