Hauser: 12 Houstonians who shaped the world of golf
By Melanie Hauser, PGATOUR.COM Correspondent
Editor's note: The Shell Houston Open has showcased golf in the Bayou City since 1946, and the list of champions reads like a who's who of golf. There are a lot of others with ties to the city, though, who have made an impact in the game and Houston resident Melanie Hauser gives us her list of some of the best.
1 Jackie Burke, Jr. The guru. Need a life lesson? A whack-on-the-head wake-up call? A history lesson disguised as a well-spun yarn? Burke's your man. The octogenarian who holds court daily at Champions Golf Club, which he built with Jimmy Demaret, has been there, done it all. He won 17 tournaments, including both the Masters and the PGA Championship in 1956, and once won four tournaments in a row. He played on five Ryder Cups, captained two, assisted in one another and hosted one back in 1967. A World Golf Hall of Famer -- on and off the course -- who doesn't sugar coat anything, which is part of his irascible charm. Never passes up an opportunity to champion the amateur and the integrity of the game.
2. Jimmy Demaret: No one sang and partied longer into the night or played better back in the day. A native Houstonian, he was the life of every party and never met a stranger. Demaret, who helped raise Burke then founded Champions with him, was a Hall of Famer who was born in Houston and passed away here in 1983. Champions, one of the first golf-only clubs, once boasted three members and a 6-iron that went to the moon (astronauts Gene Cernan, Alan Shepard and Charles Duke), and four PGA champs (Burke, Steve Elkington, Jay Hebert and Dave Marr). He won 27 times on TOUR, including three Masters. That said, he was also the godfather of the Champions Tour. It was his vision in the late 1970s that created the Legends of Golf at his Onion Creek Golf Club in Austin and that, in turn, begat the Champions Tour.
3. Dave Marr: Yes, they called him the pro from 52nd Street because he cut his teeth at Winged Foot and loved Manhattan's social scene. But Marr's heart was always back home in Houston. After a career that included just four wins, one of which was the 1965 PGA, he turned his attention to television. His gift of gab, understated style and homespun storytelling made him a natural in the broadcast booth after his playing days. When Dan Jenkins went in for a quadruple by-pass and only had to have a triple, Marr quipped "Dan had birdied open-heart surgery." He passed away in 1997.
4. Jay Hebert: A native Louisianan, he slipped across the border and made his home in the Champions area. He won seven times on TOUR, including the 1960 PGA Championship. He played on two Ryder Cup teams and captained the 1971 team. He passed away in 1997.
5. Fred Couples -- OK. So he was grew up in Washington and lives in California. But Houston will still claim him big-time. He played his college golf at the University of Houston where he was suitemates with Blaine McCallister and Jim Nantz. He seldom dated at UH and didn't have his driver's license until he was in his 20s, but he tore up college golf. Recently named the U.S. captain for the 2009 Presidents Cup, he has won 15 times on the PGA TOUR, including the 1992 Masters and two PLAYERS Championships (1984, 1996). Troubled by back problems, his last win was the 2003 Shell Houston Open, where he's always a fan favorite.
6. Steve Elkington: The 45-year-old Aussie came to UH as a freshman and never left. The smooth-swinging Elkington helped the Cougars to three NCAA titles, then went to the TOUR where he's won 10 times, including the 1995 PGA Championship and two PLAYERS Championships (1991, 1997). Known for his meticulous clothing style, he once had a pair of pants hand-tailored with a small percentage of mink in the fabric.
7. Tommy Bolt: Yes, he's from Oklahoma, but the Tempestous One cut his teeth -- and honed his game -- by playing money games at Houston's Memorial Park. When he wasn't trying to hustle kids like Dave Marr, he was being hustled. The stories are legend. He never won the Houston Open when it was at Memorial, but he probably should have.
8. John Mahaffey: Here's another native Texan who played at UH. He won the 1970 NCAA individual title and helped the Cougars to two team titles. He won 10 times on the PGA TOUR, including the 1978 PGA Championship and 1986 PLAYERS.
9. Jim Nantz: No, he doesn't play on the PGA TOUR, but he's out there as often as Tiger and Phil. Nantz was on the UH golf team, but segued into the broadcast realm. He, Couples and suitemates Blaine McCallister and Paul Marchand dreamed about the day Nantz would call the Masters and help Couples into his Green Jacket. Yes, dreams do come true. Nantz anchors CBS' golf coverage and has been named broadcaster of the year twice. His family still lives in Houston.
10. Colin Montgomerie, Billy Ray Brown, Bruce Lietzke, Bill Rogers, Keith Fergus, Ed Fiori, Scott Verplank and . . . The names just keep on coming. Lietzke, Fergus and Rogers were part of that UH gang, while Monty, who holds the emertius title for best player without a major, played at Houston Baptist. Brown, a native Houstonian, won the NCAA individual title as a freshman, then joined Elkington as the Cougars won three team titles.
Lietzke is the best player who never practices, Rogers won the British Open and Fergus sandwiched time on the PGA TOUR and Champions Tour around a stint as UH coach himself. Fiori, whose nickname is The Grip, is the answer to a trivia question -- he chased down 54-hole leader Tiger Woods and beat him at the 1996 Quad Cities And Verplank? He grew up in Dallas, but spent every summer in Houston with his grandparents and learned the game at River Oaks Country Club. I could keep listing, but . . .
11. The Harmons and more: Some of the best players in the game spent time with either Dick or Butch Harmon. The brothers were both pros in the Houston area, working with everyone from Tiger Woods to Craig Stadler to Curtis Strange and, well, just keep on going. Two of Claude Harmon's boys made Houston a mecca for swing help. And, along those lines, current Tiger swing coach Hank Haney's first big break came at Sweetwater Country Club in the 1980s. Back then, he was rebuilding Mark O'Meara's swing.
12. Dave Williams: He never played the TOUR, but he had a way of finding its future stars. Williams, the father of college golf, was handed the job at UH and coached there for 36 years. Under him, the Cougars won 16 NCAA titles, including five in a row, and he had seven individual NCAA champs. He persuaded the likes of Elkington to come all the way from Australia to UH and even had Nick Faldo and Fuzzy Zoeller stop in for semester or less. Sandy Lyle signed a letter of intent, but never played. He's coached everyone from Rex Baxter, Jr., to Zoran Zorkic, who once shot a 59 on a mini-tour event. Williams' boys have won 13 major championships and more than $73 million. And those are just the top 25. We can't count how many other players he coached earned their TOUR cards.
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