Tony Lema

{{Infobox golfer

| name = Tony Lema

| image = Tony_Lema-3.jpg

| imagesize = 230

| caption = Lema holding the Claret Jug
after his 1964 Open Championship

| fullname = Anthony David Lema

| nickname = Champagne Tony

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1934|2|25|mf=y}}

| birth_place = Oakland, California

| death_date = {{Death date and age|1966|7|24|1934|2|25|mf=y}}

| death_place = Lansing, Illinois

| height =

| weight =

| nationality = {{USA}}

| spouse = Elizabeth R. "Betty" Cline

| partner =

| children =

| college = None

| yearpro = 1955

| retired =

| extour = PGA Tour

| prowins = 22

| pgawins = 12

| otherwins = 10

| majorwins = 1

| masters = 2nd: 1963

| usopen = T4: 1966

| open = Won: 1964

| pga = T9: 1964

| wghofid =

| wghofyear =

| award1 =

| year1 =

| award2 =

| year2 =

| awardssection =

}}

Anthony David Lema (February 25, 1934 – July 24, 1966) was an American professional golfer who rose to fame in the mid-1960s and won a major title, the 1964 Open Championship at the Old Course at St Andrews in Scotland.{{cite news |url=http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1964/07/11/page/67/article/lema-wins-british-open-by-5-strokes |work=Chicago Tribune |title=Lema wins British Open by 5 strokes |agency=Associated Press |date=July 11, 1964 |page=1, sec. 2 }}{{cite web |url=http://www.theopen.com/en/History/OpenChampions.aspx#player=Tony+LEMA |title=1964 Tony Lema |publisher=The Open |access-date=October 18, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111126022629/http://www.theopen.com/en/History/OpenChampions.aspx#player=Tony+LEMA |archive-date=November 26, 2011 |df=mdy-all }}{{cite magazine |url=http://www.golfdigest.com/story/gwar-voices-fields-tony-lema-british-open-win-0709 |magazine=Golf Digest |last=Fields |first=Bill |title=What might have been |date=July 8, 2014 |access-date=March 14, 2017}} He died two years later at age 32 in an aircraft accident near Chicago.{{cite news |url=http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1966/07/25/page/1/article/tony-lema-3-others-die |work=Chicago Tribune |title=Tony Lema, 3 others die |date=July 25, 1966 |page=1}}{{cite news |url=http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1966/07/25/page/55/article/golf-loses-lema-great-team-player |work=Chicago Tribune |last=Bartlett |first=Charles |title=Golf loses Lema, great team player |date=July 25, 1966 |page=1, sec. 3}}

Early life

Lema was born in Oakland, California, to Anthony H. Lema (1899–1937) and Clotilda M. Lema, née Silva (1910–2000), both of Portuguese ancestry.{{cite web |title=Distinguished Americans & Canadians of Portuguese Descent |url=http://www.portuguesefoundation.org/famous.htm |access-date=January 9, 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071212161136/http://www.portuguesefoundation.org/famous.htm |archive-date=December 12, 2007 |df=mdy-all }} His father died of pneumonia when Tony was three years old, and his widowed mother struggled to raise the family of four children on welfare. He began playing golf as a boy at Lake Chabot municipal golf course and learned different aspects of the game from a variety of people. Noted African-American golf coach Lucius Bateman helped develop his swing and Oakland policeman Ralph Hall taught him course strategy. The golf pros at Lake Chabot, Dick Fry and Bill Burch, trained him on basic golf fundamentals, including the use of a square stance.{{cite magazine |url=https://www.si.com/vault/1963/03/25/606265/champagne-tony-has-a-winning-look |magazine=Sports Illustrated |title=Champagne Tony has a winning look |date=March 25, 1963 |first=Gwilym S. |last=Brown |pages=26–31 |access-date=June 19, 2012}}

At age 17, Lema enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps and served in Korea. After his discharge from the military in 1955, he obtained work as an assistant to the club professional at a San Francisco golf club.

