By Daniel Rapaport
In this never-ending nightmare of the coronavirus, we’ve become increasingly numb to disappointments. The first few cancellations—sports events, music festivals, in-person classes—hit society quite hard. But when you’re continuously crossing things off the calendar, it becomes the norm, and human beings have a way of adapting to the norm, however bleak it may be.

Still, a particularly depressing bit of news—at least by golf standards—can pull at our collective heartstrings and remind us what a huge bummer this continues to be. Monday’s announcement that the USGA would be cancelling qualifiers for September’s U.S. Open wasn’t much of a surprise, when you really think about it. Running 108 local qualifiers and 12 sectional qualifiers simply isn’t feasible in these times, so the U.S. Open will feature a fully exempt field for the first time in a very long time.

No one’s happy about it. Not the players who were going to get in anyway, not the USGA folks and, of course, not the countless mini-tour guys who relish the opportunity to beat the big boys. This is the U.S. Open after all, a tournament that derives much of its charm from its meritocracy. All you need is a 1.4 index or below, a couple hundred bucks and the ability to take a few Mondays off work, and you could find yourself teeing it up against Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy at iconic course such as Shinnecock Hills or Pebble Beach.

In a normal year, roughly half of the field comes from qualifying, though the vast majority of the guys who make it were exempt from the local stage and went straight to sectionals. The most recent winner to come from a sectional was Lucas Glover in 2009 at Bethpage Black, with Michael Campbell also pulling it off in 2005 at Pinehurst.

It’s much rarer to make it through both local and sectional. Rare, but not unheard of. A number of guys—touring professionals, teaching pros, college players, teenagers, insurance salesman—have made it through both rounds and then left their mark on the Open itself. In light of today’s news, here are a few of the best.

Ken Venturi, 1964
The World Golf Hall of Famer’s career got off to a solid start in the late 1950s, when he broke out on Tour and nearly won a couple Masters. But he experienced such a dramatic loss in form that he had to play in a local qualifier for the 1964 U.S. Open. Good thing he did—after nearly collapsing from oppressive heat during a 36-hole final day, Venturi ended up winning at Congressional, a comeback significant enough to earn him Sports Illustrated’s Sportsperson of the Year.

Orville Moody, 1969
Moody won exactly one of the 266 tournaments he played in during his pro career: the U.S. Open at Champions Golf Club in Houston, And like Venturi, he did so after playing his way through both local and sectional qualifying. He is the last player to win the championship after such a journey.

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Orville Moody waves his cap after winning the 1969 U.S. Open.

John Peterson, 2012
Peterson had a fantastic career at LSU, where he was a three-time All-American and won the NCAA individual title in 2011. But in the spring of 2012, he was just a fledgling pro teeing it up in a local qualifier for the U.S. Open. He played his way through local and then sectional to book his place at the Olympic Club. It turned out to be the best week of his professional career—he made a hole-in-one on Saturday, finished T-4 and made $276,841. Peterson’s had a strange run since then, playing his way to a PGA Tour, then struggling with injuries, then retiring at age 29, and then seemingly un-retiring shortly thereafter. No matter where his roller-coaster golf journey takes him, he’ll always have that week at Olympic.

Jason Gore, 2005
Gore, who actually works for the USGA now as a player relations director, was on the precipice of the impossible 15 years ago. He’d played his way through local qualifying, through sectional qualifying, made the cut at Pinehurst No. 2, and found himself in the final group of the U.S. Open alongside World No. 5 Retief Goosen. Sunday itself was a disaster for the big guy, Gore’s 14-over 84 seeing him plummet all the way to a tie for 49th. He held it together for so very long, but he couldn’t hold it together long enough.

Jared C. Tilton
Local and sectional qualifier Jason Gore played in the last group on Sunday in the 2005 U.S. Open.

Andy Zhang, 2012
A cool thing about the U.S. Open qualification process is there’s no age limit. If your handicap is low enough, have at it. Fourteen-year-old Andy Zhang did so back in 2012, when he made it through local qualifying only to lose in a playoff at Sectionals. Dream over, right? Nah. He got into the field as an alternate when some of his older competitors pulled out with injuries, opening a spot for the youngest player in U.S. Open history. He shot 79-78 to miss the cut by a million, but that’s not really the point.

Beau Hossler, 2012
The 2012 U.S. Open was quite the party for local qualifiers. In addition to Zhang and Peterson, 17-year-old Beau Hossler joined in on the fun. It was actually his second straight year qualifying for the Open—not sure why playing in the U.S. Open doesn’t get you into at least Sectionals for the next year—and he made it count at Olympic Club. Hossler briefly held the solo lead at two-under on Friday before a late collapse saw him tumble down the board and lose low amateur honours to some guy named Jordan Spieth.

