Tony Lema

Tony Lema
— Golfer —
Lema holding the Claret Jug after 1964 Open Championship win.
Personal information
Full name	Anthony David Lema
Nickname	Champagne Tony
Born	(1934-02-25)February 25, 1934 Oakland, California
Died	July 24, 1966(1966-07-24) (aged 32) Lansing, Illinois
Nationality	United States
Spouse	Elizabeth R. "Betty" Cline
Career
College	None
Turned professional	1955
Former tour(s)	PGA Tour
Professional wins	22
Number of wins by tour
PGA Tour	12
Other	10
Best results in major championships (Wins: 1)
Masters Tournament	2nd: 1963
U.S. Open	T4: 1966
The Open Championship	Won: 1964
PGA Championship	T9: 1964

Anthony David Lema (February 25, 1934 -– July 24, 1966) was an American professional golfer. Lema rose to fame in the mid-1960s, but lost his life at age 32 in an aircraft accident at Lansing, Illinois. His most prestigious victory was his only major title, the 1964 Open Championship at the Old Course at St Andrews.^[1]

Early life

Lema was born in Oakland, California, to parents of Portuguese ancestry, Anthony H. Lema (1899–1937) and Clotilda M. Lema, née Silva (1910–2000).^[2] His father died of pneumonia when Tony was three years old, and his widowed mother struggled to raise the family of four children on welfare. He began playing golf as a boy at Lake Chabot municipal golf course and learned different aspects of the game from a variety of people. Noted African-American golf coach Lucius Bateman helped develop his swing, Oakland policeman Ralph Hall taught him course strategy, and the golf pros at Lake Chabot, Dick Fry and Bill Burch, trained him on basic golf fundamentals, including the use of a square stance.^[3]

At age 17, Lema enlisted in the United States Marine Corps and served in Korea. After his discharge from the military in 1955, he obtained work as an assistant to the club professional at a San Francisco golf club.

Eddie Lowery, a wealthy San Francisco businessman, who assisted talented amateur players in the area, helped to sponsor and encourage Lema.^[4] Lowery is best known as the 10-year-old caddy of champion Francis Ouimet during the 1913 U.S. Open. Lowery's sponsorship gave Lema $200 a week expense money, to be repaid, in addition to splitting his winnings: Lema received two-thirds, Lowery one-third. One additional detail was that all debts at the end of the year were to be carried forward.^[3]

PGA Tour

By 1957, Lema had developed his skills sufficiently to earn his way onto the PGA Tour, winning the Imperial Valley Open in memorable fashion: Assuming he was out of contention, Lema headed to the clubhouse bar, where he had three highballs. Told that he would face Paul Harney in a sudden-death playoff, a relaxed Lema won the tournament on the second extra hole. The following year, he began developing friendships with a trio of fellow golfers: Johnny Pott, Tommy Jacobs and Jim Ferree, and during 11 tournaments in 1958, Lema finished in the top 15, winning $10,282 for the year.

The following year, Lema's winnings dropped to $5,900, followed by an even worse year in 1960, when he collected a mere $3,060. A raucous off-the-course lifestyle was taking its toll until he began talking with television producer Danny Arnold, who helped him improve his composure and bolster his confidence.^[3]

While Lema's struggles continued in 1962, along with his debt to Lowery reaching over $11,000, his luck would finally change for good. On the eve of his victory in October 1962 at the Orange County Open Invitational in Costa Mesa, California, Lema joked he would serve champagne to the press if he won the next day.^[5][6] From then on he was known as Champagne Tony, and his handsome looks and vivacious personality added to the legend, such that Johnny Miller has stated that at the time of his death in 1966, Lema was second only to Arnold Palmer in fan popularity.

That win sparked an impressive performance over the next four years that saw him win 12 official PGA tour events, finish second on 11 occasions, and third four times. From 1963 through July 1966, Lema finished in the top 10 over 50% of the time and never missed a cut in a professional major, finishing in the top 10 in 8 of the 15 majors in which he played. He was a member of the 1963 and 1965 United States Ryder Cup teams, and his Ryder Cup record (9–1–1) is the best of any player who has played in two or more.

