‘I thought links was the dumbest thing!’ The inside story of how Mark Calcavecchia won the 1989 Open

Mark Calcavecchia’s start to life in golf was about as unassuming as it gets.

“I grew up in a town of 900 people in Nebraska,” he tells bunkered on a FaceTime call from his rental home ahead of the Senior PGA Championship. “In the early ‘60s it was a 15- to 20-mile drive to the nearest course, so my dad and his buddies bought a 40-acre cornfield and turned it into a nice little nine-holer.

“I started going down with a regular-length putter which would be up under my armpit, and then when I got my first proper junior set I would spend the summer riding my bike down there in nothing but my trunks, swim in the pool, which was just below the ninth tee, and play golf. That’s how I fell in love with the game.”

Fast forward a quarter of a century and ‘Calc’ – as he’s known in the sport’s circles – finds himself at Royal Troon holding aloft the Claret Jug having just seen off Greg Norman and Wayne Grady in a tense play-off.

Unsurprisingly, he’s keen to talk us through it…

Was your Open debut at Muirfield in 1987 your first experience of playing links golf?

Yes, it was. I loved it! I had a great time. I finished tied 11th and I thought it was just the coolest thing – until the next year at Lytham when I shot 76-84, then I thought it was the dumbest thing!

I couldn’t keep it out of the bunkers and I was just miserable. But, sure enough, I started playing really well at the end of ’88, won again, then I won a couple more tournaments in early ’89.

You’re being modest as those tournaments were the Phoenix and LA Opens – but that must have made you feel much better about coming back for another stab at The Open?

Well, I played at Gleneagles the week before and couldn’t make a two-foot putt. I was awful. But I got over to Troon and my first time playing it was with Mark O’Meara, Curtis Strange, and Arnold Palmer.

I made a 30-footer on 18 for O’Meara and me to win the match and take a few quid off Arnie. He was like, ‘Goddammit Calc!’

That would have been Palmer’s 21st Open. Did he give you any tips?

If he did, I don’t really remember. We were just out there to have fun.

But it was the perfect way to start your preparation…

Exactly. Instantly, I started playing pretty well. I really love the course. Every hole suited my eye. And the weather was just perfect all week.

There was a summer drought going on, so it was warm, with not much wind, and it was dry. It was playing pretty firm.

Were you confident?

I really started playing well because I fell in love with the course at first sight. I remember just thinking, ‘Man, this is going to be a great week!’ It just changed everything.

Sometimes, it can be as fast as that. You get to a place where you’re comfortable and I knew I liked it so I instantly started playing better. And it turned out to be the best week ever. I started off OK, 71-68, but Wayne was winning the tournament the whole week.

He was playing great and even on Sunday, coming down the last three holes, I was four or five down to him. He only had six holes left, and Greg was in at 13-under, so I knew I had to birdie two of the last three to have any chance. And that’s what I did. I birdied 16 and 18.

At what point did you know Norman had shot 64 to set the clubhouse target at 13?

I’m a scoreboard watcher, so I knew he was done. You pay attention to those things when you’re out there. He finished an hour in front of me, so I knew. I was at ten-under when I flew a chip in the hole at 12, and that changed everything.

I played fantastic after that. I parred 13, 14 and 15, which are hard holes and I knew I could get to 16, the par-5, in two, so I made birdie there. And 17’s a super-hard par-3, so made par, and 18 was a little bit downwind, so it wasn’t playing very long.

I actually drove it right at that bunker that Norman hit it into in the play-off, and it stopped about four yards short. I just had an 8-iron into the green and hit it in there to about three feet, so I was pretty happy that I got to 13-under and I was thinking that, either way, I had a great week. Then we got a little help from Grades coming in…

Was there any point you thought you would win the tournament?

There really wasn’t. I just knew I had to birdie 18 to tie Greg. I really didn’t think Wayne was going to falter coming down the stretch.

I never thought about winning The Open at all the entire week. But we got a little help from Wayne, who had bogeys at 14 and 17, and suddenly we’re all in a play-off.

How did you adjust your mindset for the extra holes?

I was down to one ball and, in case something weird happened, I had to borrow three balls from Tom Watson. I asked the official if we were going back to 18 and he replied, ‘No, we’re going back to one.’ I said, ‘Seriously? The first is the easiest hole on the course, that is a strange choice for a sudden-death play-off.’ He said, ‘No, we are playing one, two, 17 and 18.’ I was so relieved.

