Douglass Fights Off Player to Win : Senior Tour Newcomer Takes the Vintage by Four Strokes

When Gary Player birdied the ninth hole Sunday to move into a tie for first place, just about everyone here thought the South African newcomer to the Senior PGA Tour was about to add the Vintage Invitational to his many laurels.

Not so Dale Douglass, who was quick to accept the challenge. Playing in the group behind Player, Douglass fired three consecutive birdies, beginning with the eighth hole, to regain sole possession of the lead. It was only the beginning. After routine pars on 11 and 12, he made three birdies on the next four holes to make a shambles of the best Senior Tour field ever assembled.

Douglass shot a final round 34-32--66 and won the 72-hole event by four strokes with a 272 total, 16 under par. He missed the tournament record, set by Gene Littler in 1981, by just one shot.

Player shot a final round 68 and lost ground. He finished at 276. Another two strokes back were Jim Ferree and Chi Chi Rodriguez at 278. Lee Elder was at 279. Arnold Palmer, his back obviously bothering him, had most of the record crowd of 7,212 with him, but he shot a final round 73 and finished at 280.

It has been a remarkable 18 days since Douglass became eligible to join the 50-and-over group. About the only thing he has done wrong was to lose a playoff a week ago to Charlie Owens at Sun City, Ariz.

He has played seven rounds as a senior and is 30 shots under par. He is averaging a phenomenal 67.7 strokes per round. With his $40,500 purse for winning the Vintage, he has won $58,500. Not since he won $76,070 on the regular PGA tour in 1971 has he won as much in an entire year as he has earned in the last 10 days.

Not bad for a player whose last win came in 1970.

“It has been a long time between victories,” he said. “It’s a very great thing for me, my wife and my friends who stayed with me in my lean years.

“I don’t know how long the streak will continue, but I will be at the Johnny Mathis tournament next week at MountainGate.”

Douglass was asked the inevitable question. Is the Senior Tour that much easier?

“I don’t feel that it is,” he said. “In recent years, I played on the regular tour only to stay in condition for tournament play. I’m new on this tour, so I’m not an authority. But the big difference as I see it is that there are 150 guys to face on the regular tour, but only 50 or so here.

“But I’ve been just as nervous and anxious out here as I was on the other one. I know most of these guys and I know there will be problems for me.

“My goal is to keep finishing in the top 10. That’s the way to make money here.”

Although he kept making threes in bunches, 9 of them in the last 14 holes, Douglass said he didn’t know he had such a big lead until he reached the 18th green and looked at the leader board.

“It was probably just as well that I didn’t know because I kept my concentration,” he said.

“Before today’s round, I was thinking 66--but that doesn’t really mean anything. I’m always thinking 66.

“I love this golf course. The setting is beautiful, the course is in magnificent condition and the weather was great. It’s a lot like Phoenix.”

Player came to the press tent as a gracious loser.

“I finished four shots back, but I was closer to Dale than it looks,” Player said. “On the back nine I made some great shots, but I couldn’t get the putts to drop.”

While shooting a one-under 35 on the back nine, Player missed putts of 7, 5, 6 and 8 feet.

“I would have had to make all of them to make it close. But you have to give the credit to Dale. He played magnificently and he is a great addition to the Senior Tour.

“I figured I needed a 66 to have a chance today, but it never occurred that it would take a 64 just to tie.”

Just a couple of years ago, only a handful of players were capable of winning a tournament. Now, the competition runs deep. In this tournament, there were 13 players who finished the 72 holes under par.

Among those who didn’t break par were defending champion Peter Thomson and 73-year-old Sam Snead. Thomson, bothered by a pulled muscle, needed 298 strokes. Although he twice shot within two strokes of his age, Snead had a 303 total.