Oakmont Caddie Confessions, Part 8: Drawing for the 1973 U.S. Open

An important milestone in the runup to the 1973 U.S. Open at Oakmont was the drama of the caddie drawing. From what I had heard, the caddie drawing was supposed to be fixed in that a pecking order of caddies would choose who they wanted to caddie for and the USGA would look the other way.

I let it be known that I wanted to caddie for Chi Chi Rodriguez and nobody ahead of me in the pecking order seemed to have a problem with that. But we had also heard that the drawing was going to be fair and its results would be enforced this year for two reasons.

The first was that in 1962, the last time the U.S. Open was at Oakmont, the caddie who was going to caddie for Arnold Palmer told the local Verona newspaper and there was a story about it. Second,  there were many complaints over the years from the lesser golfers that they were getting the lesser caddies while the better golfers were getting the better caddies.

So the USGA told the caddymaster that the drawing would be exactly that: random names being picked out of a jar, and the USGA would be there to enforce it. This caused great consternation among the caddies at the top who were really counting on choosing the player they wanted. There was a lot of bitching and moaning and many caddies boycotted the drawing.

Caddies expected they’d pick their players

The man who was most upset was the top caddie, who was supposed to have Jack Nicklaus.  He was so mad that he stayed home for the drawing.  I was there and one by one they would pick a golfer’s name from one jar and a caddie’s name from another jar.

About halfway through the golfers, Jack Nicklaus’s name was called. The pro shop employee who was picking the names out of the jars picked a caddie name. We all stood in great anticipation. The name called was the caddie who was supposed to have Jack Nicklaus in the first place.

Everybody started booing.  “Fixed!” was being shouted from the ranks. The employee put up his hands and said it was just a coincidence. We all figured they fixed it for him somehow, but we could never get an admission.

A conspiracy theory

About 15 years later, I was talking to a former caddie that I hadn’t seen in a long time, and he said that the employee had taped the name of the caddie who wanted Nicklaus to the inside wall of the jar. When Nicklaus’s name was called, he peeled the name off of the inside of the jar.

We will never know for sure, but I thought it was a pretty cool conspiracy theory. But most of the caddies were OK with it, figuring at least one guy got the bag he wanted. I was chosen to caddie for Eddie Pearce. He was a young man just out of Wake Forest. He had an impressive amateur record and was thought of by many to be the next Jack Nicklaus.

Finally, the first practice round arrived. As I had done for the last few years, I hitchhiked from my home in Harwick to Oakmont. I had no trouble getting a ride since I was wearing my caddie overalls. I met Eddie Pearce and we went to the practice range.  He was strong and lean with long blond hair and hit the ball a mile with accuracy.

I had not heard of him previously, but I was very excited to get started. He had a small group of people with him. His wife and in-laws were the only ones following him around. And just like the year before at Laurel Valley, I loved going to the range afterwards and listening to the other pros telling their stories.

On Thursday, the first day of the tournament, Eddie Pearce was paired with Tom Watson and Ron Cerrudo. whoo had a few victories to his name. Tom Watson was not yet famous, although I did witness a great shot he made four years earlier at the 1969 U.S. Amateur,  which had been held at Oakmont.

Reading putts at the U.S. Open

I had been standing on the 5th tee caddying for Tony Blom. Across the way was the long par 3 8th hole. I looked up to see someone hitting their tee shot. A short time later I heard someone say, “Great shot!”. I instinctively looked at the green and saw the ball rolling towards the hole. And then it dropped into the cup. I saw the celebration and someone on our tee said it was a youngster named Tom Watson.

Tom Watson shot two rounds in the low 80s in the 1973 U.S. Open and missed the cut. I told his caddie that Tom Watson was a really nice guy but that he wasn’t going to make it on the pro tour. Great judge of talent I am.

Thursday’s round turned out to be a monotonous disappointment as Eddie Pearce tried to grind out a decent round but could not make any birdies. He battled to make pars and every little mistake turned into a bogey.

We got to the 18th tee at 6 over par. He hit a good drive and a long iron onto the green. I figured, OK, two putts for a 77 and hope for a round around par the next day to make the cut.

Most of Eddie’s his play had been in the southern part of the country since he was from Florida and went to school in North Carolina. Since he had not seen a lot of greens like Oakmont’s, so he tried me out at reading putts during the practice rounds.

He must have felt I was OK because he had me help him read the putts during the tournament as well. We got to the 18th green and he had about a 30-footer for birdie. I gave him a line, but unfortunately, he hit it a little too hard and it went through the break and about 15 feet past the hole. So we lined up that putt and he put it about 4 feet past the hole.  One more read of left edge. It lipped out for a four putt. The first round ended with an 8-over-par round of 79.

That was not good, but the worst part was that I had to carry the bag through the caddie bullpen where a lot of my fellow caddies were standing, and I had to go through the gauntlet as they busted my balls with, “Hey Ed, good read!”. Four putts and I lined them up in front of all of my buddies.

Ed Wieszcznski lives in Pittsburgh

Featured photo illustration of Ed Wieszczynski at Oakmont wearing his 1973 U.S. Open jumpsuit created with ChatGPT

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