The post There are great stories about U.S. Open qualifiers; too bad we won’t have any in 2020 appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By E. Michael Johnson
Former USGA president Sandy Tatum was fond of saying the mission of the U.S. Open was to identify the best players in the world. For the most part, the governing body fulfills that quest. Occasionally, however, a champion pops up with questionable credentials as the Open has produced its share of upset winners in its 123-year history—Cinderfella stories in which players’ careers enjoyed a jumpstart, a resurrection or simply one moment of glory. Here we present the 10 most underwhelming U.S. Open champions—winners who raised not only their profile, but plenty of eyebrows as well, by capturing the national championship.

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1. Michael Campbell, 2005
Leading up: Although fairly well known on the international circuits, the New Zealander had little success on the PGA Tour, playing in 62 events with no wins and only six top-10s before Pinehurst. To make the Open field, Campbell needed to hole a six-foot birdie putt on his final hole of Sectional Qualifying.

How he won: Campbell won the 2005 U.S. Open at Pinehurst No. 2 via good play of his own and collapses by others. Starting the day four behind Retief Goosen, Campbell managed a one-under-par 69 while the three other golfers in the final two pairings failed to break 80.

Aftermath: Campbell’s win turned out to be his lone PGA Tour triumph and signalled a demarcation line in his career. From 2006-2013, he played in 37 PGA Tour events with just one top-10 performance. Take out 2006 and he played in 25 events, missing 18 cuts and withdrawing in one other. In 61 rounds over that span, he posted just one round in the 60s with 45 rounds of 75 or higher—11 of them in the 80s.

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Ed Furgol and Jack Fleck (right) sit in front of large scoreboard smiling at crowd after Fleck had tied Ben Hogan and forced a playoff at the 1955 Open.

2. Jack Fleck, 1955
Leading up: The club pro from Davenport, Iowa, won less than $6,800 in 31 tour events prior to 1955 U.S. Open. Fleck came to Olympic Club having finished no better than T-10 in any tour event in 1955.

How he won: Made two birdies over the final four holes to tie Ben Hogan. In the playoff, Fleck birdied Nos. 8, 9 and 10 to go three ahead. Hogan got to within a stroke, but double bogeyed the 18th.

Aftermath: Fleck had a steady, if unspectacular career, winning two more events. His best year was 1960, when he ranked 18th in earnings. He threatened at that year’s U.S. Open at Cherry Hills, finishing T-3, three strokes behind Arnold Palmer.

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3. Orville Moody, 1969
Leading up: After serving 14 years in the Army, Moody joined the tour in 1968, finishing 103rd in earnings. He came into the Open ranked 26th in earnings in 1969.

How he won: Moody trailed Miller Barber by three entering the final round at Champions Golf Club near Houston. But Barber bogeyed five of the first eight holes in the final round, leaving Moody to duel Bob Rosburg for the title. After Rosburg missed a three-footer on the 72nd hole, Moody, a superb ball-striker, parred the 18th to win by one.

Aftermath: The Open was Moody’s lone win during a 16-year PGA Tour career in which he finished outside the top 100 in earnings more often than not. His senior career, however, was as surprising as his Open triumph as Moody captured 11 titles (including the 1989 U.S. Senior Open) and won more than $3.5 million.

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4. Sam Parks Jr., 1935
Leading up: Parks learned the fundamentals of the game from Gene Sarazen in 1922 but didn’t play professionally until 1933. He had just four top-10s (including a second in the Pennsylvania Open at Oakmont CC in 1934) in two-plus years prior to his Open win.

How he won: Park played Oakmont more than 100 times before the Open. The preparation paid off as he was tied for the lead after 54 holes. The final round was played in poor weather, and none of the players in the top 20 broke 75. Despite bogeying three of the last four holes, Parks’ 76 was enough for a two-stroke victory.

Aftermath: Parks quit the tour in 1942 and went to work for U.S. Steel, eventually becoming a member of Oakmont.

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5. Tony Manero, 1936
Leading up: Although Manero, a club pro by trade, fashioned a handful of wins in lesser professional events, he needed to prevail in a playoff during qualifying to make the field in 1936.

How he won: Harry (Lighthorse) Cooper shot what would have been a tournament-record 284 on the Upper Course at Baltustrol Golf Club in Springfield, N.J., but Manero’s final-round 67 let him finish two strokes better. Playing with boyhood friend Gene Sarazen, who had requested the pairing, calmed Manero’s nerves, but after Manero holed out on the 72nd green, a complaint was filed with the USGA claiming Sarazen had provided Manero advice during the round. The USGA reviewed the matter, decided there was no validity to the claim and let Manero’s win stand.

