“And there but for the grace of God…..”

This sounds like a Bible verse from Sunday School days, or maybe William Shakespeare, or at least C. S. Lewis. But no.

It’s all about golf and the prose of famed writer, Henry Longhurst, golf’s best version of Shakespeare or Lewis. Henry was merely describing the excruciating drama on the 18th hole at the Open Championship in 1970. Henry reported the scene as if it was the perfect Shakespeare tragedy. The high drama unfolded, as it should, at St. Andrews.

My personal fascination with the British Open started in those days, even in the ’60s, with the dramatic music playing as black and white pictures came across the TV screen of what looked like the moon. The lunar-like scene was actually just a cold and windy and brown Scotland in the middle of July. It was always either St. Andrews itself or Royal Someplace- all so exotic that I could not imagine ever being there in person. At age 25 however, I maneuvered my way to the 1976 Open at Royal Birkdale when Johnny Miller beat Jack Nicklaus and 19-year-old Seve Ballesteros. My journey with the yips may have begun that day when I saw Arnold Palmer’s four-putt. I knew that my life journey would include more Opens. Even the yellow manual scoreboards were a beauty to me.

The Open announcer for ABC in the ol’ days was always Jim McKay, who seemed to me to have the best job in the world- spending every July in Scotland as an insider at the Open.

But it was not just the music and the voice of Jim McKay that was alluring.

Henry Longhurst was the British voice that mesmerized the world. He was the beloved golf writer for the London Times who doubled as the golf voice of the BBC. We didn’t know it at the time, but Henry was rarely sober, which may explain his wonderful ad-lib prose describing the bounce of the ball or the tragedy of the missed putt. He would later be hired by CBS for the Masters, sitting behind the 16th green long before Verne Lundquist claimed the honor. Perhaps you will remember Henry’s barely audible voice breathing the greatness of Jack Nicklaus in 1975. Or even better, explaining the various trials and tribulations of Augusta’s back nine.

But without a doubt, the peak of Henry’s Shakespearean golf commentary was July 1970 when Doug Sanders provided the drama that would wed him to Henry and St. Andrews lore. Henry was eerily prophetic about Sanders’ now-famous three-putt on the 18th green, leading to a loss the next day in a playoff to 30-year-old Jack Nicklaus. In those days, when Sunday was still the Sabbath in Scotland, the Open finished on Saturday. When Sanders missed his putt, thousands of Sabbath followers knew that the next day would be a day for sinners only- the Open would have to be decided by an 18-hole playoff on Sunday morning. Thousands of Church of Scotland preachers were surely conflicted about what to say on that fateful Sunday morning. Do we pray for those sinners who attend the Open? Or maybe the 18-handicap parson pretends to be ‘under the weather’ and sneaks off to St. Andrews, hoping his parishioners do not catch him on the TV.

Well, thanks to YouTube, I am now an expert on the drama of that fateful fourth round on Saturday. I recently watched the entire replay of the 1970 Open. Lee Trevino was in the final twosome with Sanders, who was clad from head to toe in purple that day, including the shoes. By the 18th tee, Trevino was just a bystander, on his way to a final round 77 that had taken him out of contention. Sanders arrived on the 18th tee with a one-shot lead on the clubhouse-leading Nicklaus, but the normally attention-seeking golfer, wearing his peacock purple, was now clearly wishing he was invisible. His approach shot on the 18th green was long to the back of the green.

Henry now took over, speaking the mind of every nervous golfer in the world.

Listen to Henry describing Sanders as he walked to the green: “Well, it’s a long way past, a long way past. He isn’t finished yet. He looks absolutely exhausted. I don’t wonder here…. The strain here.” Notice that Henry did not finish most of his sentences. He was choking more than poor Doug.

Henry continued as Sanders approached the 18th green- the final stage: “Golf is so slow. He would want to do it again NOW-- hit the putt NOW--- but he can’t … he has to wait, to think about it.” Silence became the commentator as Henry was catching his breath. You could feel the compassion in Henry’s voice for the pressure he was feeling for the leader on the 18th green.

Henry seemed to wish he was in a bar with friends instead of on live TV speaking to millions as the potential tragedy unfolded. The crowd greeted Sanders and Trevino with polite cheers of respect, but the final scene had not played out, as Henry reminded the TV crowd.

“But now we haven’t finished yet. Of all the greens that I wouldn’t want a long downhill putt to have to get down in two, this is the place…. He knows better than anybody else that we haven’t finished yet.”

And then Henry said what everyone else must have been thinking. Projecting his own fears into the TV screen, and indeed, maybe even sub-consciously into a stunned Sanders himself. Listen to Henry’s prophetic words, “You can see yourself going into the history books as the man who only had to take two putts to win the Open but took three and lost in a Playoff. The next 2 or 3 minutes will decide.”

Oh my, Henry!

