A Trio of Great Opens
When Jones, Casper and Irwin had their day in June

By Dwayne Netland

The years fly by, but the memories remain, as much a part of Winged Foot as the great stone clubhouse and the Tillinghast bunkers. Three times the U.S. Golf Association brought its Open Championship to Winged Foot - 1929, 1959 and 1974 - and each year produced a memorable tournament.

In 1929 there wasn't much tension around the first tee on the day of the final round. After 54 holes Bob Jones led Gene Sarazen by three strokes, Al Espinosa by four. It should have been a lock, but Jones took 7s on two par-4 holes, the eighth and the 15th, and suddenly he needed to make a twisting 12 foot putt on 18 for the 79 that would tie Espinosa at 294.

It was one of the most critical putts of Jones' career. If he had missed, after blowing such a substantial lead... well, his Boswell, O.B. Keeler, always claimed that if he had, there would have been no Grand Slam in 1930, so devastating would that collapse have been for Jones. He made it, the ball toppling in at the last moment.

The 36-hole playoff was set for the next day, Sunday, at 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. Jones, knowing Espinosa was a Catholic, asked if the first round could be moved to 10 a.m. so Espinosa could attend Mass. It was.

Espinosa was in the front pew at nearby St. Vito's church for 8 a.m. Mass services. He glanced over I and there were Jones and his wife Mary, Jones wasn't a Catholic, but Mary was.

Jones went out and played flawlessly, shooting rounds of 72-69 to win by 23 strokes. But the stroke everyone remembers was that downhill 12 footer on the 72nd hole of regulation play.

Thirty years later - a long hiatus, actually, for a course the stature of Winged Foot, the Open returned. It was a transitional time for golf, with Ben Hogan and Sam Snead nearing the end of their competitive careers, Arnold Palmer a year away from his dramatic emergence as a star and Jack Nicklaus still an amateur.

Hogan and Snead remained doggedly in contention through 54 holes, until they faltered on the last round and wound up sharing eighth place at 287. Billy Casper was the winner, at 282, and he won it with his putter. Casper needed only 114 putts over 72 holes, an astonishing accomplishment on such treacherous greens. Bob Rosburg was one stroke back.

For the 1974 Open, Winged Foot, always a strong and demanding course, was ferocious. It had been lengthened by 88 yards, forcing longer approach shots to several key holes, and the greens were glassy firm. "No way I can win on this course," admitted Casper, and he was right.

Hale Irwin found a way to win, but it took him 287 strokes, seven over par. He struggled through the final round in 73, aided immeasurably by the collapse of his playing partner and 54 hole leader, Tom Watson, who shot 38-41 - 79.

Irwin hit only 46 greens in regulation, Nicklaus led with 61 but Irwin got by with 125 putts while Nicklaus required 136 and was never really in the hunt.

With Forrest Fezler in at 289, Irwin reached the final green with a drive and 2-iron, got down in two putts for his 287. It had been a debilitating Open, the players beefing loudly that the course had been set up far too stringently, Irwin himself allowing that it "bordered on being unfair."

This year (1984) the Open comes to Winged Foot for the fourth time. The USGA insists the course will not be set up to be as difficult, that several tees - notably the 18th - will not be all the way back and that the greens will hold the well-struck shot. But we shall see.

Regardless of the playing conditions, it won't be easy. At Winged Foot, it never has been.