Tony Lema

Anthony David Lema (February 25, 1934 – July 24, 1966) was an American professional golfer who rose to fame in the mid-1960s and won a major title, the 1964 Open Championship at the Old Course at St Andrews in Scotland.[1][2][3] He died two years later at age 32 in an aircraft accident near Chicago.[4][5]

Tony Lema
Lema holding the Claret Jug
after his 1964 Open Championship
Personal information
Full nameAnthony David Lema
NicknameChampagne Tony
Born(1934-02-25)February 25, 1934
Oakland, California
DiedJuly 24, 1966(1966-07-24) (aged 32)
Lansing, Illinois
Nationality United States
SpouseElizabeth R. "Betty" Cline
Career
CollegeNone
Turned professional1955
Former tour(s)PGA Tour
Professional wins22
Number of wins by tour
PGA Tour12
Other10
Best results in major championships
(wins: 1)
Masters Tournament2nd: 1963
PGA ChampionshipT9: 1964
U.S. OpenT4: 1966
The Open ChampionshipWon: 1964

Early life

Born in Oakland, California, Lema's parents were Anthony H. Lema (1899–1937) and Clotilda M. Lema, née Silva (1910–2000), both of Portuguese ancestry.[6] His father died of pneumonia when Tony was three years old, and his widowed mother struggled to raise the family of four children on welfare. He began playing golf as a boy at Lake Chabot municipal golf course and learned different aspects of the game from a variety of people. Noted African-American golf coach Lucius Bateman helped develop his swing and Oakland policeman Ralph Hall taught him course strategy. The golf pros at Lake Chabot, Dick Fry and Bill Burch, trained him on basic golf fundamentals, including the use of a square stance.[7]

At age 17, Lema enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps and served in Korea. After his discharge from the military in 1955, he obtained work as an assistant to the club professional at a San Francisco golf club.

Eddie Lowery, a wealthy San Francisco businessman, who assisted talented amateur players in the area, helped to sponsor and encourage Lema.[8] Lowery is best known as the 10-year-old caddy of champion Francis Ouimet at the 1913 U.S. Open. Lowery's sponsorship gave Lema $200 a week expense money, to be repaid, in addition to splitting his winnings: Lema received two-thirds, Lowery one-third. One additional detail was that all debts at the end of the year were to be carried forward.[7]

PGA Tour

By 1957, Lema had developed his skills sufficiently to earn his way onto the PGA Tour, winning the Imperial Valley Open in memorable fashion: Assuming he was out of contention, Lema headed to the clubhouse bar, where he drank three highballs. Told that he would face Paul Harney in a sudden-death playoff, a relaxed Lema won the tournament on the second extra hole. The following year, he began developing friendships with a trio of fellow golfers: Johnny Pott, Tommy Jacobs, and Jim Ferree, and during 11 tournaments in 1958, Lema finished in the top 15, winning $10,282 for the year.

The following year, Lema's winnings dropped to $5,900, followed by an even worse year in 1960, when he collected a mere $3,060. A raucous off-the-course lifestyle was taking its toll until he began talking with television producer Danny Arnold, who helped him improve his composure and bolster his confidence.[7]

While Lema's struggles continued in 1962, along with his debt to Lowery reaching over $11,000, his luck would finally change for good. On the eve of his victory in October 1962 at the Orange County Open Invitational in Costa Mesa, California, Lema joked he would serve champagne to the press if he won the next day.[9][10] From then on he was known as Champagne Tony, and his handsome looks and vivacious personality added to the legend, such that Johnny Miller has stated that at the time of his death in 1966, Lema was second only to Arnold Palmer in fan popularity.

"There's nothing like ending a nice day on a good game of golf with a little taste of the bubbly".[11]

Lema on golf and champagne

That win sparked an impressive performance over the next four years that saw Lema win 12 official PGA tour events, finish second on 11 occasions, and third four times. From 1963 until his death in July 1966, he finished in the top ten over half of the time and made the cut in every major, finishing in the top ten in eight of the fifteen in which he played. Lema was a member of Ryder Cup teams in 1963 and 1965 with a record of 9–1–1 (.864), which remains the best for any player who has played in two or more.

Friend and tour colleague Jack Nicklaus wrote that Lema's play also stabilized and improved greatly after he married Betty, a former airline stewardess, in 1963.[12][13] One additional reason for Lema's more relaxed play that year was the end of his agreement with Lowery.

In 1963, Lema finished second by one stroke to Nicklaus at the Masters, and missed the playoff for the U.S. Open by two shots, bogeying the last two holes, believing he needed birdies. He won the Memphis Open Invitational later that summer.

Lema won two other tournaments that fall and was named 1963 Most Improved Player by Golf Digest. That winter, he wrote, with Gwylim S. Brown, "Golfers' Gold", an autobiographical account of his eight-year apprenticeship in the competitive cauldron of the PGA Tour.

