The U.S. Open’s top 10 players for peak performance
By Bill Felber
9. Sam Snead, -1.34 peak (1946-1955)
Sam Snead famously never won the U.S. Open. What’s he doing on this list?
For all his memorable failings at key U.S. Open interludes, Snead had an impressive record in the event. Between 1946 and 1955 – his 10-year peak – he finished second three times, was third once, and finished among the top 10 seven times.
Only once during that decade – in 1946 — did he finish outside the top 12.
The easiest way to measure Snead’s credentials as an Open great is to look at those three near misses.
The most notorious came in 1947, when Snead holed a 15-foot birdie putt on the final hole to tie Lew Worsham, then lost the playoff when he missed a 30-incher on the final hole.
Two years later, Snead came to the par 3 17th at Medinah in a tie with Cary Middlecoff, made bogey, and finished in a tie with Clayton Heafner for second.
Then in 1953, Snead ran into Hogan in his absolute prime. While Hogan – who would win all three Majors he entered that summer – pulled away for a six-stroke victory, Snead beat everybody else by three strokes.
He was more than two standard deviations superior to the field in both 1947 and 1953, yet fell victim twice, once in a huge playoff upset and again to his greatest rival.