It wouldn’t have been possible had it not been for the creation of LIV Golf last year but Sunday turned out to be a huge day for former Oklahoma State golfers.
Taking it all in was Ponte Vedra Beach resident Bob Dickson, one of the players from OSU who helped lay the groundwork for a steady stream of Cowboys who have lassoed trophies and titles in professional golf since the 1960s.
“I loved it … a couple of ‘Pokes winning the same day makes us all very proud,” said Dickson, who won twice on the PGA Tour and once on the PGA Tour Champions with a career on the PGA Tour executive staff in between.
Within hours on either side of the Atlantic Ocean, Rickie Fowler won the Rocket Mortage Classic at the Detroit Country Club and Talor Gooch captured the LIV Golf Andalucia at Valderrama in Spain, both on dramatic birdie putts at the last.
Talor Gooch celebrates after winning the 2023 LIV Golf Andalucia at Real Club Valderrama in Cadiz, Spain. (Photo: Octavio Passos/Getty Images)
Fowler birdied No. 18 in regulation to earn a playoff with Adam Hadwin and Collin Morikawa, and then birdied the 18th again on a 12-foot putt.
Gooch became the first three-time winner of LIV Golf events when he rolled in a 15-footer for birdie to beat Bryson DeChambeau by one shot.
Oklahoma State players have won eight tournaments on the two Tours combined this season.
In addition to Fowler’s victory last week and Gooch’s three LIV titles, Wyndham Clark won the U.S. Open and the Wells Fargo Championship, Viktor Hovland won The Memorial and Charles Howell III won the opening LIV event of the season in Mexico.
Dickson is taking it all in with pride. He played for the Cowboys from 1964-1966 under Labron Harris Sr., and posted victories in the U.S. and British Amateurs during that time.
Bob Dickson won the U.S. and British Amateurs while playing college golf at Oklahoma State, and went on to win on the PGA Tour and PGA Tour Champions. (Provided photo)
Players such as Dickson, Labron Harris Jr., Danny and David Edwards and Dave Eichelberger begot Bob Tway and Scott Verplank. Then Howell and Hunter Mahan came along, who handed the baton to the likes of Fowler, Clark, Kevin Tway, Gooch, Hovland and Peter Uihlein.
“The golf culture at Oklahoma State has been very good for decades, a really good golf history,” Dickson said. “I’m really proud of these Cowboys.”
Fowler, Hovland and Clark, the PGA Tour winners from Oklahoma State this season, have combined for four victories, 22 top-10s and more than $28 million in earnings this season. Austin Eckroat seems poised to join them and had a runner-up finish at the Byron Nelson in April.
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Clark is fourth on the FedEx Cup standings, Hovland sixth and Fowler eighth.
Cowboys on LIV Golf, Gooch, Howell, Uihlein and Matthew Wolff, have combined for three victories, nine top-10s and more than $32 million in earnings. Gooch leads LIV Golf’s points list, with Uihlein seventh and Howell 10th.