30th Anniversary: 1981 Pensacola Open

[Frank-0-Sport]

Greetings .... This weekend, Luke Donald and Webb Simpson will battle it out on Mickey Mouse's turf for the 2011 Leading Money Winner title. This may bring back some memories of times when the chase for this particular title was a really big deal. One such chase occurred some 30 years ago in another part of Florida, in the town of Pensacola. It was late October 1981, and the event was the Pensacola Open. Normally by the time the Tour rolled into this last official stop of the season, only the race for the Top 60 (before 1982) or Top 125 (1982-after) Money Leader status was the main storyline and very few top names, if any, bothered to tee it up in Pensacola. But in 1981, the chase for Leading Money Winner as well as Player-of-the-Year (PGA of America's award, the only one given then) and Vardon Trophy for low scoring average was still going strong leading into Pensacola. Several big names of that time -- Tom Watson, Tom Kite, Ray Floyd, Bill Rogers and Bruce Lietzke -- all had legitimate shots at one or more of the three season-ending titles. All except Rogers, who had a busy fall schedule after winning both the British Open and World Series of Golf, teed it up in Pensacola. You can read the full story of how this particular season-ending showdown played out on a web-page I composed some years ago. Just click-on the link title below ... [url=http://frankosport.com/golf/PensacolaO81.htm][b]1981 Pensacola Open: The Forgotten Season-Ending Championship[/b][/url] Thanx-A-Lot and Hope You Enjoy, Frank-0-Sport

[mvmac]

Good stuf Frank, thanks