Golf: King of the Kelloggs

• Share

Professional golf has always had its share of characters—from the likes of Walter ("The Haig") Hagen, who once showed up for a match still wearing his tuxedo of the evening before (and shot a 67), to "Champagne Tony" Lema, who amused himself by hitting practice drives out of open hotel-room windows. Now there is Doug Sanders, 33, current king of the "Kelloggs," or "flakes," as such characters are known today.

From the tip of his razor-cut hair to the toes of his orange (or pink or avocado) patent-leather golf shoes, Sanders is a confirmed, color-coordinated kook. Twice married and twice divorced, he is wildly superstitious, mildy neurotic, engagingly extraverted and outrageously hedonistic. Women? "I'm afraid of dying," he sighs. "That's why I love so hard." Liquor? "I've spilled more," says Sanders, "than Tony Lema swallowed."

The worst thing about self-indulgence is that it is so expensive. Going into the $100,000 Doral Open in Miami, Doug had not won a tournament in almost a year, and his 1967 winnings amounted to only $4,544. So he made a vow: he would not take a drink until he won a tournament or until his birth day on July 24—whichever came first. "It was," he says, "in the nature of a sacrifice." Then he went out with his spraddle-legged, short-backswing "telephone booth" stroke, and won the Doral Open itself, with a nine-under-par 275 for 72 holes, which gave him a one-stroke victory and $20,000.

"I wanted to win," he admitted, "because I wanted a drink." But after a suitable celebration, it was back to orange juice and back to golf: the $115,000 Citrus Open in Orlando, Fla. "I'm beginning to love that citrus," said Sanders, who took only 25 putts in 18 holes, on his first round, shot two straight five-under par 66s to take a two-stroke lead after 36 holes.