The Surprising Beginning of the Pro Tour

Butch Buckholz: a key player in the start of the "tour." In January 2022, I received an email from Tom O'Neal wishing me a Happy New Year and adding, "I trust you are still writing about tennis. Please give me a call at your convenience as I had a thought that might be of interest to you." O'Neal is a Renaissance Man when it comes to his approach to life and to tennis. He has traveled widely and has a diverse corporate executive background. He has also worked at every level of the game which has given him an appreciation of what has taken place and more important all that was required to see a project to fruition. The Tour Is Born After our telephone visit, he emailed saying, "As I mentioned, I thought the signal advancement of pro tennis in the 1960's was moving from the one-night stands format in numerous cities to a series of weeklong tournaments. Butch Buchholz explained that Jack Kramer decided in the early 1960's to try a series of five or six weeklong tournaments, like the golfers had in those days. "Signing Rod Laver to the group was a key. Then Butch managed to...