2020 Virtual U.S. Open: The favorites to win at Winged Foot

Gene Sarazen, 1922, 1932 (1923-1932), -1.32

Chick Evans, 1916 (1914-1923), -1.32

Sarazen’s two victories came at opposite ends of his career. He won at Skokie in 1922 as an unheralded 20-year-old, the victory made memorable by a nerveless fairway driver he struck within 15-feet of the cup at the 470-yard par 5 final hole for the birdie he needed to win.

That edged out another 20-year-old of future note, Bobby Jones, by one stroke.

The ensuing decade brought three more majors, but only frustration at the national championship. In 1927 at Oakmont, Sarazen finished one stroke out of a playoff eventually won by Tommy Armour over Harry Cooper. Two years later at Winged Foot he needed only a closing 76 to join the Jones-Espinosa playoff but shot 78 and missed out by two strokes.

But in 1932, Sarazen dominated the field at Fresh Meadow on Long Island. His final round 66, the tournament’s best round, and an 18-hole Open record left challengers Bobby Cruickshank, Phil Perkins, and Leo Diegel behind and gave him a three-stroke victory.

Evans, a lifetime amateur like Jones, is the second non-pro to stand among pre-tournament favorites. He taught his era’s best professionals at few things in 1916. And in an era when the contents of a player’s bag were not as tightly regulated as it is today, he accomplished everything carrying a sparse seven clubs.

Leading from the start, Evans built his advantage to three strokes over Jim Barnes through three rounds, then hung on. Barnes never made a run at him, but Jock Hutchison did, closing with the tournament’s low round, a 68, to get within two.

Evans probably clinched the title at the par 5 12th when he nailed a brassie to within 18 feet of the cup for a birdie that took some of the pressure off Hutchison’s run. His victory in hand, Evans two months later claimed the U.S. Amateur, becoming the first player to win both championships in the same season.