Eddie Lowery, a wealthy San Francisco businessman, who invested in talented amateur players in the area, helped to sponsor and encourage Lema.{{cite book |title=The Match: The Day the Game of Golf Changed Forever |last=Frost |first=Mark |author-link=Mark Frost |year=2007 |publisher=Hyperion Books |isbn=978-1-4013-0278-8 |url=https://archive.org/details/matchdaygameofgo00fros }} Lowery is best known as the 10-year-old caddy of champion Francis Ouimet at the 1913 U.S. Open. In return for loaning Lema $200 a week in expense money, Lowery received one-third of all Lema's winnings.

PGA Tour

By 1957, Lema had developed his skills sufficiently to earn his way onto the PGA Tour, winning the Imperial Valley Open in memorable fashion: Assuming he was out of contention, Lema headed to the clubhouse bar, where he drank three highballs. Told that he would face Paul Harney in a sudden-death playoff, a relaxed Lema won the tournament on the second extra hole. The following year, he began developing friendships with a trio of fellow golfers, Johnny Pott, Tommy Jacobs, and Jim Ferree. During 11 tournaments in 1958, Lema finished in the top 15, winning $10,282 for the year.

The following year, Lema's winnings dropped to $5,900, followed by an even worse year in 1960, when he collected a mere $3,060. A raucous off-the-course lifestyle was taking its toll until he began talking with television producer Danny Arnold, who helped him improve his composure and bolster his confidence.

While Lema's struggles continued in 1962, along with his debt to Lowery reaching over $11,000, his luck changed that autumn. His first tour win came in late September at Las Vegas, three strokes ahead runner-up Don January.{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=sNwzAAAAIBAJ&sjid=CukDAAAAIBAJ&pg=4787%2C87160 |work=Spokesman-Review |location=(Spokane, Washington) |agency=Associated Press |title=Lema victor at Las Vegas with a 270 |date=October 1, 1962 |page=12}} Four weeks later, on the eve of his playoff victory at the Orange County Open Invitational in Costa Mesa, California,{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=YrRWAAAAIBAJ&sjid=5ugDAAAAIBAJ&pg=5263%2C4517418 |work=Spokesman-Review |location=(Spokane, Washington) |agency=Associated Press |title=Lema defeats Bob Rosburg on third hole |date=October 29, 1962 |page=10}} Lema joked he would serve champagne to the press if he won the next day.{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=aNZVAAAAIBAJ&sjid=K-ADAAAAIBAJ&pg=6491%2C3808004 |work=Eugene Register-Guard |location=(Oregon) |agency=(Los Angeles Times)|last=Murray |first=Jim |author-link=Jim Murray (sportswriter) |title=Legend of Tony Lema |date=February 15, 1976 |page=2B}}{{cite web |title=Golf History |publisher=Mesa Verde Country Club library |url=http://www.mesaverdecc.com/About-Us/MVCC-History/Golf-History.aspx |access-date=March 12, 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141011060121/http://www.mesaverdecc.com/About-Us/MVCC-History/Golf-History.aspx |archive-date=October 11, 2014 |df=mdy-all }}{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1755&dat=19640906&id=wLgqAAAAIBAJ&sjid=o2UEAAAAIBAJ&pg=4578,1015651 |title=Who Says Golf Has To Be Grim? |first=Jack |last=Ryan |newspaper=Sarasota Herald-Times |date=September 6, 1964 |pages=8–9 |location=Sarasota, Florida |department=Family Weekly}} From then on he was known as Champagne Tony, and his handsome looks and vivacious personality added to his appeal. Golfer Johnny Miller has stated that at the time of his death in 1966, Lema was second only to Arnold Palmer in fan popularity.{{Quote box |bgcolor=#DCD|salign=right| quote ="There's nothing like ending a nice day on a good game of golf with a little taste of the bubbly".{{cite web |url=http://www.38thnotes.com/2010/04/12/local-legend-a-toast-to-champagne-tony-lema/ |publisher=Howard Cosell Productions (in association with WABC-TV) |title=Champagne Tony: Champagne on the Green |date=1964}}|source=Lema on golf and champagne|align=right| width=225px}}

That win sparked an impressive performance over the next four years that saw Lema win twelve official tour events, finish second on eleven occasions, and third four times. From 1963 until his death in July 1966, he finished in the top ten over half of the time and made the cut in every major, finishing in the top ten in eight of the fifteen in which he played. Lema was a member of Ryder Cup teams in 1963 and 1965 with a record of 9–1–1 ({{winpct|9|1|1}}), which remains the best for any player who has played in two or more.