Friend and tour colleague Jack Nicklaus wrote that Lema's play also stabilized and improved greatly after he married his wife Betty, a former airline stewardess, in 1963.^[8][9] One additional reason for Lema's more relaxed play that year was the end of his agreement with Lowery.

In 1963, Lema finished second by one stroke to Jack Nicklaus at the Masters, and missed the playoff for the U.S. Open by two shots, bogeying the last two holes, believing he needed birdies. He won the Memphis Open Invitational later that summer.

Lema won two other tournaments that fall and was named 1963 Most Improved Player by Golf Digest. That winter, he wrote, with Gwylim S. Brown, "Golfers' Gold", an autobiographical account of his eight-year apprenticeship in the competitive cauldron of the PGA Tour.

Major champion

In 1964, Lema won the Bing Crosby National Pro-Am at Pebble Beach Golf Links, and then three tournaments in four weeks: the Thunderbird Classic at Westchester Country Club in Rye, New York, the Buick Open Invitational at Warwick Hills Golf and Country Club in Grand Blanc, Michigan, and the Cleveland Open at Highland Park Golf Course in Cleveland, Ohio (in a playoff with Arnold Palmer).

Two weeks later he captured his only major championship at the 1964 Open Championship, held at the Old Course at St Andrews, Scotland. He won by five shots over runner-up Jack Nicklaus. Before teeing it up in the first round, Lema had only played nine practice holes.^[9] Lema had hired Arnold Palmer's regular British caddy, Tip Anderson, since Palmer was not competing that year. Anderson, a descendant of a past Open champion, Jamie Anderson, had grown up on the course.

In the matchup of the four major champions of 1964 in the World Series of Golf, Lema won $50,000 (then the largest payoff in golf) at Firestone Country Club in Akron, Ohio, over Palmer (Masters), Ken Venturi (U.S. Open), and Bobby Nichols (PGA Championship).

Due to his good looks and recent success, Lema was tapped for a guest appearance in an episode of the TV series Hazel that aired January 7, 1965. In the episode, Hazel misplaces Lema's prized golf balls.^[10] That same year Lema made an appearance on the Lawrence Welk Show where Welk passed the baton to Lema to direct the Champagne Music Makers.^[11]

In 1965, Lema won the Buick Open for the second consecutive year, and the Carling World Open, finishing second in prize money to Jack Nicklaus. In fall 1965, Lema and Nicklaus formed the U.S. team to the World Cup of Golf.^[9] Lema's last victory came in May 1966, in his wife's hometown at the Oklahoma City Open held at Quail Creek Golf & Country Club. A few weeks later he came back from an opening round 78, to almost capture a third consecutive Buick Open, finishing in fourth place three shots behind Phil Rodgers.

Death

Following the 1966 PGA Championship at Firestone Country Club in Akron in late July, Lema and his wife chartered an airplane to fly them to an exhibition tournament south of Chicago, the Little Buick Open at Lincolnshire Country Club in Crete, Illinois. The twin-engine Beechcraft Bonanza, piloted by Doris Mullen, ran out of fuel and crashed in a water hazard short of the seventh green of Lansing Country Club in Lansing, Illinois, less than a mile from their destination, Lansing Municipal Airport. During the fatal plunge, Mullen swerved left to avoid a group of people standing near the clubhouse. In addition to Mullen and the Lemas, Dr. George Bard, the co-pilot, was also killed. Bard and Mullen's husband, Wylie, were owners of the ill-fated plane.^[8][12]

In 1983, a San Leandro public golf course bordering San Francisco Bay was named in his honor, the Tony Lema Golf Course, now part of the Monarch Bay Golf complex. In Ludlow, Massachusetts, the road accessing the local country club is named Tony Lema Drive. There is a collection of photographs and other items in the club house of Ludlow Country club which features Tony Lema.

