WWW.CALGOLFNEWS.COM JUNE 2010 • CALIFORNIA GOLF NEWS 17 a 1-under 71 and also looked likely to win the tournament. Nobody gave the steady Kite much of a chance considering the type of closing scores the top play- ers were recording. Consider Gil Morgan, who led after each of the first three rounds, shooting a disas- trous 81 to finish in 13th place. Ray Floyd, the 1986 Open champion also recorded a closing round 81, while Mark Brooks, who briefly held the lead in the final round, fired an 84. It would take a heroic effort on the 1992 U.S. Open produced winds in excess of 40 miles an hour and had the leaders in a constant nosedive. So fierce were the winds during the final round that Jack Nicklaus, who was working as a TV announcer for the tournament, congratulated a young Colin Montgomerie who shot the low round of the day (2-under 70) and was the leader in the clubhouse when the heavy winds began coming off the coast. Montgomerie would end up in third, when Jeff Sluman, playing in the fierce winds, recorded his entire practice sessions working on chips and pitch shots around the greens, and when he arrived at his 17-hole predicament he was unusu- ally confident. Practice sessions aside, Watson was also playing the final holes extraordinarily well for the champi- onship. On Thursday, Watson was three-over par through 14 before birdies on 3 of the final 4 holes landed him at even par. Then again on Friday, Watson was three-over after 15 before 3 consecutive bird- ies kept him within striking distance. Realizing that his scrambling tech- nique was a doomed plan, Watson hit the range after Friday’s round and sorted out his erratic swing. His Saturday 4-under 68 landed him in the final pairing with Bill Rogers and on a collision course with destiny. Nicklaus, who was playing a few groups ahead of Watson, made a determined effort for his fifth U.S. Open title and had to like his chances upon seeing Watson’s 2-iron bury in the greenside rough. But the 17th at Pebble Beach that was so kind to Nicklaus 10 years earlier was equally giving to Watson as it struck the flagstick and plopped in the hole for a birdie. Watson’s mini victory lap carried over to the 18th, which he also birdied, winning his first and only U.S. Open by two shots. Later, playing partner Bill Rogers claimed Watson couldn’t get that shot close with hundred attempts, which Nicklaus famously corrected “a thousand times.” 1992: Strong winds lift Kite to the Championship While headline writers around the world relished the chance to pen the words that would describe Tom Kite’s windy victory at the third U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, the most fit- ting would probably be “Survival.” The final round conditions at the Nicklaus’ “What, no snake?” com- ment at the start of the final round in reference to Trevino pulling out a rubber snake on the first playoff hole at the previous year’s championship. The casual mood helped Nicklaus claim a 3-shot lead going into the turn until a disastrous double bogey on the 10th and another bogey on the par-3 12th brought the field back into contention. A birdie at the 14th increased his lead back up to three when he arrived at the famous par-3 17th. Playing dead into the wind, Nicklaus chose a 1-iron into the wind and hit what would soon become one of the most famous in U.S. Open history. Hitting the flag and coming to rest two inches from the hole for a tap-in birdie allowed Nicklaus to walk the eighteenth knowing he had just cap- tured his 13th major championship. The victory made Nicklaus the first player to win the U.S. Amateur and U.S. Open on the same course, which has yet to be repeated. 1982: Watson and the shot of a lifetime Without question, the shot most remembered at any of the four previ- ous U.S. Opens at Pebble Beach was Watson’s birdie chip-in at the par-3 17th that led to a two-shot victory over Jack Nicklaus. Responding to his caddy, the late Bruce Edwards who instructed him to “Get it close,” Watson pronounced “I’m not going to get it close; I’m going to make it.” Watching the shot even today, you have to wonder how Watson was so confident. A downhill chip tangled in the thick rough that required a gouging stroke to lift the ball clear is hardly a shot-calling moment. But Watson, who even though was the four-time PGA Tour Player of the Year, was admittedly in poor form entering the championship. So dis- gusted with his swing, Watson spent Who’s Next? The fifTh U.S. Open ChampiOn aT pebble beaCh will be in greaT COmpany The shot heard around the world: Tom Watson chipped in on the 17th, and that propelled him to vic- tory in the 1982 U.S. Open. PHOTO BY JOHN KELLY/GETTY IMAGES