Orville Moody was one of the most unlikely U.S. Open champions, edging Arnold Palmer in 1969 after having made it through local and sectional qualifying. No one has made it through that same route since.
Moody, known as "Sarge" for his U. S. Army background, never did win another PGA Tour event, but he was a standout and a stalwart on the fledgling PGA Senior Tour in the late 1980s and early 1990s. He was one of the early strong supporters of the Northville Long Island Classic, which later became the Commerce Bank Championship.
The former champion died today at 74, PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem said, "We are all going to miss Sarge, who was a patriot first and a professional golfer second."
The Senior Tour, now known as the Champions Tour, not only embellished the reputation of the 1969 Open champion, it gave Moody a new, burgeoining career. He was among the pioneers of the long putter, winning the U.S. Senior Open and other 50-and-over events.
He was among the first to hire a daughter as his caddie. Michelle, then 19, was on the bag when Moody finished in a four-way tie for first in the 1989 Northville at the Meadow Brook Club. He lost in a playoff to Butch Baird.
That was the year in which two greens were waterlogged, so each round consisted of 16 holes. But perhaps the tournament never woud have survived if they had just called it off that season. Moody said, after the first round that year (in which he shot a 59 on the par 64 course):
"I think we needed to play today. These [Northville] people are hurting because they couldn't get their pro-am in [Thursday]. They're hurt to begin with because they're going up against the Open and coming the week after Westchester. I'm glad we played."