The 9 Most Unlikely Winners In U.S. Open History

The list of golfers who’ve managed to win the U.S. Open is filled with legends who cemented that status with the help of their victory at the major. However, it’s also home to more than a few names who seemingly had no business even being near the top of the leaderboard but managed to prevail.

There are inevitably going to be favorites that stand out from the rest of the field heading into every golf tournament, but as we’ve learned time and time again, anything can happen once they get underway.

There have been plenty of golfers who were expected to win the U.S. Open before it kicked off who went on to do exactly that, but the major has also produced its fair share of underdog stories thanks to the overlooked names who managed to stun the world.

Jerry Pate (1976)

It seemed like Jerry Pate had a pretty bright future ahead of him after he won the U.S. Amateur in 1974, and he held his own when he competed at the U.S. Open with an “A” next to his name the following year by finishing in a tie for 18th place.

Pate turned pro in 1976, but he needed to compete in a regional qualifier to earn the right to head to Atlanta Athletic Club to compete in the U.S. Open that year as part of a field that featured major winners including Tom Watson, Jack Nicklaus, and Raymond Floyd.

The 22-year-old spent the first few days working his way up the leaderboard and headed into Sunday two strokes behind
John Mahaffey and in sole possession of second at -1.

He was up a stroke on the 18th hole when he found the rough with a shot that landed 190 yards from the pin and needed par or better to avoid a playoff.

However, he ended up with a birdie after sticking his approach just a couple of feet away from the cup to win what would end up being his only major.

Steve Jones (1996)

Steve Jones joined the PGA Tour in 1982 and racked up a handful of win toward the end of the decade before his career was derailed by a dirt bike accident in 1991 that damaged one of his fingers and forced him to take a lengthy hiatus.

He’d had a few solid finishes during the 1996 season but was still in search of his first win since 1989 when he made it through the qualifier that secured his spot at the U.S. Open at Oakland Hills.

He found himself battling with the likes of Ernie Els, Greg Norman, and Payne Stewart after it got underway but was just one shot back of Tom Lehman at -1 when play kicked off on Sunday.

Lehman pulled out to a lead early in the day before choking it away, and while Davis Love III and John Morse also gave Jones a run for his money, he edged them out by a stroke to get his first and only major and a $425,000 check.

Lucas Glover (2009)

Lucas Glover joined the PGA Tour in 2004 and got his first win the following year, but it was still the only one he had to his name when he took part in the U.S. Open at Bethpage Black in 2009.

The South Carolina native had previously competed in the major on three occasions and failed to make the cut a single time, and he appeared to be facing an uphill battle when you consider he was sitting in 71st place in the Official World Golf Ranking at the time.

However, he was firmly in contention by the time the weekend rolled around after ending up a stroke behind Ricky Barnes in second place on Friday, and he overcame the inclement conditions that hobbled a good chunk of his competitors to get a two-stroke victory and snap a four-year winless drought.

Jack Fleck (1955)

Jack Fleck was working as a golf pro in Iowa before he enlisted in the Navy during World War II and made it his mission to play on the PGA Tour following a deployment where he ended up stationed on a ship off the coast of Normandy during D-Day.

He was able to achieve that goal toward the start of the 1950s but had failed to secure a single victory by the time the U.S. Open headed to the Olympic Club in San Francisco in 1955.

Fleck was just a stroke back of the lead when play wrapped up on Friday, but he was sitting in a tie for sixth and three strokes behind Ben Hogan, who was at +7,  heading into the final round.

Hogan failed to improve on that score after shooting even par, and while he headed into the clubhouse while other golfers (including Fleck) were still out, it still seemed like his tournament to lose based on how the course had been playing.

Fleck was two strokes back with four holes to go, but he forced a playoff with birdies on 15 and 18. He and Hogan went head-to-head in an 18-hole showdown the following day, and he pulled off the stunning victory by shooting -1 as his opponent finished at +2.

Orville Moody (1969)

Orville Moody was also a veteran who kept his skills sharp during the 14 years he spent in the Army, and he landed a pretty sweet gig thanks to the role where he was tasked with overseeing maintenance and lessons on the courses the branch operates.

