HOUSTON (Jan 2, 2006) – Hall of Famer Jack Nicklaus, Bart Bryant and former USGA president Sandy Tatum have been honored with three prestigious awards given by the Golf Writers Association of America.
The ever-candid Nicklaus, the man who invented the reporter’s scrum, is the 2005 ASAP Sports/Jim Murray Award winner. Niicklaus, 65, embodies the award that recognizes a player for cooperation, quotability and for accommodation to the media and for reflecting the most positive aspects of the working relationship between athlete and journalists.
Bryant’s injury-plagued career turned magical in 2004 and led to him winning the 2005 Ben Hogan Award, given annually to an individual who has continued to be active in golf despite a physical handicap or serious illness. Tatum, whose crowing achievement was the transformation of Harding Park, was honored with the William D. Richardson Award, given annually to recognize an individual who has consistently made an outstanding contribution to golf.
They will be honored, along with GWAA Players of the Year Tiger Woods, Annika Sorenstam and Dana Quigley at the Annual GWAA Awards Dinner, April 5 in Augusta, Ga.
Nicklaus was incredible during the 2005 season, refusing to reschedule a press conference just days after the accidental death of his grandson. In addition, he was impressive as he played his final competitive rounds at St. Andrews and when he captained the U.S. to a win at the Presidents Cup.
Playing on a medical exemption in 2004 after undergoing right elbow surgery, Bryant won the 2004 Valero Texas Open and backed that up with wins at The Memorial and TOUR Championship in 2005. His first major surgery came in 1992 and, because there was no major medical exemption at the time, he still tried to play in 19 events. He underwent surgery on his left elbow in 2000 and, after making it through Qualifying School a sixth time, he had surgery to repair a torn muscle and to relocate a nerve in his right elbow.
The 85-year-old Tatum has been involved with the game on a national level for the past six decades. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Stanford where he won individual honors and captained the Cardinal to a Co-National Championship in 1942 and was a Rhodes Scholar from 1947-1949. An eloquent speaker, he defended the toughness of the U.S. Open by saying "Our objective is not to humiliate the best players in the world. It’s to identify them." In addition to serving as USGA president from 1978-80, he was on the USGA executive committee from 1972-1980. He navigated the San Francisco bureaucracy to approve a $16 million renovation of Harding Park and a new First Tee facility. The course staged the American Express World Golf Championship in 2005.
Past recipients of the Richardson Award, named for The New York Times’ William D. Richardson who was instrumental in the founding of the GWAA in 1946, include Dan Jenkins, Judy Bell, Nancy Lopez, Judy Rankin, Babe Zaharias, Ely Callaway, Ben Hogan, Pres. Dwight Eisenhower, Patty Berg, Gene Sarazen, Arnold Palmer, Ben Crenshaw, Harvey Penick, Peggy Kirk Bell, Frank Hannigan, Kathy Whitworth and Lee Trevino.
Former Hogan award winners include Hubert Green, Bruce Edwards, Jeff Julian, Scott Verplank, Jose-Maria Olazabal, Casey Martin, Paul Azinger, Robert Allenby, Lee Trevino, John Mahaffey, Jim Nelford, Ken Venturi, Terri-Jo Meyers and Steve Jones.
This is the fifth year for the ASAP/Jim Murray Award. Previous winners were Arnold Palmer, Nick Price, Fred Funk and Jay Haas.
The 950-member GWAA takes an active role in protecting the interests of all golf journalists, works closely with all of golf’s major governing bodies and the World Golf Hall of Fame and facilitates a scholarship/internship program which is currently helping students at 17 major U.S. universities.
Contact:
Melanie Hauser
Golf Writers Association of America
713/782-6664
