When the 110th United States Amateur comes to Chambers Bay next week, 2009 champion Byeong-Hun An will hope to add to his accomplishment of being the youngest winner ever, by joining an elite group of players who have won back-to-back titles.
Tiger Woods won three consecutive Amateurs from 1994-96, the only player to do that.
Seven other players have won consecutive titles: Jay Sigel (1982-83), Harvie Ward (1955-56), Lawson Little (1934-35), Bobby Jones (1927-28 and 1924 and 25), Jerome Travers (1912-13), Chandler Egan (1904-05), Walter Travis (1900-01), W.H. Whigham of Scotland ((1896-97).
Before Woods, the last consecutive multiple winner was in 1983. Before that, 1956. It is a rare occurrence, but it does happen from time to time.
Other winners of the tournament have included Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus (twice but not in succession), Phil Mickelson, Mark O’Meara, Lanny Wadkins, Craig Stadler, Jerry Pate, Hal Sutton, Gene Littler, and many other recognizable names from the PGA Tour and Senior Tour.
But the way in which Woods won his three-in-a-row should have suggested the type of player golf fans would watch transform the popularity of the sport for the next decade.
Three weeks before beginning his freshman year at Stanford, Woods overcame a 22-year-old All-American from Oklahoma State, Trip Kuehne, in one of most spectacular comebacks in Amateur history for his first of three consecutive victories in the 1994 event.
In a rally that was particularly memorable for Woods’ numerous recoveries from off the fairway and from the woods, he finally squared the match at the 34th hole with a birdie. Then at the TPC Sawgrass’ famous island par-3 17th, Woods introduced the public to his signature fist-pumping after making birdie to take the lead for the first time that day. In Woods’ third-round match against Buddy Alexander, he had trailed by three shots with five to play, then won four of the last five holes for the win.
The next year, he faced 43-year-old Buddy Marucci, owner of several car dealerships in Philadelphia and a member at Merion, Pine Valley and Seminole.
Woods didn’t take the lead until the late afternoon round. He was clinging to a one-hole advantage as the pair came to the 384-yard finishing hole. Woods hit a 2-iron into the wind at Newport Country Club, barely clearing a fairway bunker, followed by an 8-iron that flew the pin by 15 feet, but spun back to within two feet of the cup, from where he made birdie.
In the 1996 Amateur at Pumpkin Ridge, Woods had never trailed so late in a final when he made a 35-foot downhill birdie putt to even up the match with Steve Scott - and with that fist pump brought an attitude to the game that fans had not seen since the heyday of Palmer. On the first playoff hole, Scott missed a 15-foot putt to win and Woods won it on the next hole.
This decade has seen the emergence of foreign-born winners: Nick Flanagan of Australia in 2003; Edoardo Molinari of Italy in 2005; Richie Ramsey of Scotland in 2006; Danny Lee of Korea in 2008; and An of Korea in 2009.
South Puget Sound’s own contribution to the history of the tournament came when Puyallup native Ryan Moore went into the 2004 Amateur at Winged Foot the prohibitive favorite, after winning every tournament he had played that summer including his second Public Links title. But Moore trailed coming down the final back nine, before making a critical birdie putt on the 33rd hole and finished with three birdies on the final four holes.
This year’s tournament is going to be very difficult to predict because nobody has yet played the Chambers Bay track under its current firm and very fast conditions.
It is going to be around 11 on the greens (a rating used to indicate the speed of greens by how far the ball rolls off a ramp designed for this purpose). It is typically around a 9.5.
Walking the course this week was like walking on concrete, the sandy turf is so packed and brown.
Exactly the way the USGA wants it, although many players are going to be experiencing this kind of surface for the first time in their careers and will have to adjust their games accordingly - if they can.
The 14-year-old 2010 USGA Junior champion, Jim Liu, played the course this past week.
“It beat him up pretty good,” said superintendent Dave Wienecke, “but he said he had a lot of fun.”
The defending champ, An, praised the course during a visit in June. And if he can make more golf history by winning again, some very due praise will be coming his way.
