Golf's greatest upsets

Last update: May 31, 2008 - 3:54 PM

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Golf's greatest upsets

Some to remember from among the many:

• Unknown Iowa club pro Jack Fleck denies the great Ben Hogan a record fifth U.S. Open title by beating him in an 18-hole playoff in 1955. To this day, Fleck claims that a voice coming from his mirror while he shaved told him he was about to win the nation's championship.

• Francis Ouimet, a 20-year-old amateur and local caddie from Brookline, Mass., transformed American golf by beating acclaimed British professionals Harry Vardon and Ted Ray in an 18-hole playoff at the 1913 U.S. Open in Brookline, Mass.

ø The last man accepted into the 1991 PGA Championship field drove all night from Memphis to Indianapolis and stepped to the first tee at Crooked Stick Golf Club without ever having played the course. Four days later, long-hitting 25-year-old John Daly emerged with his first PGA Tour victory and folk-hero status after winning the season's final major with his brute strength.

• Wisconsin's very own Andy North won three times during 15 seasons on the PGA Tour, and two of them were U.S. Opens (1978 and 1985).

ø Birdie Kim, who changed her first name to distinguish herself from every other Korean golfer with the same surname, holed out a bunker shot on the final hole to beat amateurs Brittany Lang and Morgan Pressel at the 2005 U.S. Women's Open and deny Annika Sorenstam, winner of the season's first two major titles, a chance at a "Soren-Slam."

JERRY ZGODA

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