Major champion

In 1964, Lema won the Bing Crosby National Pro-Am at Pebble Beach, then three tournaments in four weeks: the Thunderbird Classic at Westchester in Rye, New York, the Buick Open Invitational at Warwick Hills in Grand Blanc, Michigan, and the Cleveland Open at Highland Park Golf Course in Cleveland, Ohio, (in a playoff with Arnold Palmer).[14][15]

Two weeks later he captured his only major championship at the 1964 Open Championship, held at the Old Course at St Andrews, Scotland.[1] He won by five shots over runner-up Jack Nicklaus.[16] Before teeing up in the first round, Lema had only played nine practice holes.[13] Lema had hired Arnold Palmer's regular British caddy, Tip Anderson, since Palmer was not competing that year.[17] Anderson, a descendant of a past Open champion, Jamie Anderson, had grown up on the course.

At the September matchup of the four major champions of 1964, in the 36-hole exhibition World Series of Golf, Lema won $50,000 (then the largest payoff in golf) at Firestone Country Club in Akron, Ohio, over Palmer (Masters), Ken Venturi (U.S. Open) and Bobby Nichols (PGA Championship).[18]

Due to his good looks and recent success, Lema was tapped for a guest appearance in an episode of the TV series Hazel that aired January 7, 1965. In the episode, Hazel misplaces his prized golf clubs.[19] That same year he made an appearance on The Lawrence Welk Show, where Welk passed the baton to Lema to direct the Champagne Music Makers.[20]

In 1965, Lema won the Buick Open for the second consecutive year, and the Carling World Open, finishing second in prize money to Nicklaus. In fall 1965, he and Nicklaus formed the U.S. team to the World Cup of Golf.[13] Lema's last victory came in 1966 in late May, in his wife's hometown at the Oklahoma City Open, held at Quail Creek Golf & Country Club.[21][22] Two weeks later, he came back from an opening round 78, to almost capture a third consecutive Buick Open, finishing in fourth place, three shots behind Phil Rodgers.[23]

Death

Following the PGA Championship at Firestone Country Club in Akron in late July 1966, Lema and his wife chartered an airplane to fly them to an exhibition tournament south of Chicago: the Little Buick Open at Lincolnshire Country Club in Crete, Illinois. The twin-engine Beechcraft Bonanza, piloted by Doris Mullen, ran out of fuel and crashed into a water hazard short of the seventh green of the nine-hole golf course at Lansing Sportsman's Club in Lansing (41.5545°N 87.5242°W / 41.5545; -87.5242), about a half mile (0.8 km) northwest of their destination, Lansing Municipal Airport.[4][24] During the fatal plunge, Mullen swerved left to avoid a group of people standing near the clubhouse. In addition to the Lemas and Mullen, who was a mother of four teenage children, Dr. George Bard, the copilot and a surgeon, was killed.[25] Bard and Mullen's husband, Wylie, were colleagues as well as owners of the ill-fated plane.[12][26]

Lema and his wife, Betty, 30, were buried in California at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery in Hayward, after funeral services on July 28 at St. Elizabeth's Church in his hometown of Oakland.[27]

In 1983, a San Leandro public golf course bordering San Francisco Bay was named in his memory as the Tony Lema Golf Course, now part of the Monarch Bay Golf Club complex. In Ludlow, Massachusetts, the road accessing the local country club is named Tony Lema Drive, and there is a collection of photographs and other items in the clubhouse of Ludlow Country Club featuring Lema.

Professional wins (22)

PGA Tour wins (12)
Legend
Major championships (1)
Other PGA Tour (11)
No. Date Tournament Winning score To par Margin of
victory		 Runner(s)-up
1 Sep 30, 1962 Sahara Invitational 69-67-66-68=270 −14 3 strokes Don January
2 Oct 28, 1962 Orange County Open Invitational 68-66-64-69=267 −17 Playoff Bob Rosburg
3 Nov 18, 1962 Mobile Sertoma Open Invitational 67-68-68-70=273 −15 7 strokes Doug Sanders
4 May 27, 1963 Memphis Open Invitational 67-67-68-68=270 −10 Playoff Tommy Aaron
5 Jan 19, 1964 Bing Crosby National Pro-Am 70-68-70-76=284 −4 3 strokes Gay Brewer, Bo Wininger
6 Jun 7, 1964 Thunderbird Classic 68-67-70-71=276 −12 1 stroke Mike Souchak
7 Jun 14, 1964 Buick Open Invitational 69-66-72-70=277 −11 3 strokes Dow Finsterwald
8 Jun 28, 1964 Cleveland Open 65-70-70-65=270 −14 Playoff Arnold Palmer
9 Jul 10, 1964 The Open Championship 73-68-68-70=279 −9 5 strokes Jack Nicklaus
10 Jun 6, 1965 Buick Open Invitational (2) 71-70-69-70=280 −8 2 strokes Johnny Pott
11 Aug 23, 1965 Carling World Open 71-71-67-70=279 −5 2 strokes Arnold Palmer
12 May 29, 1966 Oklahoma City Open Invitational 69-68-69-65=271 −17 6 strokes Tom Weiskopf

PGA Tour playoff record (3–1)

No.YearTournamentOpponent(s)Result
1 1962 Orange County Open Invitational Bob Rosburg Won with birdie on third extra hole
2 1963 Memphis Open Tommy Aaron Won with par on first extra hole
3 1963 Cleveland Open Tommy Aaron, Arnold Palmer Palmer won 18-hole playoff (Palmer:67, Aaron:70, Lema:70)
4 1964 Cleveland Open Arnold Palmer Won with birdie on first extra hole

Other wins (10)

Note: This list is probably incomplete.

