132: Jack Fleck - PGA

Sports' Forgotten Heroes

The 1955 U.S. Open Golf Championship was supposed to be the crowning achievement to one of the greatest careers in the history of sports. Golf enthusiasts and sports fans all thought the U.S. Open, staged at San Francisco's Olympic Club, was a virtual lock for Ben Hogan to win. In fact, Hogan almost proved everyone to be right. The Hawk calculated what he needed to shoot to win on this "terror" of a course. And, he wasn't that far off. Hogan found himself 5-strokes back after the first round having shot a 2-over 72. He then started working his way up the leaderboard by shooting a 3-over 73 in round 2, a 2-over 72 in round 3 and an even-par 70 in the final round, five strokes better then all but one other golfer. No one ever considered journeyman Jack Fleck to contend. But, he too worked a little magic that weekend. After a first round 76, Fleck fired a 1-under 69 in the second round, followed that with a 5-over 75 in the third round and then he masterfully conquered the course by shooting a 3-under 67 in the final round and found himself in a tie with Hogan. The two would face each other in an 18-hole playoff the next day. Fleck was a huge fan of Hogan. In fact, he was the first to carry Ben Hogan golf clubs in his bag. He was would follow Hogan around the course to see how Ben played. He even wore the same type of hat, sweater and slacks as Ben. Fleck had never won an official TOUR event. And now he was going to face his idol over the course of 18 holes for a date with infamy. Incredibly, he did it. He outlasted Hogan in the playoff to win the 1955 U.S. Open and enter his name into golf lore. On this episode of Sports' Forgotten Heroes, Neil Sagebiel who wrote the book "The Longest Shot," joins the podcast to talk about the career of Jack Fleck and that one magical weekend in June of 1955 when Davey took down Goliath.