'The Greatest U.S. Opens'
Epic duels, dramatic moments, and the man knocked unconscious at the 18th
After the success of my previous book, ‘The Story of the Masters’, my publisher had the idea to tackle another of golf’s major championships.
Since the championship stretches back to 1895, an accounting of every U.S. Open wasn’t realistic, so we settled on covering 20 of them in ‘The Greatest U.S. Opens’.
Choosing the 20 was no easy task. Of course, a few stood out as absolute musts to include, but there were plenty of candidates for the rest. The ultimate selections were made based on a variety of factors.
The identity of the chief protagonists was a big one. When the greatest players in the game are involved, it makes the championship more compelling.
There is also the drama of the tournament action. The uncertainty of who will emerge as the winner makes a U.S. Open memorable. On the other hand, it could be the greatness of a performance, like Tiger Woods’ 15-stroke margin of victory in 2000 or Johnny Miller’s final-round 63 in 1973 or a great shot like Tom Watson’s chip-in in 1982.
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Sometimes there is a back story that heightens a U.S. Open’s resonance, such as Bobby Jones’ pursuit of the Grand Slam in 1930 or Ben Hogan’s recovery from an auto accident in 1950. Sometimes the venue itself is a co-star, like when the Open went to Pebble Beach for the first time in 1972.
And every U.S. Open has a deeper story or stories that go beyond the well-known narrative. It was fascinating to take a deep dive into these Opens and turn up all of the layers.
Every U.S. Open has been covered extensively in the media, so this project was research driven. Contemporary local, regional, or major newspaper accounts provide the backbone, and fortunately many archives are now available online.
Periodical magazines have always published recaps, from The American Golfer in the early days to Sports Illustrated and others in modern times, with the annual book ‘The World of Professional Golf’ adding its own contribution.
Biographies and autobiographies of the game’s leading players contain accounts of their Open exploits and books about the tour or golf in general are another source.
This year’s site, Oakmont Country Club, has hosted more U.S. Opens than any other course (this is its 10th), including two that made it into the book.
In 1962, 22-year-old Jack Nicklaus essentially dethroned the King of golf, Arnold Palmer, on his own Western Pennsylvania turf, no less, winning in a playoff. In 1973, Johnny Miller claimed the title with a 63 on Sunday, then the 18-hole record for the championship and still the lowest final round by a winner.
Oakmont is renowned for its difficulty, which makes it a classic U.S. Open course, as the USGA is known for making its championship the most challenging in the game.
In addition to choosing tough courses for the event, the course setup includes narrow fairways, heavy rough, and greens that are as firm and fast as the weather allows. It’s a fierce battle of man vs. course in addition to the overall contest between the various competitors.
The emphasis on challenge adds to the U.S. Open’s mystique, but it can sometimes be carried too far. The 1974 Open, which became known as the “Massacre at Winged Foot,” won by Hale Irwin with a seven-over par total, doesn’t make the list of the 20 greatest, nor was it seriously considered.
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The greatest Opens feature heroics, like Arnold Palmer making birdies on six of the first seven holes in the final round in 1960, Tom Watson chipping in for a birdie on the 71st hole in 1982, or Tiger Woods making a birdie on the 72nd hole in 2008 to tie Rocco Mediate and go on to win in a playoff. Those are the three U.S. Opens I would pick as my favorites.
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Palmer’s swashbuckling style wasn’t best suited for the U.S. Open and 1960 was the only time he captured the title. He did it in a memorable and dramatic fashion, creating one of golf’s signature moments when he took out a driver on the par four first hole at Cherry Hills and drove the green to jump start a classic charge that brought him from seven strokes behind to victory with a closing 65.
The intriguing cast of characters who came down the stretch with a chance to win included 20-year-old amateur Nicklaus and 47-year-old icon Hogan, adding to the drama in both the moment and in retrospect.
Watson also won only one U.S. Open, and also made it one for the ages. His chip-in on the 17th hole at Pebble Beach was the decisive blow in an epic duel with Nicklaus, who had just finished his round and figured he would be in a playoff when he saw on television that Watson had missed the green on 17. Instead, Watson holed out and dashed Jack’s hopes for a fifth U.S. Open title.
While Nicklaus was on the losing end in the great Opens of 1960 and 1982, he does get his due in the book with three of his four victories covered.
First was 1962, where he triumphed over Palmer. His victory at Pebble Beach in 1972 featured an iconic shot of his own on Pebble Beach’s 17th, a one-iron tee shot that hit the flagstick. And his victory at Baltusrol in 1980 at age 40 inspired the scoreboard operator at the 18th hole to spell out the message “Jack is Back.”
Moving ahead to recent decades, Woods gets two of his three U.S. Open titles included, earning the victories in different ways.
He asserted his dominance in 2000 at Pebble Beach, blowing away the field with a record victory margin. Woods’ win in 2008 came in a playoff over Rocco Mediate, a popular player who made a valiant attempt to pull off an upset that would have rivaled Jack Fleck’s upending of Hogan in 1955.
Three elements that added oomph to an already great story were Woods’ 15-foot birdie putt on the 72nd hole to force the playoff, the fact that the 18-hole playoff extended into sudden death, and Woods limping throughout the championship on an injured knee that would require surgery immediately after.
While it’s fun to revisit these iconic moments in recounting the great U.S. Opens, it’s also illuminating to discover other elements that are fascinating but not so well remembered.
The 1939 U.S. Open, won by Byron Nelson in a three-way playoff and made famous by Sam Snead making a triple bogey on the 72nd hole to finish two behind, provides an example.
In the playoff, Craig Wood had his own shenanigans on the 18th hole at Philadelphia Country Club. One stroke ahead of Nelson, Wood was in range to reach the par five with a four-wood second shot. He hooked it drastically to the left, conking a spectator in the head. The man was knocked unconscious and carried off in a stretcher.
Following the commotion, Wood managed to hit a pitch shot six feet from the hole. Nelson made a seven-foot birdie putt, leaving Wood with a chance to win if he could make the six-footer. He missed, setting up another 18-hole playoff the next day.
That evening, Wood made a trip to the hospital to visit the man who had been hit by his shot. It turned out the man was the owner of a local driving range, who would quickly recover from the injury.
Upon seeing Wood, he told him, “Craig, if you open the face of your club, you’ll cure that hook.”
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