Doug Sanders’ British Open Miss for the Ages

Doug Sanders misses 30 inch putt

My previous post celebrates one of Tiger Woods’ greatest moments when he chipped in on the 16th hole at Augusta during the 2005 Masters Tournament which he won.

Unfortunately, not so great moments have their place in golf history as well. In 1970, Doug Sanders, described by Golf Hall of Famer Johnny Miller as “a crowd-pleasing showman who dressed loud, lived fast and made golf the glamour game it was in the 1960s and ’70s,” missed a critical putt on the eighteenth green at the British Open. I wrote the following poem to memorialize this famous run-by that cost Sanders the tournament.

AN OPEN PUTT REMEMBERED

The putt was less than three feet long
Just how could anything go wrong?

For sure he knew the stakes were high
But could he really run it by?

Doug looked as cool as cool could be.
His poise was there for all to see.

But as his putter made its sweep
And those who watched made not a peep

The ball escaped its aimed-for goal
And did not end up in the hole.

The question was, how could he miss
An easy putt as short as this?

The answer – simple, known to all:
Pressure putts don’t always fall.

This poem is among more than 100 golf poems, most from before 1930, that are include in my new book, Golf Course of Rhymes – Links between Golf and Poetry Through the Ages. The book is available at electronic bookstores such as Amazon, Barnes and Noble and Amazon UK.