2019 OKLAHOMA GOLF HALL OF FAME ...

Orville Moody celebrates his victory in the 1969 U.S. Open.

play for six weeks at a time. We went to din- State's only U.S. Open champ ner. We went to movies. We stayed in the same hotel room. It gave him someone to in 2019 Hall of Fame class talk to. We’d go to malls, all the pro-am din-

by john rohde Sports Hall of Fame, Moody died on Aug. 8, 2008, in Allen, . He was 74 and sur- rville James Moody was walk- vived by his son (Jason) and three daughters ing to the No. 18 tee during the (Kelley Moody, Sabreena Moody and Mi- 1969 U.S. Open’s final round chelle Blackmon). at The Champions Course in Blackmon, who resides in Sulphur OHouston when he suddenly was stopped Springs, Texas, was adopted, but that’s not by a marshall, who had mistaken Moody the way she saw it. for a spectator. “I was 4 when we went before the judge,” “Behind the ropes,” the marshall ordered. Blackmon said, “but he’s the only dad I’ve “He’s a player. Let him go through,” a ever known.” nearby marshall re-ordered. Blackmon served as her father’s caddy on Moody actually was more than a player. the senior tour during her high school days He was the tournament leader. and beyond. She would calculate yardages Four strokes later, Moody nervously ca- and frequently read putts for Moody. ressed in a 14-inch par putt to avoid a four- “If it got dark, he couldn’t see,” Blackmon way playoff and capture the prestigious na- said. “If it was overcast or bad weather was tional championship. coming he’d say, ‘I can’t see anything.’ I al- That U.S. Open wound up being Moody’s ways looked at putts with him. He didn’t only PGA Tour victory, and it was a doozy. always agree with me, but it was pretty However, a slew of achievements before close.” and after that magical moment left an unob- Far more important, Blackmon kept her structed path to Moody’s induction into the father company. Oklahoma Golf Hall of Fame’s 2019 class on “I think having someone who was family Nov. 24 at Southern Hills Country Club. out there really helped, because it’s a grind A 1999 inductee into the Oklahoma being out there,” Blackmon said. “He might Moody at the 1995 Vantage Championship.

26 WWW.GOLFOKLAHOMA.ORG GOLF OKLAHOMA • JUNE/JULY 2019 2019 OKLAHOMA GOLF HALL OF FAME ... ners together. He just didn’t have to do stuff Moody once explained: “I had the by himself.” yips. Right at the point of impact I Born in Chickasha and the youngest of 10 had a terrible jerk with my hands and children, Moody became Oklahoma’s high wrists. I couldn’t make a putt from a school medalist in 1952 while at Capitol foot-and-a-half at times.” Hill. Moody was living with his sister at the When Moody joined the senior time while his parents remained in Chicka- tour (50-and-older), he spotted fellow sha, where his father was superintendent at touring pro Charles Owens on the the local . practice green using a long-shafted Moody initially attended the University putter. Owens created a 52-inch put- of Oklahoma on a football scholarship be- ter not only to conquer his own case cause golf didn’t offer scholarships in those of the yips but also to help combat days. his limited range of motion from a “They didn’t have a lot of money,” Black- fused left knee suffered after a failed mon said. “But he had a job while he was on jump during his paratrooper days in scholarship at OU. His job was to make sure the Army. He also had a bad right the tennis courts were there every day. Just knee and aching back. make sure they were still there. That was it. “Dad saw the long putter and said, Six weeks in, his girlfriend broke up with ‘Let me take a look at this thing,’ him and he joined the Army.” ” said Blackmon, who was in high Moody was assigned to Special Servic- school at the time. “He started mess- es and reached the rank of staff sergeant, ing with it and that’s when he built which led to his apropos moniker “Sarge.” one for himself. He started putting Moody oversaw Army golf courses, taught really well.” the game to Army personnel and played in In her closet at home, Blackmon tournaments around the world. He collected still has the original 50-inch putter eight titles worldwide, winning the Korean her father built, and also the last self- Open three straight years (1958-60) and the made putter. Orville Moody with daughter and caddie Mi- KPGA Championship twice (1959 and 1966) Blackmon’s ability to calm her fa- chelle Blackmon. while serving 14 years. Moody joined the PGA Tour full-time in 1968 and 18 months later, he was a 35-year- old U.S. Open champion after posting a one-stroke victory over future PGA commis- sioner , future TV analyst and future “Mr. 59” . Perhaps more impressively, defending U.S. Open champ had picked Moody to win beforehand. “He’s one hellu- va player,” Trevino said of Moody. Connections. Afterward, Moody said, “I won it for Lee. It took a lot of guts for him to believe I could win.” Moody became the last U.S. Open cham- pion of the 20th century to win through lo- cal and sectional qualifying. Moody was a five-time runner-up on the PGA Tour, which included losing two playoffs facing the likes of and in the 1973 Bing Crosby Pro-Am (won by Nicklaus), and facing , and in the 1969 Greater Greensboro Open (won by Littler). When you connect with Dobson, your success is personal to us. Putting was Moody’s perpetual downfall Data & Internet Connectivity on the PGA Tour. He tried every type of put- ter and putting grip imaginable to find more Voice Solutions success. Managed IT Solutions “I remember going to watch him and if he had a 5-footer or a 3-footer, I kind of almost didn’t want to watch,” Blackmon said. “You dobson.net | 405.242.1000 | [email protected] just kind of turned around. It was bad.”

