Argentine Invader

Roberto de Vicenzo is a handsome, 28-year-old Argentine with the shoulders of a fullback, the rhythmic golf swing of a Ben Hogan, and a powerful urge to hit the big money of the U.S. golf circuit. Last year, after whipping the best of the competition at home, he packed his bags, set out for Britain, where he was runner-up to Bobby Locke in the British Open, went on to win the open championships of Belgium, Holland and France. Last week, in his third crack at the U.S. circuit, Golfer de Vicenzo gave 15 other top pros a few lessons in how the game should be played.

In the first round of the Palm Beach Round Robin tournament at Westchester's Wykagyl Country Club, he turned in a three-under-par 69, trailed Bobby Locke's leading 68 by four points under the man-for-man scoring system in each foursome. De Vicenzo soon got the hang of the point scoring, banged out a 68 on the second round and took the lead. He followed with another sparkling 68, and all but won the tournament before it was officially over with a 67 on his fourth round.

Hitting line drives from the tees and dead-to-the-pin shots from the fairways, he shot six birdies, proved to be a golfer who is willing to take big chances for big money (first prize: $3,000). On the 509-yd. sixth hole his woods put him well over the green with his second shot. From the downslope back of a bunker, instead of playing safe for par, De Vicenzo shot boldly for the pin, missed it by 18 inches, but sank the short putt for his birdie. Grinned Roberto: "Excuse my English. My best shot was at this sixth today. I never play one better."

Going into the final round 19 points ahead of Jim Ferrier, De Vicenzo breezed through to an easy victory in spite of a final-round 75, finished up with a total 347--13 strokes under par and twelve points ahead of Runner-Up Ferrier. This week, as the U.S. Open gets under way at Birmingham, Mich., South Africa's Bobby Locke, Australian Jim Ferrier and the newcomer from the Argentine seemed to be the players with the best chance to upset the Sneads and the Hogans. If one "of them wins, it will be the first time that the U.S. title has gone to an invader since Britain's Ted Ray took the title in 1920.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.