The U.S. Open’s top 10 players for peak performance
By Bill Felber
1. Ben Hogan, -2.01 peak (1947-1956)
In the post-World War II era, Hogan was the Open’s dominant force. He won four titles – 1948, 1950, 1951 and 1953 – lost to Jack Fleck in a playoff in 1955, and lost by one stroke to Cary Middlecoff in 1956.
His worst finish during that decade was a pair of ties for sixth place.
The most remarkable of Hogan’s record, of course, is that his period of greatest achievement also encompassed the period of his greatest disaster. In February of 1949, Hogan was seriously injured when his car struck a bus head-on. Forced off the course for more than a year, he returned to win three of those titles in a four-year period.
All of Hogan’s victories were memorable for their own reasons. His 1948 win at Riviera came by two strokes and established Hogan as the master of that famous course. His victory at Merion in June of 1950, in a memorable three-way playoff with George Fazio and Lloyd Mangrum, completed Hogan’s comeback.
Hogan’s 1951 win came on an Oakland Hills track widely characterized as the toughest tournament course to date…maybe unfairly so. “It’s by far the toughest course I’ve ever played,” he said. “And I hope I never have to play it again.”
Hogan’s fourth title at Oakmont in 1953 was his magnum opus. He finished six strokes ahead of runner-up Sam Snead. Hogan made two serious runs at an unprecedented fifth championship, losing that stunning playoff to Jack Fleck at Olympic in 1955 and coming within a stroke of Middlecoff a year later. He would have forced Middlecoff into a playoff as well but for a missed 30-inch putt on the tournament’s 71st hole.