Episode 17: 1955 U.S. Open and Jack Fleck

It’s the evening of June 18, 1955.

 An obscure golfer from Iowa settles into a budget motel room just south of San Francisco.

 Jack Fleck is a 33-year-old club pro from Davenport, Iowa, where he runs two public golf courses.

 But on this night Jack Fleck’s life is at a crossroads.  Tomorrow he will play head-to-head against one of golf’s all-time greats, Ben Hogan.  Fleck and Hogan are to play an 18-hole playoff at the Olympic Club to determine the winner of the 1955 U.S. Open.

 Ben Hogan will be gunning for an unprecedented fifth US Open title.  Jack Fleck will be after his first win on the PGA tour.

 And so, to focus himself, and to get in the proper state of mind,  Fleck turns to his favorite opera singer, Mario Lanza.  It’s fair to assume that not many pro golfers listen to opera.  Certainly not many golfers can beat Ben Hogan in a playoff. 

But Jack Fleck is cut from unusual cloth, as the golf universe is about to discover.

(top photo: Jack Fleck, left, and Ben Hogan)

(primary source: “The Longest Shot”, by Neil Sagebiel, Thomas Dunne Books, 2012)

The 1955 U.S. Open came down to an 18-hole playoff between one of golf's all-time greats, Ben Hogan, and an obscure club pro from Davenport, Iowa, Jack Fleck. Their drama, which played out at the Lake Course of the Olympic Club in San Francisco, captivated the golf universe.

Jack Fleck was an unknown Iowa club pro until the 1955 U.S. Open.

Ben Hogan congratulates Jack Fleck after their 18-hole playoff at the Olympic Club.

“The Longest Shot”, by Neil Sagebiel, tells the story of Jack Fleck, Ben Hogan and the ‘55 U.S. Open

Davenport Daily Times, June 20, 1955