Lema, 32, and his wife Betty, 30, were buried in the Holy Sepulchre Cemetery in Hayward, California, after funeral services at St. Elizabeth's Church in his hometown of Oakland, California.^[13]

Professional wins (22)

PGA Tour wins (12)

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	Margin of victory	Runner(s)-up
1	Sep 30, 1962	Sahara Invitational	−14 (69-67-66-68=270)	3 strokes	Don January
2	Oct 28, 1962	Orange County Open Invitational	−17 (68-66-64-69=267)	Playoff	Bob Rosburg
3	Nov 18, 1962	Mobile Sertoma Open Invitational	−15 (67-68-68-70=273)	7 strokes	Doug Sanders
4	May 27, 1963	Memphis Open Invitational	−10 (67-67-68-68=270)	Playoff	Tommy Aaron
5	Jan 19, 1964	Bing Crosby National Pro-Am	−4 (70-68-70-76=284)	3 strokes	Gay Brewer, Bo Wininger
6	Jun 7, 1964	Thunderbird Classic[14]	−12 (68-67-70-71=276)	1 stroke	Mike Souchak
7	Jun 14, 1964	Buick Open Invitational	−11 (69-66-72-70=277)	1 stroke	Dow Finsterwald
8	Jun 28, 1964	Cleveland Open	−14 (65-70-70-65=270)	Playoff	Arnold Palmer
9	Jul 10, 1964	The Open Championship	−9 (73-68-68-70=279)	5 strokes	Jack Nicklaus
10	Jun 6, 1965	Buick Open Invitational	−8 (71-70-69-70=280)	2 strokes	Johnny Pott
11	Aug 23, 1965	Carling World Open	−5 (71-71-67-70=279)	2 strokes	Arnold Palmer
12	May 29, 1966	Oklahoma City Open Invitational	−17 (69-68-69-65=271)	6 strokes	Tom Weiskopf

PGA Tour playoff record (3–1)

No.	Year	Tournament	Opponent(s)	Result
1	1962	Orange County Open Invitational	Bob Rosburg	Won with birdie on third extra hole
2	1963	Memphis Open	Tommy Aaron	Won with par on first extra hole
3	1963	Cleveland Open	Tommy Aaron, Arnold Palmer	Palmer won 18-hole playoff (Palmer:67, Aaron:70, Lema:70)
4	1964	Cleveland Open	Arnold Palmer	Won with birdie on first extra hole

Other wins (10)

this list is probably incomplete

• 1957 Imperial Valley Open
• 1958 Idaho Open
• 1961 Hesperia Invitational Open, Mexican Open
• 1962 Mexican Open, Northern California Open, Northern California PGA Championship
• 1963 Northern California PGA Championship
• 1964 World Series of Golf, Northern California PGA Championship

Major championships

Wins (1)

Year	Championship	54 holes	Winning score	Margin	Runner-up
1964	The Open Championship	7 shot lead	−9 (73-68-68-70=279)	5 strokes	Jack Nicklaus

Results timeline

DNP = Did not play
WD = Withdrew
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place.
Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-10.

Summary

• Most consecutive cuts made – 15 (1963 Masters – 1966 PGA)
• Longest streak of top-10s – 2 (three times)

U.S. national team appearances

Professional

• Ryder Cup: 1963 (winners, playing captain), 1965 (winners)
• Canada Cup: 1965

See also

• List of golfers with most PGA Tour wins

References

External links

• "Tony Lema". Find a Grave. Retrieved February 5, 2008. 
• Tony Lema Golf Course Monarch Bay

Tony Lema in the Ryder Cup United States Ryder Cup team – 1963 Julius Boros Billy Casper Dow Finsterwald Bob Goalby Tony Lema Gene Littler Billy Maxwell Johnny Pott Dave Ragan Arnold Palmer (playing captain) Won: 23 – 9 United States Ryder Cup team – 1965 Julius Boros Billy Casper Tommy Jacobs Don January Tony Lema Gene Littler Dave Marr Arnold Palmer Ken Venturi Byron Nelson (non-playing captain) Won: 19.5 – 12.5 Johnny Pott: Made the team, but did not participate in the event due to a back injury.