When a Phenom Took a Tumble at Troon

The 1982 Open was Bobby Clampett's … until it wasn't

Should recent major form hold, Bryson DeChambeau, runner-up at the PGA Championship and winner of the U.S. Open, figures to be a factor in this week’s Open Championship at Royal Troon provided he doesn’t stray as much off the tee as he did in Pinehurst, where on many occasions native-area wire grass bumped his ball into playable spots instead of gobbling it up. If DeChambeau does work his way onto the Open leaderboard, it won’t be the first instance of someone with more than a passing knowledge of The Golfing Machine—Homer Kelley’s instructional chock full of geometry and physics— showing off in Scotland.

Two generations ago, Bobby Clampett wasn’t merely a poster boy for The Golfing Machine. The young Californian with the curly hair was bright Times Square sign and massive freeway billboard, spreading the gospel for Kelley’s highly technical tome with evangelical gusto, the sound of his shots and the numbers on his scorecard a testament to what the Machine could do for a man.

DeChambeau came upon The Golfing Machine when he was 15 years old, and it would become the early foundation for his swing. Clampett had been a teenaged phenom after immersing himself in Kelley’s teaching, which underpinned the lessons he received from Kelley devotee Ben Doyle in northern California. Years after Clampett was off the PGA Tour, contemporaries didn’t have to work too hard to recall just how good Clampett had been in college at Brigham Young and shortly thereafter.

His action appeared technical, perhaps overly so, but the results in his ascending years caused more people to revere the mechanics than mock them—even if he did settle into his stance in a robotic way at odds with greats such as Jones or Snead. At a time before many players found stardom fast, Clampett appeared to be the exception, possessing all the shots plus a reservoir of self-belief. It seemed as if he might carry Kelley’s book to the heights, and the way he performed until late Saturday afternoon at the 1982 Open, Troon looked like it was going to be his launching pad.

Clampett was only 22 years old, playing in his first Open, wearing plus-twos, looking to break through in a big way after five second-place finishes on the PGA Tour after turning pro in 1980. After coming up with his strategy for the links in solitary practice rounds, he opened with a five-under 67—No. 11, “Railway,” was then a par 5—and backed it up with 66 to lead by five strokes after 36 holes. The British press was impressed by Clampett’s play—one report noted he struck 10 approaches within 10 feet in the second round—but bemused by how fully immersed he was in Kelley’s chapter and verse

“It is rather like learning Russian as a preparation for eating caviar,” wrote Peter Dobereiner of The Guardian of Clampett’s approach.

With late-early starting times the first two days, Clampett had more than a full day between signing for his 66 and teeing off in round three at 3:25 Saturday afternoon. There was no ill effect through five holes as he increased his lead to seven, a reality that caused him to think he could Then, as Open champion and BBC commentator Henry Cotton noted, “rot set in.” Clampett hit his tee shot on the par-5 sixth into a bunker and things got worse from there as he made a triple bogey.

“To say the least it was a challenging day,” Clampett said after his third-round 78. “It was close to a good round, but it also could have been an 85.”

Clampett closed with a 77, making his last 36 holes 22 shots higher than his first two days. He is right there among players with the largest leads who did not go on to win the Claret Jug: Abe Mitchell, six strokes after the second round in 1920; Macdonald Smith, five strokes after the third round in 1925; Jean Van de Velde, five strokes after the third round in 1999. Clampett finished in a tie for 10^th with Jack Nicklaus, four behind Watson.

But Clampett wasn’t the only player to let go of a nice lead 42 years ago at Troon. After Clampett faded away for good midway through the front nine Sunday, Nick Price became the golfer in the hot seat. Price, 25 at the time, led by three through 12 holes. A double bogey at the 15^th cost Price dearly, and a bogey at No. 17 left him a shot behind Tom Watson, who became the fifth player to win the U.S. Open and Open Championship in the same year. An even-par weekend had, much to Watson’s surprise, been good enough.

Tough closing rounds had been part of Watson’s early career before he used the pain to get better. “You hate to have it happen to you,” Watson said, “but you learn from it. I cried—and there may be some crying from those guys today—but it made me a tougher player.”

Clampett did win not long after Troon, taking the Southern Open that fall. It turned out to be his only win in 396 PGA Tour events. The Golfing Machine remains an important tool to certain golfers and instructors. And we are still left to wonder if his career would have looked different had he been able to convert a seven-shot lead with 31 holes left into a victory.