an even worse year in 1960, when he collected a mere $3,060. A raucous off-the-course lifestyle was taking its toll until he began talking with television producer Danny Arnold, who helped him improve his composure and bolster his confidence. While Lema's struggles continued in 1962, along with his debt to Lowery reaching over $11,000, his luck changed that autumn. His first tour win came in late September at Las Vegas, three strokes ahead runner-up Don January. Four weeks later, on the eve of his playoff victory at the Orange County Open Invitational in Costa Mesa, California, Lema joked he would serve champagne to the press if he won the next day. From then on he was known as Champagne Tony, and his handsome looks and vivacious personality added to the legend, such that Johnny Miller has stated that at the time of his death in 1966, Lema was second only to Arnold Palmer in fan popularity. That win sparked an impressive performance over the next four years that saw Lema win twelve official tour events, finish second on eleven occasions, and third four times. From 1963 until his death in July 1966, he finished in the top ten over half of the time and made the cut in every major, finishing in the top ten in eight of the fifteen in which he played. Lema was a member of Ryder Cup teams in 1963 and 1965 with a record of 9–1–1 (), which remains the best for any player who has played in two or more. Friend and tour colleague Jack Nicklaus wrote that Lema's play also stabilized and improved greatly after he married Betty Cline, a former airline stewardess, in 1963. One additional reason for Lema's more relaxed play that year was the end of his agreement with Lowery. In 1963, Lema finished second by one stroke to Nicklaus at the Masters, and missed the playoff for the U.S. Open by two shots, bogeying the last two holes, believing he needed birdies. He won the Memphis Open Invitational later that summer. Lema won two other tournaments that fall and was named 1963 Most Improved Player by Golf Digest. That winter, he wrote, with Gwylim S. Brown, "Golfers' Gold", an autobiographical account of his eight-year apprenticeship in the competitive cauldron of the PGA Tour. Major champion In 1964, Lema won the Bing Crosby National Pro-Am at Pebble Beach, then three