{"id":12656,"date":"2026-06-01T16:50:09","date_gmt":"2026-06-01T16:50:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/12656\/"},"modified":"2026-06-01T16:50:09","modified_gmt":"2026-06-01T16:50:09","slug":"playoff-holes-and-ugly-pants-roger-maltbie-reflects-on-winning-inaugural-memorial","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/12656\/","title":{"rendered":"Playoff holes and ugly pants: Roger Maltbie reflects on winning inaugural Memorial"},"content":{"rendered":"

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH<\/a>) \u2014 It was America\u2019s bicentennial year. And it was the first edition of the Memorial Tournament, which happened to end in a four-hole playoff.<\/p>\n

But that inaugural edition at Muirfield Village Golf Club in 1976 will likely be best remembered for the colorful pants worn by the winner.<\/p>\n

\u201cI try to defend myself and say, \u2018Remember, it was the bicentennial year. And that was my homage to America. Sort of a red, white and blue deal,\u201d Roger Maltbie said. \u201cBut they were pretty ugly.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0Matt Fitzpatrick and Justin Rose added to Memorial field as tournament approaches\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

A five-time winner on the PGA Tour, Maltbie is better known now as an analyst for NBC Sports and Golf Channel. But the 74-year-old vividly remembers being the Memorial\u2019s first winner half a century ago, beating Hale Irwin on the 76th hole of the tournament. It was a fitting end for the 1976 Memorial.<\/p>\n

Playoff memories<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was very unique and to my knowledge, hadn\u2019t happened prior,\u201d Maltbie said.<\/p>\n

Tournament founder Jack Nicklaus pitched the idea for a multi-hole playoff to CBS Sports, who obliged with the 18-time major champion, agreeing to a three-hole aggregate playoff.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat final round, I made 14 pars and four bogeys and shot 76 for even par,\u201d Maltbie said. \u201cThe first birdie I made that day was 15, the first hole of the playoff.\u201d<\/p>\n

Irwin and Maltbie went shot for shot, both making birdies on 15 before shooting for par on 16.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the 17th hole, we both drove the ball in the fairway very near each other. But I was away, I played first and hit a four-iron for my second shot and pulled it left of the green,\u201d Maltbie said.<\/p>\n

That shot ended up bouncing off the bar that holds the gallery ropes, landing feet away from the hole. But Maltbie ended up missing the birdie putt; so did Irwin.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Dublin police finalize safety protocols for 50th Memorial Tournament\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cSo we went to 18 and I drove the ball in the fairway,\u201d Maltbie said. \u201cI ended up with a birdie on that hole and he was putting for bogey or something. But that was that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Maltbie looks back on the events that transpired half a century ago and can\u2019t help but think that luck was on his side.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was the luckiest thing to ever happen to me on a golf course,\u201d Maltbie said. \u201cNo question.\u201d<\/p>\n

Traditions like one other<\/p>\n

Maltbie never won a major, but the Memorial reminds him of the one that he got closest to winning. He finished tied for fourth at the 1987 Masters, a result that he\u2019s since called the biggest disappointment of his career.<\/p>\n

\u201cJack may not want to hear this, but there are many similarities with Augusta,\u201d Maltbie said. \u201cEverything is just buttoned up right. The golf course presentation is just immaculate and perfect for the players. The players couldn\u2019t ask for more.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s the hospitality and the details that have made Muirfield Village a popular stop on the PGA Tour and why the Memorial remains successful 50 years since Maltbie\u2019s triumph.<\/p>\n

\u201cThose things have probably improved over the years,\u201d Maltbie said. \u201cIt was just a cut above.\u201d<\/p>\n

A witness to history?<\/p>\n

Maltbie, along with other patrons, reporters and broadcasters, may be a witness to history at this year\u2019s Memorial. World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler enters Muirfield chasing history, looking to become just the second golfer ever to win three Memorial titles in a row. Only Tiger Woods has accomplished the feat, collecting his triple from 1999 to 2001.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo watch players like Jack [Nicklaus] and Tiger [Woods], there\u2019s a certain amount of techinical precision and properness in the way they do things in a textbook way,\u201d Maltbie said. \u201cScottie falls all over with his footwork and this and that, which is very unique to him. And yet is remarkably consistent. And on top of that he has a fabulous attitude.\u201d<\/p>\n

Regardless of what unfolds on the 18th green on Sunday, it\u2019ll likely be just as memorable as the pants Maltbie wore 50 years ago.<\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.<\/p>\n

\u00a0For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to NBC4 WCMH-TV.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) \u2014 It was America\u2019s bicentennial year. And it was the first edition of the Memorial…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":12657,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[5447,1484,1418,1646,144,161],"class_list":["post-12656","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-memorial-tournament","tag-hale-irwin","tag-jack-nicklaus","tag-memorial-tournament","tag-muirfield-village-golf-club","tag-pga-tour","tag-roger-maltbie"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12656","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12656"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12656\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12657"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12656"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12656"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12656"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}