Sanders walked down and back. He clearly took twice as long as his normal routine. Henry kept quiet for a minute, hiding in silence, too nervous to speak- almost surely taking a nip of Scottish whisky. With renewed strength, Henry dove back into the commentary.

“Now here’s Doug Sanders putting down from the back, with about a yard of borrow from the left-- thirty-foot putt down the hill with….. Oh, my, something’s put him off … oh what a moment…” Sanders had backed off the putt when some noise in the crowd bothered him. He should have putted by now but poor Doug seemed paralyzed- unable to pull the trigger. It was now over three minutes since he had placed his ball down to putt. Finally, he settled back over the ball.

Henry continued, “Two to win the Open.” As the ball was rolling, someone in the crowd said loudly- “perfect speed”. But whoever it was must have had a cheap seat because the ball came up thirty inches short of perfection, prompting Henry to mutter, “Oh Lord, that’s not one that I would like to have. They clap little knowing what is to come for Sanders. No wonder he licks his lips.” No wonder indeed.

Sanders probably should have putted out, but he nervously marked his ball. Trevino holed a ten-foot birdie putt to the cheers of the crowd. “What would Sanders give for that one!”, said the shaky Henry.

As Sanders replaced his ball, Henry was ready, “He puts the ball down….oh… oh…”, he muttered in a gurgling sound like a dying man. “So now this is it- what people dream about- you’ve got this one downhill with a left-hand borrow, downhill on the last green at St. Andrews to win the Open.”

Sanders seems paralyzed again and instead of stroking his ball, bends over to move a small distraction on the green. Henry audibly gasps. It was later said to be a fly. No one knows. And then, without backing off, finally Sanders stabs at it.

“Missed it! Certainly. Yes, that’s the side you’re bound to miss it. And there it is. And there but for the grace of God. I knew it when he hit that second so far past. I knew that was what was coming.”

Henry said “I knew that was what was coming…” And he did. He was a prophet. It was as if he had been there before. He had seen it all coming. He had probably read enough Shakespeare and watched enough golf to know what was coming. He was John the Baptist, declaring the word of the Lord that day.

The next day, Nicklaus made an eight-footer with that same “left-hand borrow” to defeat a dejected Sanders by one shot. What did Jack in his yellow sweater say to Doug in his gold outfit walking off the green on that Sunday afternoon? “I’m sorry?” Maybe. Probably more like, “You are a great player and you will win one of these someday”, but that would have been a small fib. Jack knew there was usually only one chance to win an Open at St. Andrews. And Doug had missed his chance. No mulligans at Opens at St. Andrews.

But……. fast forward thirty years to about 2000. An awesome CBMC leader in Houston, Dave Rathcamp, met Sanders somewhere along the way. Dave was in the process of leading Doug to Jesus, meeting with him every week to discuss the “grace of God” which was clearly Doug’s only hope. Dave knew I was a golfer, so on one of my trips to Houston, he asked me, “You wanna play golf with Doug Sanders?” “Of course.”

So… it happened… although Doug didn’t show up until we were almost done. He showed up in his golf cart and played the last hole with me and Dave. That one hole meant I could always say, “I played with Doug Sanders one time.” But an amazing lunch followed and I finally got the courage to ask Doug if he ever thought about that 1970 moment at St. Andrews. Without a blink, he looked me in the eye and said, “Just every damn day”.

But that day helped me know that I will see Doug Sanders in heaven someday. How is that possible? Wasn’t he the womanizer who drank too much and was famous for seeking attention in all the wrong places? Indeed, I still remember watching him check into a hotel in Lexington, Kentucky before a Senior Tour event in the early 1990s, and still remember the shockingly inappropriate ‘hit’ he put on a cute young girl behind the counter at the Marriott. It must have been his modus operandi for decades.

How is it possible that a notorious ‘sinner’ like Doug, both before and after his 1970 encounter with Nicklaus and St. Andrews, could be sitting with Jesus in heavenly places? Isn’t heaven for saints and hell for sinners?

Oh no… it doesn’t work that way. Listen to what Paul thought about this idea of salvation.

“Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, and I was the worst of them all.” (I Tim 1:15).

“For the grace of God has been revealed, bringing salvation to all people…. He gave his life to free us from every kind of sin, to cleanse us, and to make us his very own people, totally committed to doing what is right.” (Titus 2:11, 14).

18th Green on Sunday- Nicklaus and Sanders.

“When God our Savior revealed His kindness and love, He saved us, not because of the righteous things we have done, but because of His mercy…. Because of His grace, He made us right in His sight and gave us confidence that we will inherit eternal life.” (Titus 3:4,7).

I hope to meet Henry Longhurst and Doug Sanders someday in the heavenly realm. Doug convinced me on that day that he knew he had been forgiven- the grace of God had indeed shown up —- too late maybe to win a British Open, but not too late to save a sinner.

I hope Henry found that same assurance and can say with all the rest of us sinners, “there but for the Grace of God.”