Stat profiles for 1500 golfers
The Temper Twins, Bob Rosburg & Tommy Bolt
First on GolfObserver: October 31, 2004
Bob Rosburg admits that he had trouble controlling his temper when he played on the PGA Tour. He earned more than his share of fines, but Rossie's exploits were overshadowed by the legendary tantrums of "Terrible Tommy" Bolt.
Now as Dave Marr said for almost three decades, "Back to you Rossie."
- GolfObserver editors
-----------------------------------------------When people think about players with a temper, they always think of Tommy Bolt. But I have to admit, I had a problem with my temper in my playing days, too. I could get just as mad as Tommy on the golf course. I usually just buried my clubs, I guess I didn't break as many as he did.
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I think both of us regret the way we handled things when we were younger. I don't know how much it bothered our careers. I don't think it ever caused me to lose a tournament. It probably did cause me to, instead of finishing fifth, finish 15th or something like that.
Tommy's temper might have cost him some tournaments. We both walked in a lot. I used to walk in, or not play the next day, when I played badly. But it didn't matter how he was playing. If he hit a couple of bad shots, he might walk in even if he was leading the tournament. I think it really cost Tommy a lot of money, way more than it cost me.
Both of us were pretty bad. The caddies used to say, how do you spell Rosburg? R-O-S-B-U-R-G-W-D. I'm not proud of it, and I wish I'd handled things differently. I wish I had finished every round. It's a hard thing to change once you start doing it. You do hurt a lot of people. I hurt myself and I hurt my family. It's something I deeply regret.
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As for Tommy, temper aside, he was the greatest player I ever saw hitting the ball. He could hit more shots than anybody, and he did it for a long, long time. I played a couple of rounds with him when he won the 1958 U.S. Open at Southern Hills, and he played so well it was scary. He ended up winning by four shots on a really hard golf course.
I didn't spend a lot of time with Tommy when we were on the Tour, but I've gotten to know him in senior golf. There's no sweeter guy in the world, he'd give you the shirt off his back. I think he's kind of sorry now. Of course, he's 86 years old, but he looks as good now as he did 20 years ago.
The greatest matches I ever had with Tommy in our playing days was in a made-for-television event called All-Star Golf. We had our first match at Crystal River in Florida, his home course, and I was one shot down going to the last hole. It started to pour rain. Tommy knocked his tee shot under a tree and he asked the referee for a drop because of casual water.
He probably should have gotten a drop, but they didn't give it to him. When he hit it, water shot up and everything. I ended up with a five-foot putt to beat him, and I missed it.
Then we came out to Palm Springs and played at La Quinta. I had some problems with my hand, and it had been in a cast for three months until just before the match. I hit balls for maybe three days before the match, but I couldn't hit a drive more than 200 yards. I told Jimmy Demaret, who was doing the announcing, Jimmy, you're really going to have to lie for me today.
Of course, I could still putt in those days. I one-putted 10 of the first 15 holes, and I was still two behind. Tommy was playing beautiful golf. Well, the 16th hole, he put it to eight feet, I put it to 40 feet, and I holed it. The 17th hole, I hit it to about 30 feet, he hit it to about six feet. Again, I holed it, he didn't, and now we're even. As we were walking to the 18th tee, he looked at the crowd and said, I'll tell you one thing (only he added an extra word), we're all lucky this is on television or nobody would believe it.
We tied the match, and it was so good they decided we should play again the next day. On the first hole, I made a 35-footer and he missed from 10 feet. He said, that's it, I'm done. He didn't walk in, of course, he kept playing, and I played well and beat him. Those were a great three matches.
I got fined a bunch of times for things I did on Tour. When I buried a club, I always said I was just trying to show the caddie where the divot was, but that was a lie. I didn't throw too many clubs, but when you throw them, you want to throw them ahead of you. That's one thing I had to tell Jim Garner, the actor, when we played together at the Crosby one year.
It was raining, a miserable day. We were playing at Monterey Peninsula, and we had a pretty good crowd watching us. Jim hit a bad shot at the 15th, and I'll never forget it. He started to throw the club, but at the last second hr decided not to and tried to hang onto it. He hung on, but then it slipped out at the end and whistled right over the people's heads in the gallery. Everybody was shocked, and he was just mortified.
The caddie said, I'm not going back to get that club. So, Jim had to walk back and get it. And I said, Jim, you've got to always throw them the way you're walking. It's a lot easier to pick up.
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