posted June 18, 2009 at 11:00 EST in Golf Articles
Top 10 Greatest U.S. Open Moments
by Charles Jay
If you have ever seen the movie "Tin Cup," you heard Kevin Costner's character, Roy McElroy, describe the U.S. Open as "the most democratic golf tournament in the world." After all, anyone with a two-handicap or better can try to qualify for it. At the same time, it is a discriminating tournament; while there are indeed ways for amateurs, club pros, and people off the street to get in, many accomplished tour players, with great credentials, can be left out because the Open has certain avenues to get in and doesn't necessarily care what you've done in the past. It is very easy to slip through the cracks and get left out, which is why you won't see many of the familiar names this weekend at Bethpage.
Like all majors, there is a lot of history and a lot of legend. I was asked to compile what may have been, in my opinion, the "Ten Greatest U.S. Open Moments," and of course that's near impossible.
Let me submit these ten and then you can argue about it:
(1) BEN HOGAN AND "THE GREATEST COMEBACK" -- In February of 1949 it looked as if Ben Hogan's golf career was over. The Texan, who had been a dominant force on the tour, and in fact was the reigning U.S. Open champion, was involved in a highway collision with a Greyhound bus that left him with a fractured pelvis, broken collar bone, ruptured spleen, and blood clots in both legs that could have easily killed him. He could not walk for months, but gradually got himself around and onto the practice tee - something doctors told him he would never do. Not only did Hogan start to play competitive golf again, he managed to show up at Merion 16 months after the accident, legs heavily bandaged, for U.S. Open play. Hogan threw up after each round, and was in constant pain (the last day was 36 holes at that time), but he hung around to get into a playoff, in which he won by four shots. After this Hogan went from being someone who was admired to being a folk hero. As far as comebacks are concerned, Dan Jenkins, the long-time sportswriter, said "I don't think there's anything you can compare to it."
(2) THE CHERRY HILLS THREE, AND CHERRY TOO -- At the U.S. Open at Cherry Hills (Colorado), Mike Souchak looked like a very possible winner going into the final day of play. Arnold Palmer, who had won the Masters earlier that year, was seven strokes back. He then set the course ablaze, shooting a 65 to win the tournament, or so he thought. There was an amateur on the course who had yet to play the back nine, and Don Cherry, who was well-known as both a top-flight amateur golfer and a singer/recording artist, actually had a chance to catch Palmer. Cherry ultimately did not get there, finishing a final round 72, and Palmer was able to preserve a two-stroke victory over 20-year-old amateur Jack Nicklaus, for whom the Cherry Hills event was a coming-out party. The sentimental element was provided by 48-year-old Ben Hogan, years past his prime, who had surged into contention with a third-round 69 and was charging down the stretch until he hit it into the water at 17. Hogan had a few top ten finishes in majors after that, but he'd never be so close to the lead so late again. As for Palmer, who, as author John Feinstein aptly put it, was the "most important player in the history of the game," it was his first and only U.S. Open win.
(3) TIGER GOES WIRE TO WIRE ON FIRE -- When Tiger Woods didn't just win his first U.S. Open in 2000; if he were at Indy, he would have lapped the field more than once. Woods led the tournament by a stroke after a first-round round 66, then separated from everyone else, leading by six strokes at the close of Friday's action, ten strokes after three rounds, and finally, after shooting a 67, he put away the win by 15 strokes. The greatest margin in the history of major championships. His 272 was a U.S. Open record, and at -12 he was the ONLY player under par. It was probably the most dominant performance in the history of any major tournament, and Woods was not through yet, going on to win the British Open, PGA and Masters after that - completing the "Tiger Slam."
(4) FRANCIS OUIMET'S WIN IN 1913 -- There has perhaps never been a more improbable champion in U.S. Open history than Francis Oumiet, a 20-year-old amateur out of Massachusetts, who was invited to play at the Brookline Country Club, where he had been a caddy only a few years before. Ouimet was so off-balance about the late invitation that he had to turn to an eleven-year-old youngster to carry his bag. Surprisingly, he was tied going into the final round with Harry Vardon and Ted Ray, two legendary British golfers, and matched them stroke-for-stroke to reach a playoff, at which point he left both of them in the dust. Ouimet was the first amateur to win the tournament, and the last player to win the U.S. Open on his first try. Some have referred to his win as "the birth of modern golf." He later became the captain of four Walker Cup teams, as well as Captain of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews.
