How Times Have Changed: The Bob Hope 30 Years Ago

Or, Should a Walrus Part With His Whiskers?

The 1980 Bob Hope was the last edition to see so much rain that play had to be carried over into Monday. The winner that year was 'The Walrus' Craig Stadler. It was Stadler's first PGA Tour triumph.

The '80 Hope wasn't the first time I remember seeing Stadler play. He was Ed Sneed's playing partner for the final 18 holes of the 1979 Masters. Stadler didn't have a very good final round.  A final round 76 dropped him back to a tie for 7th.

Back to the '80 Hope. Stadler opened the final round tied for the lead with Larry Nelson. One shot back were Mike Sullivan and Tom Purtzer. Can't you feel the excitement golf fans must have enduring at that moment? The top 4 golfers on the leaderboard had a combined 3 wins (2 for Nelson, 1 for Purtzer)!

The '80 Hope was the last top 10 by tour troublemaker Dave Hill. (Everyone remembers his 80 acres of corn and a few cows comment, but how many Waggle Room readers besides Sal Johnson know Hill filed an anti-trust lawsuit against the PGA Tour in the early 70s?)  Hill, who hadn't won a tournament since 1976, ended up T6.

With a couple of birdies on front nine par 5s, 27 putts, and a closing bogey by Tom Purtzer gave Stadler a two shot win over Purtzer and Mike Sullivan. What was the big storyline that week? The weak leaderboard ?

No, it was Stadler's facial hair! Stadler wore a beard at that time - one that supposedly had Tour Commissioner Deane Beman threatening to fine Stadler if he didn't shave it off.  A walrus without whiskers? That's just unimaginable! At least one writer said Stadler may have been the first PGA Tour winner to wear one. The AP writer at the time said Stadler was a smaller version of Merlin Olsen.

The bearded golfer who nearly wrecked the Tour. Now we have a Tiger wrecking the Tour. How times have changed.  Yes, I do remember watching the 1980 Hope.