Larry Nelson remembers his three Atlanta wins ... and the one that got away

Editor’s note: Born in 1947, Larry Nelson is a Fort Payne, Alabama, native, but for most of his life (outside of his military service), he has known the Greater Atlanta area as home. At age 4, Nelson and his family moved to the Atlanta suburb of Acworth where he graduated from North Cobb High School. Nelson currently lives in Marietta, near Atlanta Country Club, the site of two of his three “Atlanta” victories in 1980 and 1988. Nelson, a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame, is a three-time major championship winner. His 1981 PGA Championship title also came in metro Atlanta. With the PGA TOUR’s FedExCup Playoffs concluding at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta this week, Nelson reminisced about all the home games he won — as well as the one that got away.

As I look back on my PGA TOUR career, my adopted home of Atlanta has been quite good to me, and it all started at the 1980 Atlanta Classic at Atlanta Country Club in Marietta.

Coming down the stretch of that tournament, I really didn’t know where I stood on the leaderboard, and while I felt like I was leading, I had no idea if that was true. All I knew is I was playing well and had used my 66-69-68 start to hold a two-shot lead over Andy Bean going into the final round. A stretch on the front nine Sunday, where I made three consecutive birdies, starting with a chip-in from 25 feet on No. 6, left me feeling comfortable. But, again, I didn’t know for sure, and while there were manual scoreboards scattered all over the course, I never bothered to look at them.

On the 18th hole, I hit a good drive, splitting the fairway. I probably faced about 200 yards for my second shot, which can be a tricky one over water. As I was considering my club selection, I looked at my caddie, Herb Stevens, and asked, “If I make bogey here, can I still win?” He turned to me and said, “Well, if you make bogey here, you will only win by six.”

We both laughed. I guess I was having a good round.

I didn’t make bogey. Instead, I cleared the water and made a routine, two-putt par. I won by seven over Andy and Don Pooley.

All week, I had made the 30-minute drive between my home in Acworth and Atlanta Country Club, which culminated in my first “home” win. I liked Atlanta Country Club and Marietta so much that my wife, Gayle, and I moved with our two sons into a house adjacent to the 18th hole in 1982.

Fourteen months after my first ACC win, I was back in contention, again, this time in a completely different part of the city. The 1981 PGA Championship was at Atlanta Athletic Club in Johns Creek, a 45-minute drive from Acworth.

On Wednesday of tournament week, I took my son Drew with me to the golf course. He was 5 at the time, and he just sat on my bag and watched me as I hit golf balls on the range. The local media knew me, and Bill Hartman, a local sportscaster, asked for an interview. Before me, however, he talked to Drew.

“Do you get a chance to see your dad play a lot?” Bill asked Drew, who told him he didn’t watch Dad play much tournament golf.

“How come?”

“Well, my dad plays in golf tournaments between 2 and 4 (p.m.) and that’s usually when I have my naptime.”

We have that interview recorded, and we still laugh about it. I am so proud that I kept my family involved as much as I could with my career. We were the first generation of players who actually took our families out with us on TOUR. I’m not sure Drew — or our other son, Josh — really cared how dad played. He just seemed to enjoy being with me.

The week of the PGA, I commuted between Acworth and Johns Creek. I would go on the back roads, and even though it took me around 45 minutes to get to the course, it was just good to be at home with my family, sleeping in my own bed each night.

That first day of the PGA Championship, I didn’t play well, mainly because I didn’t putt well. After a rain delay that came after my ninth hole of the day, I didn’t hit balls to warm up once we went back out. I just spent all the time on the putting green, and I played much better on the back nine. Then I shot 66-66 the next two rounds, and that gave me a four-shot lead over Fuzzy Zoeller with 18 holes remaining. I would play the final round with Fuzzy and Tom Kite, who was five behind.

The thing was, my tee time wasn’t until late in the afternoon. That left me in the morning to entertain my kids at home until I left for the golf course. As I recall, we played some indoor soccer, and then I took them outside, and we played in the yard until it was finally time for me to head to the course — and for them to go down for their naps.

Fuzzy had won the Masters just a couple of years earlier, and Tom seemed to always play well. The thing about Fuzzy, like Lee Trevino, is he does talk and banter a lot. Fuzzy does it with the gallery more than with players. That stuff never bothered me, and now I mainly recall how enjoyable a day it was.

Now, I didn’t play particularly well in the final round. I shot a 1-over 71. Yet, Fuzzy and Tom didn’t play well, either. Fuzzy matched my 71, and Tom shot a 72. Bob Gilder and Tommy Valentine both shot 66s, but they began the day so far behind that it really didn’t matter. That’s why the day was so enjoyable. It was relatively stress-free, all things considered. I finished at 7-under and beat Fuzzy by four.

The PGA was my first major title and second win in Atlanta, and I would win once more in my adopted hometown, at the renamed Georgia-Pacific Atlanta Golf Classic, seven years later.

I opened the 1988 tournament at Atlanta Country Club with a 9-under 63, and just like at the PGA, I shot a pair of 66s in the second and third rounds. Again, I had a healthy 54-hole lead (four ahead of Paul Azinger), but this time I had to hang on, posting a Sunday, 1-over 73. Chip Beck played great, shooting a 66, but I was able to edge Chip by a stroke.

That gave me three wins in Atlanta, but that doesn’t mean I was necessarily dominant there. I also missed a few cuts, and in 1982, I was in prime position to win the Atlanta Golf Classic two years after my first title, but I ran into a bit of bad fortune. I had a three-shot lead going into Sunday and was playing well. On the back nine Sunday, I had just parred the 14th hole when officials stopped play because a lightning storm was moving through.

With our home now on the 18th hole at Atlanta Country Club, I only had to walk about 200 yards from 14 fairway to my house. There, I waited for a decision if we would go back out. I really didn’t think we would continue, so I had a big dinner and was thinking about a Monday finish when the call came that play would resume in 30 minutes.

At the restart, I knew I faced probably the hardest hole at Atlanta Country Club. No. 15 is difficult because of what you deal with off the tee, with lots of trouble on the right side of the 450-yard dogleg. Also, the temperature had gone way down due to the storm. On the tee, I realized I had to wait for the group in front of me to hit their second shots. I watched as Raymond Floyd made double bogey. Wayne Levi was two strokes worse than Raymond.

When they cleared the fairway and it was my turn, I hit my tee shot into trouble and then three-putted for a triple-bogey 7. My lead was gone, and so was my chance of winning. I shot a 74 and missed the Keith Fergus-Floyd playoff by two strokes. I’ve wondered what might have happened had we not had to stop for the storm.

I didn’t win every time I teed it up in Atlanta, but I had my fair share of success. Some people find it hard to win at home. I found it exciting, and I was maybe even a little more motivated. To play in front of friends and family was always enjoyable.

Winning every once in a while was, too.