Friend and tour colleague Jack Nicklaus wrote that Lema's play also stabilized and improved greatly after he married Betty Cline, a former airline stewardess, in 1963.{{cite book |title=On & Off the Fairway |last1=Nicklaus |first1=Jack |author-link1=Jack Nicklaus |first2=Ken |last2=Bowden |year=1978 |publisher=Simon & Schuster |isbn=978-0-671-22568-1 |url=https://archive.org/details/onofffairwaypict00nick }} One additional reason for Lema's more relaxed play that year was the end of his agreement with Lowery.

In 1963, Lema finished second by one stroke to Nicklaus at the Masters, and missed the playoff for the U.S. Open by two shots, bogeying the last two holes, believing he needed birdies. He won the Memphis Open Invitational later that summer.

Lema won two other tournaments that fall and was named 1963 Most Improved Player by Golf Digest. That winter, he wrote, with Gwylim S. Brown, "Golfers' Gold", an autobiographical account of his eight-year apprenticeship in the competitive cauldron of the PGA Tour.

=Major champion=

In 1964, Lema won the Bing Crosby National Pro-Am at Pebble Beach, then three tournaments in four weeks: the Thunderbird Classic at Westchester in Rye, New York, the Buick Open Invitational at Warwick Hills in Grand Blanc, Michigan, and the Cleveland Open at Highland Park (in a playoff with Palmer).{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=wCoNAAAAIBAJ&sjid=iGwDAAAAIBAJ&pg=7133%2C4555751 |newspaper=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette |agency=Associated Press |title=Lema birdies extra hole, beats Palmer |date=June 29, 1964 |page=19 }}{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=N0cqAAAAIBAJ&sjid=BE8EAAAAIBAJ&pg=4691%2C4433591 |newspaper=Pittsburgh Press |agency=UPI |title=Lema's 15-foot putt nips Arnie in sudden death |date=June 29, 1964 |page=26 }}

Two weeks later at St Andrews, Scotland, Lema captured his only major title at the Open Championship, five shots ahead of runner-up Nicklaus.{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=nAswAAAAIBAJ&sjid=VAEEAAAAIBAJ&pg=7515%2C6534051 |newspaper=Toledo Blade |location=(Ohio) |agency=Associated Press |title=Lema winner of British Open |date=July 11, 1964 |page=14 }} Before teeing up in the first round, he had only played nine practice holes. Lema had hired Arnold Palmer's regular British caddy, Tip Anderson, since Palmer was not competing that year.{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=glxVAAAAIBAJ&sjid=nT4NAAAAIBAJ&pg=2062%2C2804023 |newspaper=Miami News |agency=Associated Press |title='World's greatest caddy' carried Lema to victory |date=July 11, 1964 |page=1B}} Anderson, a descendant of a past Open champion, Jamie Anderson, had grown up on the course.

At the September matchup of the four major champions of 1964, in the 36-hole exhibition World Series of Golf, Lema won $50,000 (then the largest payoff in golf) at Firestone Country Club in Akron, Ohio, over Palmer (Masters), Ken Venturi (U.S. Open) and Bobby Nichols (PGA Championship).{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=CP1VAAAAIBAJ&sjid=aOMDAAAAIBAJ&pg=5832%2C2759578|newspaper=Eugene-Register Guard |location=(Oregon)|agency=Associated Press|title=Tony Lema victor in World Series |date=September 14, 1964 |page=3B }}

