Remembering Locke, the SA legend - Bangkok Post
Shaking Bobby Locke's hand was a wonderful experience for me, and it transpired at a British Open he was competing in during the twilight of his playing career. Not many walking past this unassuming old gentleman actually knew who he was or that the frail-looking man, wearing a cap, had won the Open four times and was regarded as one of the greatest golfers of all time, having won 94 professional tournaments!
This South African had a playing record second to none and, in his heyday, was widely considered the best putter in the world. His putter was very old and it looked like he hooked every putt he hit -- but the vast majority went in. Bobby was born in 1917 and died in 1987 and was the first South African to play all over the world. Let's remember that this was an era before other South Africans like Gary Player, Ernie Els, Retief Goosen, Trevor Immelman, Louis Oosthuizen and Carl Schwartzel, and several notable others, had understood and realised that travelling large distances was unavoidable, if they wanted to be successful in tournament golf.
Locke arrived in America in 1947 where he dominated, winning four tournaments in a five-week period and topping the money list. He won the Chicago Victory National by 16 strokes, which remains a record to this day. The following year, Locke was banned from the tour because of a dispute over playing commitments. However, it was widely regarded, at the time, that Locke was simply too good. After this controversy, Locke decided not to return to play in the US and played elsewhere where he felt more comfortable and won 23 times in Europe, including the Open in 1949, 1950, 1952 and 1957.
He won the Australian Open, New Zealand Open, Dutch Open, French Open, German Open, Swiss Open, and the South African Open five times. Apart from his wonderful record in the British Open, he had a 10th place finish in the Masters and two third-place finishes in the US Open together with two fourth positions and a fifth.
Out of Bounds: Locke died of meningitis in 1987 at the age of 70 and, curiously, his wife and daughter then became reclusive and died together in a suicide pact at the ages of 80 and 40 respectively.