GOLF OKLAHOMA • JUNE/JULY 2019 WWW.GOLFOKLAHOMA.ORG 27 Photo by Jeff McBride/PGA TOUR Archive 2019 OKLAHOMA GOLF HALL OF FAME ther helped catapult Moody for years to Moody wore his emotions on come. his sleeve, as often is the case “Michelle has helped me in every area,” with almost all struggling putters. Moody once said. “Reading the greens is her Moody had a reputation for be- main job, and she’s learned a lot. Keeping me ing, well, moody. calm is another part of the game she’s helped.” “He wasn’t mean,” Blackmon Armed with a long-shafted putter and said. “Everybody thought he was. a pendulum stroke, Moody quickly pros- When something goes wrong, it’s pered on the senior circuit, which included the caddy’s fault. That’s just the an 11-stroke victory at the Vintage Chrysler way it is. He broke the head off Invitational in 1988. his putter one time and we still had Moody joined the senior circuit in 1984 and three holes left to play. He starts won three of the first six events he entered, (cursing at me). I said, ‘OK, this is including the unofficial Viceroy Panama Open. going to be a long three holes.’ ” From 1987-1994, Moody won nine more Blackmon was on the bag in individual titles. All told on the senior tour, August 1987 when Moody won he won 11 times, placed second 19 times the Rancho Murieta Senior Gold and third seven times. In addition, from Rush just outside Sacramento, Moody celebrates winning the 1989 Senior Players 1987-2006, Moody paired to win the Lib- Calif. The next week, Blackmon Championship. erty Mutual Legends of Golf tournament on returned for her senior year at seven occasions (twice with Bruce Cramp- Sulphur Springs (Texas) High School and career mulligan on the senior tour. ton and five times with ). upon graduation rejoined her father on tour “He looked at tour stats every week,” Two decades after capturing the 1969 U.S. full-time for 2 1/2 years. Blackmon said. “One of the things he was Open, Moody would win two more major “It was my choice,” Blackmon said. “I most proud of was being the No. 1 putter championships on the senior tour, claiming knew I was going to go to college eventu- on tour. Putting meant so much more to the Senior Tournament Players Champion- ally, but not right away.” him because he struggled so long with that. ship and the U.S. Senior Open, both in 1989, Long revered as one of the best ball-strik- That was the stat that was most important becoming just the fourth man to win both ers on tour, Moody finally found his full po- to him. It wasn’t the money. It was him be- the U.S. Open and the U.S. Senior Open. tential thanks to a long-shafted putter and a coming a good putter.” What happens at the course, stays www.LaFortuneParkGolf.com 5501 S. Yale Ave., Tulsa, Okla. at the course! 918-496-6200

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28 WWW.GOLFOKLAHOMA.ORG GOLF OKLAHOMA • JUNE/JULY 2019