(5) JOHNNY MILLER'S GOLDEN ROUND -- Johnny Miller's talent was well-known for some time; he had finished eighth in the U.S. Open as early as 1966 when he was a 19-year-old amateur, and it didn't hurt that the tournament was held at his home course (The Olympic Club in San Francisco). He was later the runner-up at the 1971 Masters, but he had only two PGA wins to his credit when he got to Oakmont in 1973. Miller imploded in the third round, shooting a 76, and had forgotten his yardage book at the house he was renting while in town for the tournament. He was six behind the lead going into Sunday, and proceeded to destroy the Oakmont course with a 63, hitting all 18 greens in regulation. He was one of only five players to shoot under par on the final round, and it was good enough to win the title. At that point, it was the lowest single round in the history of the U.S. Open, and shares that record to this day. Miller is well-known now as the lead analyst for NBC Sports, and you will see plenty of him this weekend.
(6) BILLY CASPER'S COMEBACK -- At the 1966 U.S. Open at The Olympic Club in San Francisco, no one was going to catch the legendary Arnold Palmer, who led the tournament by seven strokes with just nine holes to play. What nobody had forecast though, was that Palmer would completely crumble on the back nine, shooting seven-over par, while Casper continued to make pars and force a playoff, which he won by four strokes. In effect, he had come back in the tournament without having to mount a "charge." He was the picture of consistency. Casper, who was known as one of the greatest putters in the history of the game, did not three-putt once in the entire tournament.
(7) BIZARRE FINISH AT THE 2001 OPEN -- Retief Goosen had been close to the lead from the start of the 2001 U.S. Open. He led the tourney at the end of the first round, a stroke ahead of 56-year-old Hale Irwin, who had been the oldest winner of the U.S. Open ELEVEN years before. Mark Brooks stayed within a stroke of the lead until the final hole, when he three-putted the final green for a bogey to fall hopelessly behind Goosen, or so he thought. Brooks was all packed and ready to leave when Goosen, who was playing two groups behind him, unbelievably missed a TWO-foot putt on the 18th which would have clinched a victory. Brooks had new life, but Goosen blitzed him in the Monday playoff, winning by two shots. Honorable mention (or dis-honorable, as it were) goes to Phil Mickelson for his double bogey on the 72nd hole at Winged Foot in 2006, costing himself a third straight major win.
(8) ANDY NORTH DOES IT AGAIN -- Andy North is well-known to many TV watchers as a color commentator, but on tour he was not considered to be a particularly accomplished player, as pros go. Yet North, who had won only once before, captured the 1978 U.S. Open at Cherry Hills, though not before some drama as he found the rough twice on the 72nd hole. North failed to win on the tour after that, and in fact had only two top ten finishes in majors after his historic U.S. Open win; that is, until he teed it up at Oakland Hills in Michigan at the 1988 Open. This time North came from behind, and was aided by a collapse by Tze-Chung Chen, who quadrupled the fifth hole. At the end, even a bogey on the final hole wasn’t enough to derail North, who was once again an upset winner at one of golf's majors. North never won an event on the PGA Tour again.
(9) BOBBY JONES AND THE RUNAWAY PLAYOFF -- Bobby Jones, considered one of the greatest ever to tee it up, was not known as one to blow a lead at crunch time. Yet at the 1929 U.S. Open he had surrendered a three-stroke advantage to Al Espinosa in the final round, and had to make a clutch putt on the final hole just to force a playoff. In those days the U.S. Open conducted a 36-hole playoff, and over that stretch "no contest" couldn't sufficiently describe what happened. Jones was solid, shooting a combined three-under, while Espinosa started bad and got worse, shooting 164 to finish 23 strokes behind Jones. I wonder how many people headed for the exits early!
(10) SAM SNEAD GETS TO THE THIRD ROUND -- The great Sam Snead won seven major championships, but always seemed to fall short in the U.S. Open, where he finished in second place no less than four times. Snead's list of wins is longer than anyone in PGA history, and he continued to win on tour up till the age of 53. However, his greatest feat may have been at the 1973 U.S. Open at Oakmont, as he not only made the cut after two rounds, but also finished in the top 30. This was 36 years after playing in the U.S. Open for the first time (and finishing second). That was no fluke for Snead; he was still competitive at the time, having won the West Virginia Open for the 17th time that year. Honorable mention here would go to Jack Nicklaus, who made the cut in 1998, at age 58, and 41 years after his first U.S. Open appearance.
