U.S. Open Returns to Winged Foot
Winged Foot West's par-3 10th.
MAMARONECK, N.Y. (September 16, 2020) -- This week the U.S. Open Championship has returned to our backyard, with another historic chapter ready to be written at famed Winged Foot Golf Club. Just like years past, the 2020 version is shaping up to stand as a challenging test of golf for the world's best, with players taking on the recently restored West Course of A.W. Tillinghast.
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Each U.S. Open at Winged Foot has a well-known moment or storyline: Bobby Jones making a slippery 12-footer to close regulation before a decisive playoff victory; Billy Casper laying up on the par-3 third each day en route to victory in 1959; Hale Irwin winning the "Massacre at Winged Foot" at 7-over par in 1974; Fuzzy Zoeller waving the white towel at Greg Norman, only to defeat him in a playoff; and Geoff Ogilvy's clutch play down the stretch to secure the victory as others such as Phil Mickelson faltered. What will be this year's memorable moment?
Winged Foot has truly stood the test of time, challening players in every U.S. Open. Only Zoeller and Norman have finished a U.S. Open at Winged Foot under-par. Even if competitors had played in the 2006 version, they're going to see a different golf course following a restoration project led by Gil Hanse. The work added length, shifted fairway bunkers to challenge today's players and, most notably, added some 25,000 square-feet back to the greens to recapture their original footprint. The result has been highly acclaimed.
Though area players didn't have the opportunity to advance through first and second stage qualifying this year, a number of players with ties to the region still earned a spot in the field.
Fresh Meadow head professional and past Met Open champion Danny Balin earned his spot by being in the top three of the 2019 PGA Professional Player of the Year standings. Balin has competed in seven previous PGA Championships, including this year's at Harding Park, but is making his first-ever U.S. Open appearance. Balin estimates he's played at Winged Foot upwards of 50 times, certainly giving him a good feel for the property and the West Course. He finished tied fifth in the 100th Met Open on Winged Foot's East Course.
During Monday and Tuesday's practice rounds, Balin had Michael O'Keefe—who played Danny Noonan in Caddyshack—on the bag. O'Keefe, who grew up in nearby Larchmont, caddied at Winged Foot and even prepared for his role in Caddyshack at Winged Foot. According to Balin, the opportunity to have O'Keefe on the bag helped lighten the pressure of the early days during a major championship week.
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Brandon Wu won the season-ending Korn Ferry Tour Championship to earn his spot this week for a homecoming of sorts. Wu has called Scarsdale, N.Y., home for the last decade. Wu is a California native, while his family also lived in Beijing before ultimately relocating to Scarsdale. Wu competed in last year's U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, tying for 35th as an amateur. He helped lead Stanford to the NCAA title in 2019 and was on the victorious 2019 Walker Cup team.
Wu and Balin will have the honor of hitting the first tee shot off the 1st and 10th tees, respectively, on Thursday morning at 6:50 a.m.
Scotch Plains, N.J., native John Pak made the field for his first U.S. Open by way of his No. 7 World Amateur Golf Ranking on August 19. The Florida State golfer was also on the victorious 2019 Walker Cup team and has seven collegiate victories to his credit, including the 2019 Atlantic Coast Conference individual title. Pak competed in the 2016 Carter Cup at Winged Foot, firing a 1-over 71 during the afternoon round on the West Course to finish tied second at 4-over.
Others in the field owning Met Area connections include St. John's graduate Keegan Bradley; former Trump National - Bedminster assistant professional Jim Herman, who has qualified for the U.S. Open multiple times out of the Met Area's qualifier; and British Open champion Shane Lowry, a former Carey Cup competitor for the Golfing Union of Ireland.