The Web site Theshadowlands.net says Jack Nicklaus built Muirfield Village on sacred Indian burial grounds. Legend has it that:
Chief Leatherlips makes it rain every year on the Tournament. In 24 years it has been affected by rain 14 times...one year they moved the tournament a week ahead. It still rained.
Sounds like a great legend. Except for one thing: 14 of 24 times? If there was a curse wouldn't it rain 24 of 24 times? 14 out of 24 is only 58 percent. Doesn't it rain about 58 percent of the time during an Ohio spring?
Actually, it doesn't. According to a couple of weather almanacs, there are only 8 days in May on average with any precipitation at Port Columbus and only 1 day in May with over an inch. That would only be a 26% chance of any precipitation on any given day and a miniscule 3 percent chance of heavy rain. Really? It seems like all it does is rain in May.
Perhaps Chief Leatherlips put a curse on the Memorial Tournament after all. Leatherlips was a member of the Wyandot Indian tribe that once roamed the Dublin area and beyond. He was reportedly called "Leatherlips" by white settlers because he never broke a promise and was considered a kind, dignified man. Leatherlips was executed in June, 1810, near present-day Muirfield Village along the Scioto River by his fellow Indian tribe, reportedly for being too friendly with the white settlers. The Wyandots were sent to a reservation in Kansas in the 1840s and were the last Indians to leave Ohio.
Except I have to ask one question: wouldn't it rain just on Muirfield and not the whole area?
So is Leatherlips getting back at the white settlers for his death? Or does it just rain a lot in Central Ohio? You be the judge.
