Four days after his triumph at St Andrews, Sam Snead turned to reporters as he prepared to board the Pan Am Clipper from London on July 9th, 1946 and declared: "Every time I play in an American tournament, it will be worth $500 to me as British champion." But he never returned to play in a St Andrews Open again - which makes his appearance next week all the more notable.
At 88, Snead will be among 22 competitors in the Past Champions Challenge to be played in four-balls and three-balls over four holes - the first, second, 17th and 18th - on the Old Course at 4.30 pm next Wednesday. The R and A have not been informed when he is to arrive, but they are confident the Slammer will be there.
His absence from all the Opens there since 1946 seems decidedly curious when one considers the influence he exerted on a leading compatriot. When a semi-retired Byron Nelson arrived for the 1955 Championship, it was very much at the prompting of Snead, who had told him: "You've never played a real course until you've played the Old Course at St Andrews."
Perhaps it was the money which kept him away. He dismissed the winner's cheque of £150 as derisory and few would have disagreed with him, even in those straitened times. But given his words to Nelson, it was also odd that he should have described it as "just another tournament."
Snead made only three British Open appearances in all. He was tied 11th behind Henry Cotton at Carnoustie in 1937 and shared sixth place with Peter Thomson behind Arnold Palmer at Royal Birkdale in 1962. Visits to Britain, as far as the backwoodsman from Virginia was concerned, were like "camping out."
In the event, we are informed that Snead arrived by train on the morning of Friday, June 28th, along with Johnny Bulla, Joe Kirkwood and Lawson Little. In his delightful book, Links with the Past, Bob MacAlinden describes how "ball-starved Scottish spectators gaped in awe as he (Snead) drilled scores of brand-new balls over the Bruce Embankment and on to distant sands, where a band of caddies scuttled around like crabs on the beach, retrieving them.
"Throughout Snead's stay, St Andrews would be treated in equal measure to the sweetness of a swing designed in heaven and the raw observations of this sometimes viperish West Virginian."
Elsewhere in MacAlinden's book comes an interesting aside about an amateur competitor, RR Kelly from Royal Norwich, who was involved in a car crash at York and had to continue by rail. On arrival at St Andrews on the Saturday morning, the determined Kelly said: "I have had two front teeth knocked out and the only trouble is I can't whistle."
In the event, Snead shot rounds of 71, 70, 74, 75 to win by four strokes from compatriot Bulla and South Africa's Locke who shared second place. Fred Daly was tied eighth and Harry Bradshaw was 11th.
Meanwhile, the 22 champions in action next Wednesday will be: Snead, Thomson, Gary Player, Bob Charles, Jack Nicklaus, Roberto de Vicenzo, Tony Jacklin, Lee Trevino, Tom Weiskopf, Tom Watson, Seve Ballesteros, Bill Rogers, Sandy Lyle, Nick Faldo, Mark Calcavecchia, Ian Baker-Finch, Nick Price, John Daly, Tom Lehman, Justin Leonard, Mark O'Meara and Paul Lawrie.
