History: Zurich Classic of New Orleans  PGATOUR.COM Contributor There's shooting a low score in a round. There's shooting a scary-low score. And then there's the way Chip Beck went low.  Precise ball-striking and a sharp short game helped Chip Beck win in New Orleans twice in a five-year span. (Chris Condon/PGA TOUR/WireImage)
The North Carolina native earned a few nicknames after shooting 59 at Sunrise GC in the third round of the 1991 Las Vegas Invitational. It came 14 years after Al Geiberger first cracked the 60 barrier, a feat duplicated by David Duval in the 1999 Bob Hope Chrysler Classic. But Beck gained his reputation for blistering PGA TOUR courses beginning in 1988, three years before that monumental round, by sprinkling 13 scores of 66 or better across his season. Three of those came as the USF&G Classic, the former name of this week's Zurich Classic of New Orleans, bade farewell to its long-time home of Lakewood CC. Beck's 69-64-65-64 came within one of the TOUR record for most strokes under par, shared by Ben Hogan in the 1945 Portland Open and Mike Souchak in the 1955 Texas Open. Beck's performance came six starts after winning the Los Angeles Open with a pair of 65s at Riviera CC, a welcome breakthrough for a guy who had been hounded by some for his seven runner-up finishes without a title. "To respond to the challenge like this feels just great," Beck said after the New Orleans victory. "For me it's so nice to win so close to when I won at L.A. That to me has always been one of my dreams -- to be consistently good." Lakewood CC was one of the last remaining courses among those used during the decades following World War II, places like Brackenridge Park GC in San Antonio, where Souchak won in 1955; Wethersfield CC in Hartford, Conn.; El Rio G&CC in Tucson and Phoenix CC in Arizona; and Colonial CC in Memphis, Tenn. These layouts felt as comfortable as an old sweater. In most cases they weren't particularly long, often times public loops where the average player could pit his game against what had taken place between the ropes. Beck was a throwback of sorts, too. Although he billed himself as 5-foot-10 he seemed smaller, thanks to one of the slimmest builds in an era that predated fitness trailers accompanying the TOUR. In fact, he raised eyebrows when he began running 5 or 6 miles a day to "wake up my body" prior to his rounds, or strapping weights to his hands and hitting hundreds of balls into a net in his garage. Beck's swing, too, was rhythmic in a way that seems strange when compared to today's move predicated on strength generating exceptional clubhead speed. A three-time All-America selection before graduating from the University of Georgia in 1978, he gained critical acclaim for his swing far more readily than he gained prominence on TOUR in 1983 by placing second at Atlanta and Memphis. Then came the 1986 U.S. Open, the championship's first visit to Shinnecock Hills CC in almost a century. Beck's closing 65, with a furious 30 on the windswept links' final nine, stormed into second, within two of champ Raymond Floyd. From that point, though, it seemed people paid more attention to Beck's inability to win, such as back-to-back thirds in 1987 at Atlanta and the Memorial and his second to Tom Watson in the forerunner to THE TOUR Championship. Los Angeles changed that equation in stunning style, 65s in the first and third rounds eventually clipping Mac O'Grady and Bill Sander by four. Beck liked to point out that he was only a few years older than Hogan, who did not win until age 27. "Sometimes it just takes a while to get it all together," Beck said. If the 59 is his career's apex, it overshadows his play in New Orleans. Beck came into the tournament stinging from a botched Sunday at the Heritage, where a 78 pounded him down from fourth into 35th. He made two bogeys off poor chip shots in the first round at Lakewood to trail leader Hal Sutton by four. But Beck erased those from his memory almost as soon as they were carded: He putted for birdie an astonishing 65 times in 72 holes, missing only one green in regulation in the final two days. "Chip just played great golf the last two days," said Lanny Wadkins, paired with Beck all week and victor in a consolation race for second by staying within seven shots. "He hit all the fairways and putted really well." Anyone hoping for a late rally Sunday to challenge Beck was sidetracked when Beck made birdies at the second, fourth, fifth and sixth holes, giving him a six-shot lead with 12 holes left. So precise was his ball-striking that Beck hit a 5-iron to six feet at No. 4 and followed with a 4-iron to 15 feet at the sixth. "I've learned a lot about myself," Beck said that week. "To come through like this when it means a lot to you is overwhelming. It's very satisfying. You learn from your mistakes and bad days. After last week, I rededicated myself. I think last week I lost my inner strength. I was pushing too hard to win." Beck collected the unofficial Kirin Cup in December of that year, capping a season in which he narrowly lost the race with Curtis Strange to become the first earning $1 million in a TOUR season. Beck won the 1990 Buick Open, opening with a 66 and closing with 65, then two years later, a season after his historic 59, he scooped up another New Orleans title. By then the event had moved to English Turn G&CC but Beck still was winning by going low -- a 65 in the second round kept him ahead of runners-up Greg Norman and Mike Standly. Copyright 2007 PGATOUR.com. All rights reserved. |
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