Rives McBee asked his friend Curt Sampson if he would consider writing a book about him. “I think I’ve got an interesting story to tell,” he told Sampson, author of “Hogan.”
“He said, ‘Who in the hell would want to read a book about you?’ ” McBee said with a laugh from his home in Irving, Texas.
Maybe not a book, but to paraphrase a line from a beer commercial, if there were a “Most Interesting Man in the World of Golf,” McBee would be a nominee.
The problem with telling McBee’s story is where to begin. Former holder of a revered U.S. Open record? Owner of a Jack Ruby golf ball? A knack as a younger man for finding himself in Larry David-like situations, including some where he flashed a temper that would make Tyrrell Hatton blush? His friendship with Ben Hogan? Three wins on the Senior Tour? Playing today with hickory-shafted clubs? It’s all too rich, even for a man with 83 years on the planet.
For chronological reasons, let’s start with the U.S. Open. McBee was born in Denton, Texas, in 1938 and attended North Texas State, where he played on the golf team. He was on the seven-year plan, a consequence of being drafted into the Army and economic necessity. After graduating in early 1964, he worked as a physical education teacher in Garland while playing the Texas amateur circuit. He found that teaching gym class interfered with golf, so in 1965 he quit and took a job as an assistant pro at Midland Country Club.
McBee decided to try a professional tournament and thought the 1966 U.S. Open would be as good a place as any to start. He led local qualifiers in Midland, went to Dallas for sectional qualifying and earned one of four spots (Lee Trevino and Don January got two of the others), and set off for the Olympic Club in San Francisco. The 1966 Open is best remembered for Arnold Palmer’s epic collapse on the back nine and eventual playoff loss to Billy Casper. However, for one day, the unknown pro from Texas found his name on every sports page in America.
After the first round, McBee was eating dinner at the hotel where he was staying. A gentleman walked by and, correctly assuming McBee was competing in the championship, asked, “Young man, what did you shoot today?” McBee answered, “Well, I had a 76.” The man replied, “I did, too, the first round of the year I won.” It was Jack Fleck, who beat Ben Hogan in a playoff in 1955, the previous time the U.S. Open was held at Olympic.
Inspired by Fleck, McBee birdied nine holes in the second round and shot 64, tying for the lowest score in U.S. Open history at that time. He finished tied for 13th, earning spots in the 1967 Masters and U.S. Open. His success at Olympic also led him to try the PGA tour.
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