A man from security called and said: “There’s a Mr. Wall to see you. Should I send him up?”
Mr. Wall?
“His name is Art Wall.”
The man who won the 1959 Masters walked into the Star newsroom, introduced himself and said he had received a message to call someone in the sports department.
This was 1990-something. Wall lived in Sonoita with his wife Louise, and rather than phone or just blow it off, he got in his car and drove over. (Our golf-loving sports editor of the time, Mark Stewart, had left the message. He was off the day Wall arrived at the office).
I was blown away. Wall played in the Masters 31 times. I asked him about the green jacket.
“It was stolen,” he said.
I asked him about Arnold Palmer.
“When I won at Augusta, Arnie started the final day in the lead. But I birdied five of the last six holes. Shot 66. Never played better.”
I asked him about the Tucson Open.
“I should’ve won it so many times. I think I finished second four times.”
He finished second in 1955 and 1959, and fourth in 1961.
Until Art Wall walked into the room that day, I had no idea the winner of the 1959 Masters was living in Southern Arizona. His green jacket was discovered in 2012, available at an auction. It sold for $61,452.
When I began to research Tucson’s connections to the Masters, I was dumbfounded. Do you realize that 18 golfers who have lived in Tucson and Southern Arizona played in the Masters, stretching from El Rio Golf Course pro Leo Diegel at the inaugural 1934 Masters to UA alumnus Jim Furyk in the 2017 Masters?
This week is only the fourth time since 1955 that no one with a Southern Arizona connection will play at Augusta. The other shutout years: 2016, 2004 and 1995.
There is no prescribed way for a Tucsonan to qualify for the Masters. An amateur, Tucson urologist Ed Updegraff, played in six Masters from 1962 to 1970. The pro at Randolph North, Homero Blancas, played in seven Masters from 1963 to 75. Three of those on an active UA golf roster — Eric Meek, David Berganio and Manny Zerman — played in the Masters.
Wall was the only winner, but Tucsonans have come so close to putting on the green jacket that it makes you shake your head.
UA alumnus Dan Pohl tied with Craig Stadler in 1982 but lost in a playoff. Blancas, who was the pro at both Silverbell and Randolph North golf courses, was fifth in 1982.
Ronnie Black, who operates Green Valley’s San Ignacio Golf Course, was sixth in 1984, with a stirring Saturday-Sunday finish of 69-68. Former UA golfer Rory Sabbatini was second in 2007.
Furyk was fourth in 1998 and 2003, and sixth in 2001.
In 1988, UA alumnus Don Pooley walked off the 15th green at Augusta National and looked at the leaderboard.
“I was on top,” he told me. “And then I bogeyed 16, 17 and 18.”
Pooley gathered himself and finished fifth.
The first Tucsonan to play in the Masters, Leo Diegel, was born in 1899. The youngest Tucsonan to play in the Masters, current UA freshman Tianlang Guan, was born in 1999.
That’s a century of Amen Corners.
Diegel, who won the 1928 and 1929 PGA Championships and played on four USA Ryder Cup teams, was hired to be the pro at El Rio Golf Course in 1942. As much as anyone, Diegel was responsible for creating the Tucson Open, which began in 1945. He persuaded Ben Hogan to play in Tucson. After that, the tournament rolled on for more than 65 years.
A day or two before the 1946 Tucson Open, Diegel and about 10 pros drove to “A” Mountain to stage a “long drive” competition. Those who accompanied him were a who’s who of the Masters: Hogan, Jimmy Demaret, Jug McSpaden and Lloyd Mangrum.
Diegel’s downhill drive of 410 yards won the competition.
It didn’t take long to gather Masters momentum. By ’62, Updegraff — an Iowa grad who moved to Tucson to open a urology practice — was well on his way to becoming the most honored amateur golfer in Arizona history.
At his Masters debut, 1962, Updegraff told the Star “I would sure hate to duck-hook one into the gallery off the first tee.”
He shot a remarkable 74 instead. Not bad for a man whose medical practice usually limited him to playing golf three times a week.
Thereafter, Sabino High School grad Willie Wood played in four Masters — he was 12th in 1997 — and was followed by Rincon High grad Michael Thompson and UA regulars such as Ted Purdy, Ricky Barnes and Robert Gamez.
After Wall won the ’59 Masters, he became good friends with Updegraff. They tied for seventh at the 1962 Tucson Open, playing together in the final two rounds, where they both shot 7-under.
The man who played in 31 Masters said that Tucson Country Club was one of his favorite courses, and Updegraff one of his preferred playing partners.
“Dr. Ed plays fast, and he’s a good storyteller,” Wall told me that day in the office.
“We have a lot of fun; I want to talk about getting up to go to the bathroom at night. He wants to talk about the Masters.”