Aftermath: Manero collected on a $50 bet he had made on himself the final day. A member of the 1937 U.S. Ryder Cup team, he reached the semifinals of the 1937 PGA and won the 1938 Glen Falls Open. He effectively quit the tour after World War II, later opening a steakhouse in Greenwich, Conn., with his brother-in-law.

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6. Cyril Walker, 1924
Leading up: Even Walker, whose lone claim to fame was winning the 1920 Pennsylvania Open, questioned his chances. “It takes a strong man to stand the strain of 72 holes over two days,” said Walker, who weighed a mere 118 pounds. “I’ll crack on the second day.”

How he won: Walker, an agonizingly slow player, shot steady, if unspectacular rounds of 74-74-74-75 at Oakland Hills Country Club in Bloomfield Hills, Mich., good enough for a three-shot win over defending champ Bobby Jones.

Aftermath: Walker never won another tournament after his Open triumph. He played in only three more Opens, his best showing a T-47 in defense of his title. Heavy drinking led to health issues and he died in 1948 at age 56.

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7. Johnny Goodman, 1933
Leading up: Goodman made the finals of the 1932 U.S. Amateur. He also finished T-11 in the 1930 U.S. Open.

How he won: Holding a six-stroke lead over Ralph Guldahl entering the final round at Illinois’ North Shore Country Club, Goodman proceeded to play a wild front nine, going eagle-birdie on Nos. 2-3 to take a nine-shot lead before butchering the next six holes in six over par. After another bogey on 14, his lead had evaporated. Guldahl then missed a four-foot par save on the 72nd hole, handing the tournament back to Goodman, the fifth—and last—amateur to win the Open.

Aftermath: Goodman continued his fine play as an amateur, making it to the semifinals of the U.S. Amateur in 1935 and 1936 before winning a second Amateur crown in 1937. Goodman eventually turned pro but did not duplicate his success while a member of the play-for-pay set.

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Chris McGrath/Getty Images

8. Lucas Glover, 2009
Leading up: A workhorse since joining the PGA Tour full time in 2004, Glover played an average of 29 events a year from 2004 through 2008, allowing him to top $1 million in earnings three times during that span. Top-notch results, however, were hard to come by as he had two top-three finishes in 152 events, including a win at the 2005 Funai-Disney Classic. In 2009, however, Glover finished T-3 in the Buick Invitational and T-2 at the Quail Hollow Championship prior to the Open at Bethpage Black.

How he won: Although he missed the cut in his three previous Opens and got in the field via sectional qualifying, Glover shot a second-round 64 at soggy Bethpage Black. During the rain-induced Monday finish, Glover stood four over par on the day on the 16th hole, but hit his approach to six feet and made the putt, leading to a two-shot win over Phil Mickelson, David Duval and Ricky Barnes.

Aftermath: Although he picked up another win at the 2011 Wells Fargo Championship, a knee injury hampered him in 2012, and he hasn’t played well since with just one top-three in 157 starts since 2012. That led to Glover losing his PGA Tour card after the 2014-’15 season, but he regained it through the Web.com Finals.

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9. Billy Burke, 1931
Leading up: Although considered one of the more accurate players of his day, Burke’s resume listed only four non-tour wins.

How he won: The marathon of all Opens had Burke and George Von Elm tied after 72 holes at Ohio’s Inverness Club. The 36-hole playoff also ended in a tie, necessitating a second 36-hole face-off—a rollercoaster affair that saw six holes with two-stroke swings and only 11 holes in which Burke and Von Elm had the same score. After the first hole in the afternoon 18 Burke never trailed again, winning by one.

Aftermath: Extensive overtime caused USGA to move to 18-hole playoffs. Burke made the semifinals of the PGA in 1931 and played on 1931 and 1933 Ryder Cup teams. Burke won only one more individual title, at the 1935 Cascades Open.

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10. Ed Furgol, 1954
Leading up: Although he left the tour full-time in 1951 to pursue a club professional job in Missouri, Furgol had stretches where he was an ironman, playing more than 40 tournaments twice. Although one of the tour’s top earners, Furgol won just twice prior to the 1954 Open.

How he won: Furgol, who had a withered left arm and hand from a boyhood accident, played magnificently steady golf over the final round at Baltusrol Golf Club’s Lower Course, putting 16 pars on the board against a pair of bogeys (both three-putts) to beat Gene Littler, who missed an eight-footer to tie, by one.

Aftermath: Although he was named the PGA’s Professional Golfer of the Year for 1954, health problems in the form of bone spurs in his good arm effectively ended his playing career in 1957.

The post The most underwhelming U.S. Open winners in history appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.