Nicklaus Is Invited to Play Own Tourney

Defending champion Jack Nicklaus and 1984 runner-up Andy Bean head a list of 87 golfers who have been issued invitations for the 1985 Memorial Tournament, according to general chairman Pandel Savic.

Savic said that Nicklaus and Bean, who were involved in a playoff last year, already have accepted and will be in the field at Muirfield Village Golf Club May 23-26.

The two had tied at 8-under-par 280 after 72 holes, and it took Nicklaus three extra holes to carve out the victory to match his 1977 triumph on the course he designed. As founder of the Memorial, he traditionally is the first entry.

Bean, a 32-year-old Florida grad, missed crucial short putts on the 72nd and 75th holes. He told tournament officials he “definitely will be back.”

Invitations also were issued to the 1984 Tour’s 70 leading moneywinners, including Fuzzy Zoeller, Ben Crenshaw, Lee Trevino, Seve Ballesteros, Tom Watson, Mark O’Meara, Hale Irwin, Ray Floyd, David Graham, Keith Fergus, Roger Maltbie and Jim Simons.

This year’s Memorial honoree will be the late Charles (Chick) Evans, the first golfer ever to win the U.S. Open and U.S. Amateur in the same year, 1916. He also founded the Evans Scholars program through which more than 4,000 caddies have received college scholarships.