BROOKLINE—A capsule look at key anniversaries for this year’s U.S. Open Championship at The Country Club outside Boston on June 16–19:
100 Years Ago (1922)
Gene Sarazen won the first of his seven major championships in the 1922 U.S. Open at Skokie Country Club in the north Chicago suburbs, an Open that first introduced a young amateur from Georgia named Bobby Jones. This was a tight affair from the start. Walter Hagen, coming off a British Open victory, opened with a 68 to take the lead. John Black took the lead after the second round that same day. In the third round, the 20-year-old Jones shot 70 to share the 54-hole lead with Bill Melhorn, with Hagen and Sarazen another shot behind. The 20-year-old Sarazen closed with a 2-under 68. Black was tied for the lead when he hit his tee shot out-of-bounds on the 17th and made a double bogey. He made a birdie on the final hole to join Jones as the runner-up. A month later, Sarazen won the PGA Championship at Oakmont. Jones would win the first of his seven majors the following year at the U.S. Open.75 Years Ago (1947)
Lew Worsham (L), takes a good look at the putter that Sam Snead, right, used to sink a 20-foot putt on the last hole to force a playoff in the U.S. Open golf tournament at St. Louis Country Club in Ladue, Mo. on June 14, 1947. AP Photo
