IN HIS BOOK LET 'ER RIP, Gardner Dickinson called him "the greatest putter I ever saw." That's saying something. Dickinson played on the PGA Tour during the Ben Hogan, Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus eras. A protege of Hogan who copied the Texas golf legend in nearly every way, Dickinson had seen many great players and putters in his long career.
But, according to Dickinson, no one matched Wendell "Fat Boy" Barnes on the greens. You remember Barnes, right? No, neither do I.
"When I was in high school and college," Dickinson wrote, "I was a great putter, although no one knew it because of Wendell Barnes.