Virtual U.S. Open: Palmer, Boros and other challengers
By Bill Felber
Fred McLeod, 1908 (1906-1915), -0.91
Johnny Farrell, 1928 (1922-1931), -0.84
Tommy Armour, 1927 (1924-1933),-0.82
A native Scot who barely weighed 100 pounds, McLeod survived a playoff with Willie Smith to take the 1908 championship. A consistent competitor since coming to the U.S. in 1903, he finished fourth in 1910 and again in 1911, and in 1914 tied Sargent for third, although seven strokes behind the winner, Walter Hagen.
He remained competitive through the war years, tying Hagen for second at Columbia in 1921.
Farrell and Armour share a distinction of having both taken down Bobby Jones at his best. At Olympia Fields in 1928, Farrell trailed by five before chipping away, benefitting when Jones played a four-hole stretch in five over par. What ensued was a 36-hole playoff that Farrell won with a birdie on the final hole.
His victory capped a series of near-misses that included third-place finishes in 1925 and 1926. In 1925 Farrell came to the final hole, a 335-yard par 4, needing a birdie to join a playoff between Jones and Willie Macfarlane. He made par. One year later Farrell stumbled out of the start with a 76 that put him six behind Jones. He finished four off Jones’s pace.
The previous year Jones had come to Oakmont as defending champion but was eight strokes behind when the final round began and – for one of the rare times – out of contention. Armour, who trailed Harry Cooper by one stroke, holed a 10-foot putt on the final hole to force a playoff, which he won by three strokes.
Armour would go on to win both the British Open and PGA, although he never again finished higher than fourth in the U.S. national championship.