Page 14 - Westchester Magazine - 2020 Golf Guide

GOLF IN YOUR WORLD | U.S. Open
Westchester Golfers Win the U.S. Open
Willie Anderson, a Scottish transplant who won the U.S. Open four times from 1901 to 1905, played out of the Apawamis Club in Rye. He’s the only man to have won three consecutive U.S. Open titles.
Alex Smith, who lost to Willie Anderson in
two rounds of the 1974 U.S. Open. His 83-73 over the weekend led to a T-35 finish. Much later in his career, he would return to the county as Winged Foot’s sixth head profes- sional, from 2006 to 2009.
1984
Winged Foot’s fourth U.S.
Open, in 1984, was again
decided in a playoff, this
one won by Fuzzy Zoeller
over Greg Norman. In
regulation play, Zoeller
led Norman by three
shots after the turn, but
Norman evened the score
by the time he reached
18. He airmailed his approach
shot into the grandstand but saved par by taking a penalty-free drop and holing a 45-foot putt. Zoeller, who was waiting to play from the 18th fairway, thought he needed a birdie to win and waved a white towel of surrender in jest before making a par to force a playoff. Zoeller wiped up Norman the next day, posting a 67 to win by eight strokes. Norman waved his own white towel on 18.
2006
The 2006 U.S. Open will forever be known not for who won but for who lost. In one of the wildest finales in tournament his-
a playoff for the U.S. Open title in 1901, won it in 1906 and 1910; he later became head pro at Westchester Country Club. Smith also won the Met Open four times.
Greg Norman in the 1984 U.S. Open
Willie Anderson (left) and Alex Smith
tory, Phil Mickelson collapsed on the 18th hole. Often overlooked is the fact that Jim Furyk and Colin Montgomerie did the same, although not in quite as dramatic fashion. Mickelson missed the fairway off the tee, clipped a tree, plugged into a green- side bunker and double-bogeyed the hole to plunge into a three-way tie for second. Furyk missed a five-foot putt for par on 18, while Montgomerie left his approach shot short and in the right rough, then followed that with three putts on the dif- ficult green. The result was a one-stroke victory by Geoff Ogilvy, who notched his only major title with the win. •
Harrison native Gene Sarazen took the U.S. Open title in 1922 and 1932, two of his seven major champion- ships, which included the 1923 PGA Championship played at Pelham CC. He also won the Met Open in 1925 and two Met PGA Championships.
Willie MacFarlane, the first head pro at Old Oaks CC, won the 1925 U.S. Open in a two-round playoff that he won by a single stroke over Bobby Jones. He also won both the Met and Westchester Opens three times each.
Tommy Armour, aka the Silver Scot, was secretary of the Westchester- Biltmore Club, the forerunner of Westchester Country Club, before turning professional in 1924 and win- ning the 1927 U.S. Open.
Johnny Farrell, head pro at Quaker Ridge at the time, won the 1928 U.S. Open in a playoff over Bobby Jones. His grandson, Bobby Farrell, has been head pro at Tamarack GC since 2003.
Craig Wood, head pro at Winged Foot from 1939-45, was the first golfer to win both the Masters and the U.S. Open in the same year, 1941.
Ben Hogan, who served as a teach- ing pro at Century CC in Purchase for two years, was a four-time U.S. Open champion.
2006 U.S. Open winner Geoff Ogilvy and Phil Mikelson
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