Minnesota Golfer - Summer 2019 - 3

EDITOR'S
LE T T ER
Then and Now
Half a century since the last Tour stop,
Minnesota once again welcomes the PGA pros.
A
" Watch for
a dramatic
finish [to the
3M Open] at
TPC's newly
refashioned
18th. "
merica was on its way to the moon
to put a man on it when the Twin
Cities last hosted a professional tour
stop. It's been 50 years almost to the day. July
13, 1969, Frank Beard, who would be the
leading money winner on the tour that year,
arrived in Edina to play the Minnesota Classic
(formerly the St. Paul Open) at Braemar Golf
Course, less than enthusiastic about the golf.
He was tired of the grind of travel on tour,
didn't like the golf course and rightly labeled
the field as " weak, " because most of the tour
stars were at the British Open. One aspect
of the Minnesota Classic which did impress
Beard, enough to mention it in his book, " Pro:
Frank Beard on the Golf Tour, " (Times Mirror,
1970): the bachelors especially " love to play [in
Minnesota] because of the hospitality of the
local hostesses, " he wrote. There was more to
the hostess angle, but this is a family magazine.
Still, Beard managed a 15-under par 269,
won handily, pocketed the $20,000 winner's
check, paid his caddie $750 and celebrated by
taking his family out to Howard Johnson's for
the filet of fish and chocolate milkshakes.
The tab was $6.
No doubt fans will want to see birdies and
eagles at this year's 3M Open, July 4-7 at the
TPC Twin Cities, former home to the longrunning
3M Championship of the senior
circuit. The course-along with Bryson
DeChambeau, Jason Day, Phil Mickelson and
reigning U.S. Open and PGA champ Brooks
Koepka-will oblige. It'll be interesting to see
what 15-under par wins half a century later, or
if the score will even merit a top-five finish.
Mickelson, who confided he has a soft spot
for Minnesota when he committed to the 3M
Open, does not feel that way about the USGA
and its U.S. Open setup. He flamed the organization
during an interview at the Memorial
May 30, saying he has played in 29 U.S. Opens
and the USGA has gotten the course setup
wrong 100 percent of the time-except if it
rains, he qualified.
This from a guy who has finished runner
up or tied for second at our national open
championship six times in his career, and
who called himself " an idiot " for playing too
aggressively at the 72nd hole during the 2006
U.S. Open at Winged Foot, won by Aussie
Geoff Ogilvy.
Mickelson had the lead. A par at 18 was
the smart play, but he grabbed his driver and
missed the world. He never saw the fairway
and eventually hit his third shot into the
greenside bunker, where he failed to get up
and down for par or bogey (he scored 6).
" In that position you just win ugly, "
Johnny Miller commented as the catastrophe
unfolded.
Perhaps Mickelson is trying to get inside
the head of John Bodenhamer, the USGA
guru in charge of the championship setup.
For a guy who likes to come across as smart
and thoughtful, and who, at least from outward
appearances, is mentally and physically
suited to win the U.S. Open, it's a strange ploy
to complain about the championship before
teeing it up.
It may not be as thrifty as a space-age family
dinner at Ho-Jo's, but tickets to the 3M
Open start at $45. Don't expect an " amazing
collapse " a la Winged Foot, but watch for a
dramatic finish at TPC's newly refashioned
18th.
See you on the tee.
W.P. Ryan, Editor-in-Chief
mngolf.org
Summer 2019 MINNESOTAGOLFER
3
http://www.mngolf.org
Minnesota Golfer - Summer 2019

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