Round Robin match-play is nothing new
on US PGA Tour
Much has been made of the round-robin approach put into play this week
at the WGC-Cadillac Match Play at TPC Harding Park. It's certainly a
fan-friendly format with the guarantee that the entire field of 64 will
be around for three days rather than the one-and-done elimination that
sent half the group home after a single day of the traditional
match-play format.
However, it's not new to pro golf in the United States.
Round robins, both stroke-play and match-play varieties, were a familiar format during the first few decades of the US PGA Tour, albeit usually with a smaller field than 64.
It wasn't until around 1960 that they were eventually phased out by the predominant four-round, stroke-play tournament. Yet the tour's all-time winningest player, Sam Snead, has round-robin wins among his 82 career titles, including five at the Palm Beach Round Robin (also Goodall Round Robin), named after the clothing company.
Snead won the Palm Beach RR four times in the 1950s, including the one pictured here, the 1954 event held May 12-16 at Meadow Brook Club in Westbury, New York.
The invitation event had 16 elite golfers -- presumably the tour's best 16 at the time -- play five rounds in groups of four. One round was played on Thursday, Saturday and Sunday and two rounds on Friday. A player accumulated or lost points depending on how he fared in stroke differential against the other players in your group.
Snead shot 67-72-68-66-65 and had a plus 62 to easily win over runner-up Bob Toski, who had plus 26.
However, it's not new to pro golf in the United States.
Round robins, both stroke-play and match-play varieties, were a familiar format during the first few decades of the US PGA Tour, albeit usually with a smaller field than 64.
It wasn't until around 1960 that they were eventually phased out by the predominant four-round, stroke-play tournament. Yet the tour's all-time winningest player, Sam Snead, has round-robin wins among his 82 career titles, including five at the Palm Beach Round Robin (also Goodall Round Robin), named after the clothing company.
Snead won the Palm Beach RR four times in the 1950s, including the one pictured here, the 1954 event held May 12-16 at Meadow Brook Club in Westbury, New York.
The invitation event had 16 elite golfers -- presumably the tour's best 16 at the time -- play five rounds in groups of four. One round was played on Thursday, Saturday and Sunday and two rounds on Friday. A player accumulated or lost points depending on how he fared in stroke differential against the other players in your group.
Snead shot 67-72-68-66-65 and had a plus 62 to easily win over runner-up Bob Toski, who had plus 26.
The field at one round-boin tournament on the US PGA Tour: Front row from left, Peter Thomson, Jim Turnesa, Gene
Littler, Cary Middlecoff, Sam Snead, Ted Kroll, Earl Stewart, Bob
Toski and Jimmy Demaret; back row from left, Tommy Bolt, Walter Burkemo,
Doug Ford, Lloyd Mangrum, Jackie Burke, Harold (Jug) McSpaden, Byron
Nelson, Marty Furgol and Ed (Porky) Oliver.
The Palm Beach RR was taken off the tour schedule after the 1957 event,
which Snead also won. The reason: Since the majority of tour pros were
left out of the tour event the week of the round-robin, with no alternative place to play, there were complaints that the even idled the
rank and file and only benefited only the elite.
Labels: US PGA
posted by Colin |
See story on its own page | Thursday, April 30, 2015
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