It’s a week we golfers will never forget.
Twenty-five years ago today, the 22nd United States Senior Open — one of the last times PGA Tour legends Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Gary Player and Tom Watson competed in the same tournament — wrapped up its four-day tournament at Salem Country Club.
Bruce Fleisher, at the time a top player (13 wins in three years) on the Senior PGA Tour after a lackluster career on the regular Tour, was a worthy winner of the event after shooting level par 280. Nos. 2 and 17, normally par fives at Salem CC, were converted into long par fours, and the nines were reversed for television.
Fleisher edged Gil Morgan and Japan’s Isao Aoki by one stroke, with New England native Allen Doyle, Nicklaus and Jim Colbert an additional stroke behind.
Nicklaus, tied for the lead with three others with four holes to go, emerged as the sold-out gallery favorite, but he bogeyed the par-3 15th and par-4 16th to break more than a few hearts.
“I’m sorry I slipped up down the stretch,” Nicklaus told this writer in a brief 1-on-1 after he finished. “I had a good chance to catch Bruce, but couldn’t pull it off. Bruce earned the championship. Good for him.”
Salem Country Club’s first USGA championship since the 1984 U.S. Women’s Open was a huge deal for the North Shore far beyond the actual golf. It was the biggest professional sporting event to ever take place on the North Shore as more than 17,000 daily/season tickets were sold, the total limited per USGA directive.
The 2001 Senior Open was the earliest sellout in the event’s short history, despite the fact the Open received worldwide television and free viewing locally spanning 14 hours over the four rounds.
The event was worth $20 million to the regional economy.
Tyler plays starring role
The pre-tournament, behind-the-scenes hero was highly regarded Salem course superintendent Kip Tyler. The region had experienced a miserable winter, resulting in major damage to the root structure in the course’s turf, primarily on the fairways and greens. The majority of Greater Boston’s courses suffered a similar fate.
When Irwin attended media day for the Senior Open in mid-May, he privately feared the course would be in embarrassingly poor shape for the main event June 28 to July 1.
In keeping the course closed to members until after the Senior Open, Tyler recruited an impressive group of golf course superintendents and miraculously got the course — and greens — in outstanding shape come Senior Open week.
“Kip was the No. 1 star of the championship,” General Chairman Ollie Cook declared.
With automobile spaces on the Salem CC property severely limited, most of the spectator parking took place at the Topsfield Fair.
The first excitement of tournament week occurred late Monday afternoon when Nicklaus played nine holes solo, accompanied by his caddy.
On Tuesday Nicklaus and Palmer played a practice round together, with the largest gallery of the day. The highlight of the round was Palmer sinking a 45-foot putt for birdie on the third hole that elicited the famous Palmer grin.
Hale Irwin was defending champion, but most of the attention focused on the Big Three during practice rounds: Nicklaus, Palmer and Player. It then shone on Nicklaus once Palmer missed the cut (81-75-156) and Player fell out of contention early (76 on Day 1).
Golden Bear unfiltered
By the opening round, spectators were out early. Few of them were following what turned out to be the first day leaders, Fleisher (69), former pro tennis player Frank Conner (70) and optometrist-turned pro golfer Gil Morgan (70). Nicklaus was close by with a 71, the same number returned by Aoki and Rhode Islander Dana Quigley.
Aoki took the midpoint lead at one-under 139, with Fleisher at 140 and Morgan, Quigley and former U.S. Open and PGA champion Larry Nelson at 141 after two days of play.
The weather had been warm and sunny for the first two days, but it became a factor on Saturday and Sunday. The biggest news from Round 3 was Nicklaus’s 69, keyed by a 12-foot curling birdie putt on the home hole that provided the loudest gallery response of the afternoon.
Nicklaus finished mere minutes before a thunder and lightning rainstorm that prevented the leaders from finishing their round. Most important, the thousands of fans stuck on the course were able to flee to their cars and the awaiting shuttle buses without serious incident.
It poured for more than a half hour, forcing Nicklaus to stick around the press tent located across the street from the club’s main entrance after he had completed his formal interview with the media.
Always popular with the media during his incomparable career, Nicklaus declared he was willing to chat — unofficially — until the torrential rain stopped. He did not have an umbrella with him, so he elected to stay put until the storm passed. During that time Nicklaus Unleashed was at his best, offering off-the-record opinions and laughs that had those in attendance falling off their chairs, mine included.
A worthy showing
A few late groups had to finish their third round Sunday morning, which found Nelson, Aoki and Colbert sharing the lead at one under par. Nicklaus was three shots back.
More late afternoon thunderstorms were predicted for the final round, and they were just as violent as Saturday’s deluge. But the USGA got the round in before the rains hit and Fleisher was the top survivor, firing a superb closing day 68 under soft turf conditions, two under. He defeated Aoki and Morgan by one shot; Nicklaus, Colbert (who holed out a bunker shot on the 15th for birdie-2 to take the lead briefly) and local favorite Allen Doyle by two.
Doyle finished tied for fourth overall despite an opening round 78. He followed with 67-68-69.
The storm forced Fleisher to hold his champion’s media interview in a tournament trailer. He joined Palmer and Nicklaus as the only players to win the U.S. Amateur and U.S. Senior Open.
“Even with the late afternoon storms on Saturday and Sunday, we had a super successful week hosting the Senior Open,” Ollie Cook declared. “I couldn’t be prouder of the membership, the course and the hundreds of volunteers who made this such a memorable week.”
The USGA was so pleased that it returned for another Senior Open in 2017, when Kenny Perry won his second championship after a stirring final round duel with Kirk Triplett.
(Editor’s Note: Fleisher died in 2021, at 72. Sadly there were two noteworthy deaths with North Shore golf connections the week of the 2001 Senior Open: two-time Oscar winner Jack Lemmon, who played in several Myopia Fourballs with Harvard roommate Rick Humphreys, at 76; and Peter Farricker, former Beverly Times sportswriter who had gone on to become Senior Editor/Equipment for Golf Digest, at 45.)
Gary Larrabee, a long-time former Salem News sports staffer, served as executive editor of the 2001 U.S. Senior Open magazine and Championship Media Liaison for Salem Country Club during Senior Open Week.