Biggest Events in Sports The United States Open Part 2

About the United States Open, history and information about the major sporting event and one of the biggest golf tournaments.

UNITED STATES OPEN

HIGHLIGHTS IN ITS HISTORY

1913 To the inveterate golfer it is known simply as the Country Club. Its full name is the Brookline Country Club, a beautiful golf course located in a suburb of Boston. It has always been a challenging course to play, and on a certain wet day in 1913 it printed an indelible page in golf history.

That year, a thin, 20-year-old American named Francis Ouimet shocked the U.S. Open. As Ouimet approached the 13th tee on that rainy September afternoon, the enormity of what he might accomplish left him stunned. Here he was, an unknown name in golf outside of his home state of Massachusetts with a chance to tie the two greatest golfers in the world. Ted Ray and Harry Vardon, two British giants thought to be invincible.

Ouimet needed to go two under par for six holes to force a play-off. Miraculously, he sank a 50-ft. chip shot on the 13th. Now he was only one shot down. On the 17th he sank a tough 20-ft. putt, and he was in a play-off.

No one gave him much of a chance, but his steady play soon had Ray and Vardon in trouble. Ray fell behind on the third hole, never to recover. Vardon took a short lead at the 6th, but Ouimet pulled even after nine holes. Then, out-driving and outputting his opponents, he sank a birdie on the 17th to eliminate Vardon from contention.

Ouimet was the first amateur to win the U.S. Open.

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