Vintage Invitational Senior Golf Tournament : Moody Shoots a 63 to Win by 11; Henning Has a 64

The long-handled putter is here to stay on the Seniors PGA Tour.

Orville Moody and Harold Henning made sure of that with some of the most fantastic putting ever in the $320,000 Vintage Chrysler Invitational.

What records “The Sarge” didn’t shatter Sunday at Vintage Country Club when he won the 72-hole tournament by 11 strokes, Henning, who tied with Al Geiberger for second place at 14-under, did.

Moody broke records with almost every stroke of his odd-looking three-sided putter with the 50-inch shaft.

He was putting so well, he barely missed getting birdies on all of the last 12 holes. He settled for nine, and became the first golfer to set 18-hole records on two different courses in the same tournament while setting a Seniors Tour record of 263.

Moody’s 25-under total broke Miller Barber’s mark of 264, set at the 1982 Fairfield Barnett tournament.

Moody shot a nine-under 63 Sunday on the Mountain course, after shooting a record 64 on the Desert course in his first round Thursday.

The Desert course almost knocked Moody out of the tournament. If he had been an auto racing driver, such as Tim Richmond, he would have been disqualified. He had such a terrible hay fever attack he had to take Sudafed, a drug that disqualified Richmond before the Daytona 500.

“It was the worst attack I’ve had in years,” Moody said. “There was something on the 14th hole over on the Desert that did it. For two nights, taking the medicine, I couldn’t sleep, so last night I didn’t take any and finally had a good night’s sleep.”

Moody modified the handle by adding shafts of a pair of 2-iron shafts, but Henning uses the club developed by the late Dr. Joe Corvi, a scientist better known for his work with the Apollo Space program. The handle on Henning’s putter is less than an inch shorter, but lighter than Moody’s.

Henning set a Seniors record of 129, 15 under par, for the last two rounds. He had a 64 Sunday, which followed Saturday’s 65. He used the long-handled putter on the last 30 holes.

According to Joe Corvi Jr., who is trying to market the club, the putter, when used with a conventional shaft (34 to 36 inches), is dynamically a better putter.

Arnold Palmer took Corvi at his word and shot a 69 on the final round to finish at 282. Palmer, who has had serious problems putting in recent years, said he would give it a try this week.

“I putted a little better than I did the first three rounds,” he said. “I will try it at Wood Ranch (in Simi Valley), the next two days and may use it in the GTE Classic.

“I definitely think it has possibilities.”

Moody is sure every senior should try it.

“The way I putted throughout my career, I never would have thought I would have a putting day like this,” he said.

“Do you know I could have birdied the last 12 holes. The three putts I missed all came close to falling. I owe it all to this putter and the confidence it has given me.

“I started out with a three-stroke lead today and I was tentative and actually nervous. When Al had trouble taking advantage of my problem, I guess it had to be my day. The tournament turned on the seventh hole.

“Al birdied the sixth and was just two shots back. His iron shot on the par-3 seventh looked like it was going in the hole. It went a few feet beyond.

“I knew I needed a good shot. I hit a 7-iron and I knew I was closer. He missed his 12-footer and I made my 2-footer. From then on almost every putt went in.”

With a 12-foot birdie putt on No. 8, Moody stretched his lead to four shots. Geiberger’s hopes ended on the next hole. On the par-5 ninth, Geiberger hit a chip 6 feet past the pin, while Moody left his third shot 15 feet below the hole. When Moody sank his, Geiberger missed. If it had been a fight, it would have been stopped right there.

Instead, Moody just missed a 15-footer on 10, lagged so well on a 40-footer on 11 that it went in.

“That was one of three putts on closing holes that I was just playing safe and wound up with birdies,” he said. “I didn’t know anything about any record, I just wanted to win. But, on the last hole I was going for the green in two. I didn’t figure there was any way I could blow a 10-stroke lead.”

“This was my greatest putting day, but I have been putting well for seven or eight months.

“Last fall Dale Douglass played with me and said I was the best putter on the senior tour. A couple of weeks ago he said I was the best on any tour and today he said I was best in the world. Can you imagine anyone saying anything like that about Orville Moody, for many years a horrible putter.”

When told that the last three winners of the Vintage had gone on the next week to win the Los Angeles tournament, Moody didn’t seem too confident.

“It isn’t the kind of course I play well on,” he said. “But, if I putt the way I did this week, I can win anywhere.”

Moody, who had only 23 putts in his record 64 on the Desert course, had 25 Sunday. On the regular tour, he often needed that many putts for nine holes.