Tom Watson knew things did not look good as he stood on the first tee shortly after 1 pm to tee off in the second round of the U.S. Open at Medinah Country Club outside of Chicago. He noticed the gathering storm clouds and how the sky had darkened ominously.
Being one of the most careful pros on the Tour when it came to lightning, Watson invoked the “lightning rule” and took shelter in the clubhouse, much to the dismay and embarrassment of U.S.G.A. officials. They wanted to make sure that the U.S.G.A. lightning rule was warranted so they walked out to the tee to check the weather conditions. Suddenly, a bolt of lightning struck near the course and P.J. Boatwright, the U.S.G.A. official in charge of running the event, immediately called for a suspension of play. He then sought out Tom Watson and apologized for questioning his invocation of the rule.
The U.S.G.A. officials next instructed Watson’s playing partners, Lee Trevino and Bobby Nichols, to take shelter in the clubhouse. Trevino was having none of it. He asked where the spectators around the first tee were supposed to take shelter. He didn’t like the response he received so he informed the officials that he was staying out on the tee with the fans—he would entertain them during the delay in play.
“Don’t worry about it,” Trevino told the officials. “I’ll just take a 1-iron and hold it up. Even God can’t hit a 1-iron.” The fans ate it up and laughed along with Trevino and the U.S.G.A. officials. The quote became one of Trevino’s trademark quotes from a player known for his many humorous quips.
After opening with a 72 in the first round and a 69 in the second round, Trevino found himself tied for fourth before fading to a tie for 29th place. He finished nine strokes behind Lou Graham and John Mahaffey who settled the matter in a Monday 18-hole playoff which Graham won.
The Tour moved down the street from Medinah to Butler National Golf Club in Oak Brook, Illinois, for the Western Open. June of 1975 featured brutal weather in the Chicago region. It was hot and muggy with numerous violent thunderstorms and even at least one tornado hit just 10 miles from Medinah the Wednesday before the Open began.
The Western Open was first played 1899 and was considered by many players to be a premier championship in its early decades of existence. Trevino and many of the other pros who played in the U.S. Open felt that Butler National was every bit as difficult as Medinah.
In the first round, the quiet Australian David Graham shot a course record 65 but what really got the crowd’s juices flowing was that Arnold Palmer was just three strokes back at 68. Palmer had not won a PGA Tour title since the 1973 Bob Hope Desert Classic and Arnie’s Army was clamoring for another title.
The weather during the first round was hot and muggy and although thunderstorms threatened, they never materialized. Jerry Heard shot a 69 in the first round playing alongside Trevino who shot a 73. They teed off at 8:48 with Mike Fetchick as the third player in the group. Both Bobby Nichols and Tony Jacklin shot 72. All the leaders played in the morning as the afternoon starters had to play through the worst of the hot and humid conditions.
The weather did not cooperate for the second round as a ferocious thunderstorm rolled through in the afternoon of Friday the 13th. Trevino, Heard and Fetchick teed off at 1:18 and as they reached the back nine the weather was threatening with darkening skies and thunderheads. Tony Jacklin, Bobby Nichols and Bob Dickson started their round at 1:02 teeing off on the 10th tee and were playing the 4th hole, around 4:00 pm, when a bolt of lightning hit near them. Jacklin’s 8-iron was ripped from his grip on his follow-through and the club was launched 30 feet down the fairway.
“I was immediately aware of a burning taste in my mouth,” Jacklin told Golf Digest writer Guy Yocum years later.
Another bolt hit Bobby Nichols who was knocked from his feet and left him woozy. He told Red Harbour, a club official, he felt strange and didn’t have his equilibrium. Harbour smelled burnt wire on Nichol’s breath and called for an ambulance right away. Even so, it was close to 5:30 before Nichols was transported to the hospital.
Trevino, Heard and Dickson had just finished putting on the 13th green at 4:04 pm when a large clap of thunder and a bolt of lightning cause a cessation to play. Minutes later the sky started to dump rain with the city of Chicago recording two and half inches in a short amount of time. Trevino and Heard sought refuge under a large tree near the shore of Teal Lake, Butler National’s largest water hazard that butts up against the 13th fairway, the 14th fairway and the 4th fairway. Dickson departed for the safety of the clubhouse.
Trevino and Heard huddled together under an umbrella to wait out the storm. Both men had removed their shoes because of the hazard of the metal spikes on the sole that would conduct an electrical charge. Heard had his putter resting on his mid-section. Trevino leaned up against his golf bag and his young caddy, Ned Garmoe, was nearby. Except for removing their shoes, the guidelines we now adhere to when it comes to avoiding lightning were almost universally violated on this afternoon; the players sought refuge under a tall object, near water and had metal that would attract a charge in the form of the umbrellas with its metal shaft and ribs and the golf clubs in their bags.
A bolt of lightning suddenly hit Teal Lake and the charge was conducted across the surface of the lake and traveled through the ground to the clubs in Trevino’s bag and the putter leaning against Heard. Both players were knocked from their feet and suffered burns, Trevino to his back and Heard to his mid-section where his putter had been leaning.
| “I’m hit!” |
Trevino fell to ground, rolled over a couple of times and exclaimed, “I’ve been hit!”
According to the eyewitness account of Ann Grassel of Libertyville, Illinois, “The lightning hit and must have come right up his clubs. Nobody was sure if Trevino was kidding but he flipped over and complained of pain in his left shoulder.”
“Trevino was saying he felt like he died,” his caddy Garmoe said. “He said his whole life was passing before him.”
An ambulance arrived at 4:30 and Trevino was put on a gurney and loaded in the vehicle for the ride to the Hinsdale Sanitarium while Heard was able to get into the ambulance on his own. Both players complained of a great deal of pain. Both players spent the night in the hospital in the intensive care unit before being transferred to private rooms on Saturday.
The abysmal weather continued for the rest of Friday and Saturday causing a delay in the second round. The second round would be played on Sunday with the third and fourth round being played on Monday. Trevino and Nichols were listed in excellent condition on Sunday while Heard was discharged Saturday evening. He stated that he hoped to play when the tournament resumed.
Dr. Paul G. Fredrickson attended to all three players at the hospital and told the press, “It was a shaky experience for all of them, and I believe Lee was hit harder than any of them. He was quite shaken up. He had an exit mark on his back and muscle rigidity for some time in his upper back.”
“I think they are all fortunate to be here,” the doctor went on.
Heard was in the field when play resumed on Sunday and after Monday’s 36-hole final round was completed, he had managed a tie for third place at 288. He won $8,267 while Hale Irwin won $40,000 and the championship with a score of 282.
Lee Trevino went on to win nine more titles on the PGA Tour as well as 29 titles on the Champion’s Tour. He was struck by lightning twice more during his career. He is a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame. Jerry Heard never returned to form (although he did win the 1978 Atlanta Classic) after getting hit by lightning at Butler National that fateful day. Bobby Nichols did not win again on the PGA Tour but he did win the 1989 Southern Bell Classic in a playoff against Orville Moody.
Bobby Nichols was “in the room” when Trevino made his remark about God and the 1-iron and he was also hit by lightning the next week along with Trevino and Heard.