Due to his good looks and recent success, Lema was tapped for a guest appearance in an episode of the TV series Hazel that aired January 7, 1965, in which Hazel misplaces his prized golf clubs.{{cite web |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0054545/episodes?year=1965&ref_=tt_eps_yr_1965 |publisher=IMDb |title=Champagne Tony: Hazel Misplaces Lema's Prized Golf Clubs |date=January 6, 1965}} Later that year, he was on The Lawrence Welk Show, where Welk passed the baton to Lema to direct the Champagne Music Makers.{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xzQFEwwga4M | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150623204412/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xzQFEwwga4M| archive-date=2015-06-23 | url-status=dead|publisher=YouTube |title=Tony Lema directs the Champagne Music Makers, Lawrence Welk Show |date=1965}}

In 1965, Lema won the Buick Open for the second consecutive year, and the Carling World Open, finishing second in prize money to Nicklaus. In fall 1965, he and Nicklaus formed the U.S. team to the World Cup of Golf. Lema's last victory came in 1966 in late May, in his wife's hometown at the Oklahoma City Open, winning by six strokes at Quail Creek.{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=V3szAAAAIBAJ&sjid=p-gDAAAAIBAJ&pg=7094%2C4680201 |work=Spokesman-Review |location=(Spokane, Washington) |agency=Associated Press |title=Lema's 65 leaves 'em far behind |date=May 30, 1966 |page=6}}{{cite news |url=http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1966/05/30/page/91/article/lema-wins-oklahoma-open-with-record-271 |work=Chicago Tribune |agency=Associated Press |title=Lema wins Oklahoma Open with record 271 |date=May 30, 1966 |page=1, sec. 3}}{{cite news |url=http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1966/07/25/page/59/article/tonys-last-victory-is-like-others |work=Chicago Tribune |agency=UPI |title=Tony's last victory is like others |date=July 25, 1966 |page=5, sec. 3}} Two weeks later, he recovered from an opening round 78 to nearly capture a third consecutive Buick Open, finishing three shots behind Phil Rodgers, in fourth place.{{cite news |url=http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1966/06/13/page/71/article/rodgers-wins-flint-open-by-two-strokes-lema-4th |work=Chicago Tribune |agency=UPI |title=Rodgers wins Flint Open by two strokes, Lema 4th |date=June 13, 1966 |page=1, sec. 3}}

Death

Following the PGA Championship at Firestone in Akron in late July 1966, Lema and his wife chartered an airplane to fly them to an exhibition tournament south of Chicago: the Little Buick Open at Lincolnshire Country Club in Crete, Illinois. The twin-engine Beechcraft Bonanza, piloted by Doris Mullen, ran out of fuel and crashed into a water hazard short of the seventh green of the nine-hole golf course at Lansing Sportsman's Club in Lansing ({{coord|41.5545|-87.5242}}), about a half mile (0.8 km) northwest of their destination, Lansing Municipal Airport.{{cite news |url=http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/illinois/lansing/lansing-club-memorializes-pro-golfer-killed-in-crash/article_a66461db-7163-5a6d-a064-718f62746915.html |work=Northwest Illinois Times|last=Tejada |first=Gregory |title=Lansing club memorializes pro golfer killed in crash |date=July 25, 2011 |access-date=March 14, 2017}} During the fatal plunge, Mullen swerved left to avoid a group of people standing near the clubhouse. In addition to the Lemas and Mullen, who was a mother of four teenaged children, Dr. George Bard, the copilot and a surgeon, was killed.{{cite news |url=http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1966/07/26/page/21/article/lema-plane-engines-dead-probers-find |work=Chicago Tribune |last=Thomis|first=Wayne |title=Lena plane engines dead probers find |date=July 26, 1966 |page=21, sec. 1 }} Bard and Mullen's husband, Wylie, were colleagues as well as owners of the ill-fated plane.{{cite magazine |url=https://www.si.com/vault/1995/07/31/204989/the-toast-of-golf-in-1964-tony-lema-came-away-from-his-first-trip-to-britain-with-an-open-title-and-lots-of-new-fans |magazine=Sports Illustrated |last=Fimrite |first=Ron |title=The Toast Of Golf |date=July 31, 1995 |pages=G14-20 |access-date=July 11, 2012}}{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=KHhQAAAAIBAJ&sjid=VBEEAAAAIBAJ&pg=5008%2C4871934 |newspaper=Milwaukee Sentinel |agency=United Press International |title=Lema plane crash probed |date=July 26, 1966 |page=1-sports |access-date=July 12, 2012}}

