In 1990, veteran golfer Hale Irwin looked at his putt on the final hole of the United States Open at Medinah just outside Chicago. The putt was a double-breaking 55-footer. Irwin rapped the ball firmly and seconds later, as the crowd started to roar, the putt dropped into the cup for an improbable birdie-three and an ever-par aggregate of 280.
Totally shocked by the magical moment, the usually dour Irwin started racing about the periphery of the green, high-fiving the fans along the ropes. Meanwhile, the Open leaders were way back on the 12th hole. It would take another two hours before Irwin would know that he”d be in an 18-hole playoff the following day with journeyman Mike Donald. On Monday, Irwin would need 19 holes to finally defeat Donald. In the end, Irwin would take home his third U.S. Open title. Meanwhile, Donald would return to oblivion, never to win again on the PGA Tour.
Mike Donald is a mere memory in U.S. Open history as are other less-heralded runners-up such as Steven Leaney, Dave Barr, George Burns, Forrest Fezler and John Schlee. Yet for every journeyman who comes close to reaching golf”s pinnacle and capturing the National Open, there are just as many fair-to-middling golf professionals who seized the moment. They may not have been in position to win very often on tour, but when the opportunity presented itself, they came through on golf”s biggest stage.
Only time will tell, but the three most recent U.S. Open winners could very well fit the one-hit wonder profile. Michael Campbell of New Zealand, Australian Geoff Ogilvy and defending champ Angel Cabrera of Argentina outlasted prime-time players such as Tiger Woods and Jim Furyk to win their first major title. So while the jury is still out on the last three winners, there are others who took advantage of one magical weekend to forever imprint their legacy upon golf history.
The 1969 Open was contested at Champions Golf Club in Houston. Built and owned by former Masters and PGA champ Jackie Burke Jr., its selection as an Open site was a tip of the golfing cap to Burke. It would never again host a major and it produced the most unlikely of winners, Orville Moody.
Moody played a lot of golf during a 14-year Army career, just like ”68 Open champ Lee Trevino. His win in the 1969 National Open would turn out to be his sole tour win. He scratched out a one-stroke victory at Champions, finishing just ahead of past major winners Al Geiberger and Bob Rosburg as well as future PGA Tour commissioner Deane Beman. Moody would go on to win 11 times on the Senior Tour. His one big win while on the PGA Tour just happened to be the biggest tourney of them all.
In 1975, the Open returned to Medinah. The course setup was tough and the heat and the humidity was extreme. After 72 holes, Lou Graham found himself tied with John Mahaffey following a late-round meltdown by Frank Beard. Graham would beat Mahaffey by two shots in the 18-hole playoff Monday.
Graham was another Army veteran who played on his military golf time in the 1960s. He would win a total of six times on tour, and the U.S. Open suited his game more than the other majors. He came in third at the 1974 U.S. Open and was runner-up in 1977.
Better known for his work as a golf commentator nowadays on ESPN than he ever was during his prime, Andy North actually won two Open titles. He won at Cherry Hills near Denver in 1978 and at Oakland Hills outside Detroit in 1985. During an injury-plagued career, North won just three times, two of them coming in majors. His 1978 win was by one stroke over Dave Stockton and J.C. Snead, and his ”85 triumph was over Denis Watson, Dave Barr and T.C. Chen.
The 1985 U.S. Open is best remembered for Chen”s double-hit chip that led to a quadruple bogey. Nonetheless, North made three great up-and-down sand-save pars over the final nine to win. North remains the most unique of multiple major winners and yet his overall career was mediocre to say the least.
Steve Jones was another injury-prone golfer who broke through with a victory at the 1996 U.S. Open at Oakland Hills. Finishing several groups ahead of the leaders, Jones waited as Davis Love III three-putted the final green from 12 feet and Tom Lehman drove into a fairway bunker on the 18th hole. Jones would win eight times on tour and just might be the least recognizable Grand Slam winner of the last 15 years. Multiple finger surgeries from a dirt bike accident and tennis elbow issues have haunted his career.
The all-time one-hit U.S. Open wonder was Iowa driving range pro Jack Fleck, who birdied two of the final four holes to tie Ben Hogan at San Francisco”s Olympic Club in 1955. Hogan was ill-suited to walk another 18 holes on Monday because of his bad legs, the result of a near-fatal automobile accident. Fleck went on to win the playoff by three strokes for his first win on tour. He would win two more times over 20 years, at Phoenix and at Bakersfield. A true gentleman with an easy-going personality, Fleck kept Hogan from winning a record fifth U.S. Open title.
The U.S. Open trophy has 107 past champions, including Walter Hagen, Bobby Jones, Ben Hogan, Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Tom Watson and Tiger Woods. Yet for every Hall of Famer, one can think of a one-hit wonder that sometimes won at the expense of a Hall of Famer. Come Sunday evening, we”ll know whether the 108th U.S. Open champions will be a known quantity adding to his golfing resume such as Woods, Phil Mickelson or Jim Furyk, or whether it will be a one-hit wonder such as Justin Hicks, Eric Axley or Rickie Fowler.