Obviously, I was nervous, but it definitely helped relax me knowing we had four holes. I was in my own little bubble, but it just goes to show you how, at the start of the week, you’re not worried about that sort of thing. Of course, Greg birdied the first hole of the play-off and I thought, ‘Here he goes again.’

It all changed on the third play-off hole, though…

Greg really surprised me on 17. He was up first and he hit a 3-iron just off the back of the green. I hit it on the green, and Wayne hit it in the bunker and would go on to make bogey.

But Greg took out a 7-iron to chip it because there was a weed in front of his ball. Every player in the world – other than Ray Floyd, who chipped everything – would have putted it. I couldn’t believe what he was doing. I don’t know if he was worried that his ball might hit the weed and bounce up in the air but he ended up chipping it ten or 11 feet by.

I two-putted and he missed so suddenly we’re tied at one-under with Wayne one-over.

What were you thinking on the 18th tee?

In regulation, I had hit a really good drive, but I was worried about that bunker. I never hit a 3-wood off the tee, so I fanned a driver out to the right and then Greg stepped up and blistered
one right down the middle with a slight fade. I thought to myself, ‘If this kicks right…’ I knew he could reach that bunker because he could hit it further than most.

His caddie, Bruce Edwards, said, ‘Beauty, Greg!’ and they were already on their way off the tee because they thought he’d hit it perfectly. Sure enough, it kicked right and I watched it catch the corner of the bunker.

I knew he was dead and could only chip it out from there, so I got up there and hit my 5-iron right at the flag – the best shot of my life – and it rolled up to about six feet. From the fairway, it looked like it was two or three feet, so I think that forced Greg into trying something miraculous that he shouldn’t have done.

He hit it in that cross bunker about 40 yards short of the green, then he hit that one into the clubhouse, and that was all she wrote.

So, it wasn’t really until 75-and-a-half holes into the tournament that you actually started to believe you would soon be a major champion?

Yes! As soon as he hit the third shot out of bounds, I knew I could three-putt from six feet and win. I’ve never thought of this at any other time in my life, but when I got over the putt, I thought to myself, ‘The only way I can screw this up is to double hit it.’ If you go back and watch the putt, I short-stroke it a little bit. I really didn’t follow through much, and it barely got to the front.

One more stroke. The ball drops. You’re the Open champion. What did it feel like in that moment?

Honestly, after that, everything was a blur. I have no idea what I said when I got the Jug, or in my speech to the crowd. The next thing I remember is having Champagne with the volunteers and then getting in the courtesy car with my caddie. We just looked at each other and said, ‘What the hell just happened?’ And we just started laughing.

Do you ever watch the footage back?

I’ve seen it a decent amount of times! Mainly just the play-off, but it’s fun to watch. My wife always says to me, ‘Look how cute you used to be!’

Is it true you almost didn’t play because your first wife was pregnant?

It is. We didn’t know we were having a girl but her due date was July 23, the Sunday of that Open. I said that I didn’t think I should go as I didn’t want to miss the birth, and she said I should because she had good vibes for me. So off I went.

And she held on?

She was born two-and-a-half weeks later, on the Tuesday of the PGA week, so I WD’d from that. We ended up naming her Britney, after the British Open, so we call her Brit all the time.

You played in 40 Opens throughout your career, ending at the 150th in St Andrews. Is Troon still your favourite venue?

Without a doubt. It’s probably my second favourite course in the world, and I would say that even if I hadn’t won there. Everything about Troon is fantastic.

Which others did you like?

I’ve even come to love Lytham, even though I had a miserable time there in ’88, and now it’s probably my second favourite Open venue. I like Muirfield and Carnoustie, too, and I have a love-hate relationship with St Andrews. It’s the coolest place ever and we had a great time there but I was trying to play on two broken knees essentially.

The only one I didn’t really like was St George’s. I don’t think even Darren Clarke likes it! Still, it’s the best championship in the world, with the best fans and the best atmosphere. The buzz there is just amazing.

We will be hosting our special Open Commute episodes of The bunkered Podcast from Troon – so make sure you’re subscribed!

Alex Perry is the Associate Editor of bunkered. A journalist for more than 20 years, he has been a golf industry stalwart for the majority of his career and, in a five-year spell at ESPN, covered every sporting event you can think of. He completed his own Grand Slam at the 2023 Masters, having fallen in love with the sport at his hometown club of Okehampton and on the links of nearby Bude & North Cornwall.

Associate Editor