Lema and his wife, Betty, age 30, were buried in California at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery in Hayward after funeral services on July 28 at St. Elizabeth's Church in his hometown of Oakland.{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=BKEpAAAAIBAJ&sjid=_egDAAAAIBAJ&pg=5453%2C4452270 |work=Spokesman-Review |location=(Spokane, Washington)|agency=Associated Press |title=Tony, wife laid to rest |date=July 29, 1966 |page=19}}

In 1983, a San Leandro public golf course bordering San Francisco Bay was named in his memory as the Tony Lema Golf Course, now part of the Monarch Bay Golf Club complex, just southeast of the Oakland airport. In Ludlow, Massachusetts, the road accessing the local country club is named Tony Lema Drive, and there is a collection of photographs and other items in the clubhouse of Ludlow Country Club featuring Lema.

Professional wins (22)

=PGA Tour wins (12)=

class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%;"

! Legend

style="background:#e5d1cb;"

|Major championships (1)

Other PGA Tour (11)

class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%;"

!No.

!Date

!Tournament

!Winning score

!To par

!Margin of
victory

!Runner(s)-up

align=center|1

|align=right|Sep 30, 1962

|Sahara Invitational

|69-67-66-68=270

|align=center|−14

|3 strokes

|{{flagicon|USA}} Don January

align=center|2

|align=right|Oct 28, 1962

|Orange County Open Invitational

|68-66-64-69=267

|align=center|−17

|Playoff

|{{flagicon|USA}} Bob Rosburg

align=center|3

|align=right|Nov 18, 1962

|Mobile Sertoma Open Invitational

|67-68-68-70=273

|align=center|−15

|7 strokes

|{{flagicon|USA}} Doug Sanders

align=center|4

|May 27, 1963

|Memphis Open Invitational

|67-67-68-68=270

|align=center|−10

|Playoff

|{{flagicon|USA}} Tommy Aaron

align=center|5

|align=right|Jan 19, 1964

|Bing Crosby National Pro-Am

|70-68-70-76=284

|align=center|−4

|3 strokes

|{{flagicon|USA}} Gay Brewer, {{flagicon|USA}} Bo Wininger

align=center|6

|align=right|Jun 7, 1964

|Thunderbird Classic

|68-67-70-71=276

|align=center|−12

|1 stroke

|{{flagicon|USA}} Mike Souchak

align=center|7

|align=right|Jun 14, 1964

|Buick Open Invitational

|69-66-72-70=277

|align=center|−11

|3 strokes

|{{flagicon|USA}} Dow Finsterwald

align=center|8

|align=right|Jun 28, 1964

|Cleveland Open Invitational

|65-70-70-65=270

|align=center|−14

|Playoff

|{{flagicon|USA}} Arnold Palmer

style="background:#e5d1cb;"

|align=center|9

|align=right|Jul 10, 1964

|The Open Championship

|73-68-68-70=279

|align=center|−9

|5 strokes

|{{flagicon|USA}} Jack Nicklaus

align=center|10

|align=right|Jun 6, 1965

|Buick Open Invitational (2)

|71-70-69-70=280

|align=center|−8

|2 strokes

|{{flagicon|USA}} Johnny Pott

align=center|11

|align=right|Aug 23, 1965

|Carling World Open

|71-71-67-70=279

|align=center|−5

|2 strokes

|{{flagicon|USA}} Arnold Palmer

align=center|12

|align=right|May 29, 1966

|Oklahoma City Open Invitational

|69-68-69-65=271

|align=center|−17

|6 strokes

|{{flagicon|USA}} Tom Weiskopf

PGA Tour playoff record (3–1)

class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%;"

