Me Knows Better Than to Say This... But I will. The month of June will mark the 20th Anniversary of the 1991 US Open held at Hazeltine National Golf Club. I thought I would commemorate this posting (and several to follow) with a look back at several of the events from Jimmy's perspective. However the first will be a bit more reserved since several spectators were struck by lightning and one was unfortunately killed at this tragic event.
All the big names were there - Nicklaus, Irwin, Faldo, Kite, Strange, Couples, Fuzzy, a promising youngster named Phil Mickelson, the eventual winner Payne Stewart and of course... Lee Trevino. For those that don't know, Trevino was struck by lightning earlier in his career and lived to tell about it.
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Kite |
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Nicklaus |
On Thursday, the first official day of the tournament, Jimmy, Jimmy's wife and another couple decided to hop around the course picking various famous groups to watch. At hole 15, Lee Trevino came through and we decided to follow him in. We should have known that Trevino and lightning don't mix, but we didn't think much of it. It had been a perfect day, but as we followed Trevino, the sky was becoming dark and a storm was brewing to the west.
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Irwin |
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Mickelson |
Several around us noticed a lightning bolt in the distance. The strike did not go unnoticed by Trevino as he put his hands up questioning the tournament officials wondering if they were going to suspend play. But no one moved (I don't think they knew what to do) and play continued even though an obviously frustrated Trevino was a bit concerned. He had missed the green with his approach shot into 15 and was standing in the long grass trying to make a delicate chip onto the green and flubbed his shot. Again, the flummoxed Trevino showed his displeasure, part at frustration for his poor chip, but he also seemed to be motioning that this was in response to the severe weather coming toward the course. He appeared to be unhappy that no one had the same concern for the ominous weather approaching. Again no one took control and he finished the hole.
By this time, I had managed to get a bit closer to Trevino and heard him say while he was exiting the green, "Jumbo... We aren't going any further. Follow me. I'm heading to the car." And Jumbo followed him around the barrier ropes over toward the cars located next to the steps leading down to the 16th hole. (Jumbo was his playing partner, Jumbo Ozaki). Unknown to me, Tournament officials had placed two sponsor cars at every hole (I thought mainly for display), but they also served as the spot for the players to take refuge during a rainstorm. Contrary to published reports where Trevino defended the tournament officials by saying they suspended play first, in my opinion he made the call himself and was not going to go any further. I have to commend Mr. Trevino for deciding to seek shelter rather than wait for someone to tell him, but given his history, I can completely understand his motives to stay safe.
About this time, Herman (Trevino's caddie), got separated since he thought they were continuing the round and I could see him headed my way. I held the spectator ropes up for him to go under to follow Trevino to the car. I remember him saying - half thanking me - half joking around, "Uh oh... gotta go where the boss wants me to go." I think he had been heading to the next tee and had not realized that Trevino had walked off the course.
Within moments, we heard the warning sirens to seek shelter. So we started to run toward the clubhouse... along with 20,000 other spectators. The wind became so severe that every umbrella I saw became inverted and strewn along the way. Just as we were reaching the edge of the 11th fairway, very heavy rain started pelting down and we tried to take shelter at the crest of the hill under a Dove Bar stand with its miniature stainless steel umbrella doing nothing to stop the sideways rain (at the time, I wasn't thinking about lightning, but rather seeking shelter out of the rain, but we had found an obvious lightning rod).I had my back to the bottom of the hill and then I heard a crisp thunder clap behind me. I knew it was close and I yelled to everyone around, "Get down!" and we planted our faces in the wet cedar mulch. It wasn't but a few seconds later that I heard some one yelling, "Medic! Medic!" and I assumed someone in the crowd was having a flashback to Vietnam. It wasn't until I turned around to see 6 people laying on the ground at the bottom of the hill and I realized that lightning had struck.
Later we took a closer look at the tree that was struck. The willow was probably the smallest tree around the 11th tee box and it was at the very bottom of the hill. It made no sense. There were taller trees around (which was fortunate since more people were gathered there) or it could have hit at the top of the hill were we were standing next to a metallic rod planted in the ground.
All I know is that I have a healthy respect for lighting to this day.