He was in his mid-30s by the time he pivoted to a new career as a professional golfer, and while he’d won the first three editions of the Korea Open while deployed to the country, he was facing some stiffer competition on the PGA Tour.

As was the case with Pate and Jones, he needed to make it through a regional qualifier in order to compete in the U.S. Open that was held at Champions Golf Club in Texas in 1969.

Now, I can understand if some people take issue with my decision to include Moody here when you consider Lee Trevino (who was hoping to defend his victory that year) predicted Rooney was going to win before the tournament began.

With that said, we’re still talking about a guy who’d never won a PGA Tour event before getting what ended up being his only victory with a one-stroke victory over three guys who finished at +2.

Michael Campbell (2005)

2005 marked the first year the USGA hosted a regional qualifier in Europe, and Michael Campbell—who done pretty well for himself on the European Tour—was one of the golfers who harnessed it to punch their ticket to the U.S. Open at Pinehurst.

Tiger Woods was the man to beat at the time, but he got off to a fairly slow start during a tournament where Retief Goosen was firmly in control with a three-stroke lead heading into the final round (Campbell was four strokes back while Woods trailed by six).

However, Goosen took himself out of contention with an 81 that opened up the door for the rest of the field.

Tiger surged with a vintage Sunday performance while shooting a 69, but Campbell did the same and was able to beat him by two strokes.

Ken Venturi

A few of the golfers on this list won the U.S. Open in dramatic fashion, and that was certainly the case with the adversity Ken Venturi battled through at Congressional Country Club.

Venturi initially made a name for himself when he almost won The Masters as an amateur in 1956, and he had 10 wins on the PGA Tour between 1957 and 1960.

However, he was close to four years removed from his most recent one and had never won a major heading into the U.S. Open in 1964.

That marked the last year the tournament was completed with two rounds played back-to-back on Saturday, a challenging format that became a brutal one thanks to temperatures that peaked at 108°F and were exacerbated by the humidity in the D.C. area.

Venturi ended up in second place and two strokes behind Tommy Jacobs after shooting a 66 during the morning round, but he almost collapsed during the last couple of holes before consulting with doctors who advised him to withdraw due to the signature signs of heat stroke.

However, he ignored that advice and trudged his way through the last 18 holes, where he gained six strokes on a fading Jacobs and won by four with a score of -2.

Ed Furgol (1954)

My decision to include Ed Furgol on this list partially stems from the fact that he was able to make a living as a professional golfer in the first place as opposed to relying solely on the context of his win.

Furgol was born and raised in upstate New York and broke his elbow after falling from some monkey bars on a playground when he was  12.

The injury stunted the growth of his left arm, which was ten inches shorter than his right and boasted a permanent bend. However, it wasn’t enough to prevent him from pursuing a career as a golfer.

He got his first PGA Tour win in 1947 before notching his second at the Phoenix Open in 1954 a few months before the U.S. Open was held at Baltusrol.

As a result, Furgol’s win wasn’t necessarily as shocking as the other ones on this list, but I feel like I should acknowledge the victory he got by a stroke for the only major win of his career.

 

Francis Ouimet (1913)

This one is a bit of a throwback compared to the other ones I’ve addressed, but you can’t put together a list of the most unlikely U.S. Open winners without mentioning Francis Ouimet.

If you’ve seen The Greatest Game Ever Played, the movie based on Ouimet’s Cinderella story, you probably know he was an unheralded amateur who grew up as a member of a poor family that lived across the street from The Country Club in Brookline.

He taught himself how to play while caddying there and made a name for himself before the president of the USGA invited him to take part in the 1913 U.S. Open, where accomplished English golfers Ted Ray and Harry Vardon were expected to be the men to beat.

Ouimet tapped 10-year-old Eddie Lowery to serve as his caddie during a tournament where he bounced back from a 77 in the opening round with back-to-back 74s to head into Sunday tied with Ray and Vardon at +6.

The trio was still deadlocked after 72 holes, but Ouimet smoked them in the 18-hole playoff where he finished at -1 to beat Vardon by five strokes.