DOUG FERGUSON
AP Golf Writer
PINEHURST, N.C. (AP) — A look at some of the anniversaries at the US Open this year:
100 years ago (1914): Walter Hagen tied for fourth in his U.S. Open debut, though no one paid much attention for good reason — that was 1913, the year Francis Ouimet stunned Britain’s best to win at Brookline. A year later, Hagen set the U.S. Open record with a 68 in the opening round at Midlothian Country Club and went wire to wire, defeating amateur Chick Evans by one shot. It was the first of his 11 major championships, two of them in the U.S. Open.
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75 years ago (1939): Byron Nelson’s first U.S. Open title at Philadelphia Country Club is remembered as much for the U.S. Open Sam Snead lost. Snead came to the par-5 18th needing only a par to win. There were no scoreboards back then, and Snead thought he needed a birdie. He played an aggressive tee shot into the rough, and by the time he chopped his way through the hole, he made triple bogey and tied for fifth. Nelson wound up winning a three-man playoff over Craig Wood and Denny Shute.
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50 years ago (1964): Ken Venturi was six shots behind going into the 36-hole final day at Congressional, where he faced Tommy Jacobs and oppressive heat. Venturi shot 66 in the third round, but felt so weak during the break that doctors suggested that playing another 18 holes could be fatal. In one of the gutsiest final rounds in U.S. Open history, he closed with a 70 for a four-shot victory. He was so overcome by heat that he couldn’t even read the numbers on his card. The USGA executive director looked over his shoulder, checked the card and told him to sign it.
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25 years ago (1989): Ben Hogan’s mystique included his back-to-back U.S. Open titles in 1950 and 1951. No one did it again until Curtis Strange won at Oak Hill. Strange took the lead with a 64 in the second round, only to follow with a 73 and fall three shots behind Tom Kite. Kite stumbled in the final round, and Strange closed with a 70 for a one-shot win over Chip Beck, Mark McCumber and Ian Woosnam. It remains the last time anyone has won consecutive U.S. Opens.
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20 years ago (1994): The nostalgia of Arnold Palmer playing his last U.S. Open, and Tom Watson leading Jack Nicklaus by one shot after the opening round, eventually gave way to a new star in golf. Ernie Els, a 24-year-old South African, closed with a 73 to get into a three-way playoff with Colin Montgomerie and Loren Roberts. Montgomerie, dressed in black on a sweltering Monday, was eliminated after a 78. Els had to go two extra holes and won when Roberts made a bogey.
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10 years ago (2004): Fresh off his Masters win for his first major, Phil Mickelson was poised to win the U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills until he ran into Retief Goosen’s remarkable putting. Goosen one-putted the final six greens for a 1-over 71 and a two-shot victory. Mickelson was tied for the lead until a three-putt double bogey from 5 feet on the 17th hole. Goosen won his second U.S Open in four years. The round also was remembered for the par-3 seventh green getting so brittle that officials began watering it between groups. Twenty-eight players failed to break 80.
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