!No.!!Year!!Tournament!!Opponent(s)!!Result

style="background:#D0F0C0;"

|align=center|1

|1962

|Orange County Open Invitational

|{{flagicon|USA}} Bob Rosburg

|Won with birdie on third extra hole

style="background:#D0F0C0;"

|align=center|2

|1963

|Memphis Open Invitational

|{{flagicon|USA}} Tommy Aaron

|Won with par on first extra hole

style="background:#F2C1D1;"

|align=center|3

|1963

|Cleveland Open Invitational

|{{flagicon|USA}} Tommy Aaron, {{flagicon|USA}} Arnold Palmer

|Palmer won 18-hole playoff;
Palmer: −4 (67),
Aaron: −1 (70),
Lema: −1 (70)

style="background:#D0F0C0;"

|align=center|4

|1964

|Cleveland Open Invitational

|{{flagicon|USA}} Arnold Palmer

|Won with birdie on first extra hole

=Other wins (10)=

Note: This list is probably incomplete.

1957 Imperial Valley Open
1958 Idaho Open
1961 Hesperia Invitational Open, Mexican Open
1962 Mexican Open, Northern California Open, Northern California PGA Championship
1963 Northern California PGA Championship
1964 World Series of Golf, Northern California PGA Championship

Major championships

=Wins (1)=

class="wikitable"

!Year!!Championship!!54 holes!!Winning score!!Margin!!Runner-up

style="background:#ABCDEF;"

| 1964

The Open Championship

7 shot lead

−9 (73-68-68-70=279)

5 strokes

{{flagicon|USA}} Jack Nicklaus

=Results timeline=

class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%;text-align:center;"

!Tournament !! 1956 !! 1957 !! 1958 !! 1959 !! 1960 !! 1961 !! 1962 !! 1963 !! 1964 !! 1965 !! 1966

align=left|Masters Tournament

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|

|style="background:yellow;"|2

|style="background:yellow;"|T9

|T21

|T22

align=left|U.S. Open

|50

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|

|CUT

|style="background:yellow;"|T5

|20

|style="background:yellow;"|T8

|style="background:yellow;"|T4

align=left|The Open Championship

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|

|style="background:lime;"|1

|style="background:yellow;"|T5

|T30

align=left|PGA Championship

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|

|WD

|T13

|style="background:yellow;"|T9

|T61

|T34

CUT = missed the half-way cut

WD = withdrew

"T" = tied

=Summary=

Totals	1	1	0	5	8	12	18	16
class=wikitable style=text-align:center !Tournament !! Wins !! 2nd !! 3rd !! Top-5 !! Top-10 !! Top-25 !! Events !! Cuts made
align=left\|Masters Tournament	0	1	0	1	2	4	4	4
align=left\|U.S. Open	0	0	0	2	3	4	6	5
align=left\|The Open Championship	1	0	0	2	2	2	3	3
align=left\|PGA Championship	0	0	0	0	1	2	5	4

Most consecutive cuts made – 15 (1963 Masters – 1966 PGA)
Longest streak of top-10s – 2 (three times)

U.S. national team appearances

Professional

Ryder Cup: 1963 (winners), 1965 (winners)
Canada Cup: 1965

References

External links

[https://www.si.com/vault/issue/42895/1/2 Sports Illustrated] - cover - March 23, 1964
[http://www.golflink.com/golf-courses/course.asp?course=102345 Tony Lema Golf Course Monarch Bay]
{{Find a Grave|11780}}

{{navboxes|title=Tony Lema in the Ryder Cup

|list={{1963 United States Ryder Cup team}}

}}

Category:American male golfers

Category:PGA Tour golfers

Category:Winners of men's major golf championships

Category:Ryder Cup competitors for the United States

Category:Golfers from California

Category:United States Marine Corps personnel of the Korean War

Category:20th-century American memoirists

Category:American people of Portuguese descent

Category:Sportspeople of Portuguese descent