Major championships

Wins (1)
YearChampionship54 holesWinning scoreMarginRunner-up
1964The Open Championship7 shot lead−9 (73-68-68-70=279)5 strokes Jack Nicklaus

Results timeline
Tournament19561957195819591960196119621963196419651966
Masters Tournament 2 T9 T21 T22
U.S. Open 50 CUT T5 20 T8 T4
The Open Championship 1 T5 T30
PGA Championship WD T13 T9 T61 T34
  Win
  Top 10
  Did not play

CUT = missed the half-way cut
WD = withdrew
"T" = tied

Summary
TournamentWins2nd3rdTop-5Top-10Top-25EventsCuts made
Masters Tournament01012444
U.S. Open00023465
The Open Championship10022233
PGA Championship00001254
Totals11058121816
  • Most consecutive cuts made – 15 (1963 Masters – 1966 PGA)
  • Longest streak of top-10s – 2 (three times)

U.S. national team appearances

Professional

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See also

References
  1. "Lema wins British Open by 5 strokes". Chicago Tribune. Associated Press. July 11, 1964. p. 1, sec. 2.
  2. "1964 Tony Lema". The Open. Archived from the original on November 26, 2011. Retrieved October 18, 2013.
  3. Fields, Bill (July 8, 2014). "What might have been". Golf Digest. Retrieved March 14, 2017.
  4. "Tony Lema, 3 others die". Chicago Tribune. July 25, 1966. p. 1.
  5. Bartlett, Charles (July 25, 1966). "Golf loses Lema, great team player". Chicago Tribune. p. 1, sec. 3.
  6. "Distinguished Americans & Canadians of Portuguese Descent". Archived from the original on December 12, 2007. Retrieved January 9, 2008.
  7. Brown, Gwilym S. (March 25, 1963). "Champagne Tony has a winning look". Sports Illustrated. pp. 26–31. Retrieved June 19, 2012.
  8. Frost, Mark (2007). The Match: The Day the Game of Golf Changed Forever. Hyperion Books. ISBN 978-1-4013-0278-8.
  9. "Golf History". Mesa Verde Country Club library. Archived from the original on October 11, 2014. Retrieved March 12, 2015.
  10. Ryan, Jack (September 6, 1964). "Who Says Golf Has To Be Grim?". Family Weekly. Sarasota Herald-Times. Sarasota, Florida. pp. 8–9.
  11. "Champagne Tony: Champagne on the Green". Howard Cosell Productions (in association with WABC-TV). 1964.
  12. Fimrite, Ron (July 31, 1995). "The Toast Of Golf". Sports Illustrated. pp. G14-20. Retrieved July 11, 2012.
  13. Nicklaus, Jack; Bowden, Ken (1978). On & Off the Fairway. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 978-0-671-22568-1.
  14. "Lema birdies extra hole, beats Palmer". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Associated Press. June 29, 1964. p. 19.
  15. "Lema's 15-foot putt nips Arnie in sudden death". Pittsburgh Press. UPI. June 29, 1964. p. 26.
  16. "Lema winner of British Open". Toledo Blade. Associated Press. July 11, 1964. p. 14.
  17. "'World's greatest caddy' carried Lema to victory". Miami News. Associated Press. July 11, 1964. p. 1B.
  18. "Tony Lema victor in World Series". Eugene-Register Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. September 14, 1964. p. 3B.
  19. "Champagne Tony: Hazel Misplaces Lema's Prized Golf Clubs". IMDB.com. January 6, 1965.
  20. "Tony Lema directs the Champagne Music Makers, Lawrence Welk Show". YouTube.com. 1965.
  21. "Lema wins Oklahoma Open with record 271". Chicago Tribune. Associated Press. May 30, 1966. p. 1, sec. 3.
  22. "Tony's last victory is like others". Chicago Tribune. UPI. July 25, 1966. p. 5, sec. 3.
  23. "Rodgers wins Flint Open by two strokes, Lema 4th". Chicago Tribune. UPI. June 13, 1966. p. 1, sec. 3.
  24. Tejada, Gregory (July 25, 2011). "Lansing club memorializes pro golfer killed in crash". Northwest Illinois Times. Retrieved March 14, 2017.
  25. Thomis, Wayne (July 26, 1966). "Lena plane engines dead probers find". Chicago Tribune. p. 21, sec. 1.
  26. "Lema plane crash probed". Milwaukee Sentinel. United Press International. July 26, 1966. p. 1-sports. Retrieved July 12, 2012.
  27. "Tony, wife laid to rest". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. July 29, 1966. p. 19.
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