Tag: Winged Foot Golf Club

U.S. Open: Winged Foot is an unfamiliar destination for a new generation of stars

In the days before Dustin Johnson and Justin Thomas and Rory McIlroy, the PGA Tour had a four-decade run at Westchester Country Club.

Jon Rahm’s prep work for this week’s U.S. Open began with a Google search.

It’s a millennial thing.

Prior to a stopover visit during the FedEx Cup Playoffs a couple of weeks ago, Rahm had never played the West Course at Winged Foot Golf Club. He’s up on the history of the place, though.

“I’ve seen a ton of videos online of the golf course,” said the 25-year-old, who’s not had an opportunity to experience many of the historic venues in the Metropolitan area. “I don’t know what other golf courses are in the area. The only times I’ve come here have been for the playoffs.”

He’s been around Glen Oaks, Ridgewood and Liberty National in New Jersey and Shinnecock Hills and Bethpage Black on Long Island.

“I’m excited to play this one,” Rahm added. “If there’s other good ones worth playing, hopefully at some point in time I can come and play them.”

In the days before Dustin Johnson and Justin Thomas and Rory McIlroy, the PGA Tour had a four-decade run at Westchester Country Club. Players made it a habit to visit other nearby clubs.

“There was a fellow named Chip Weil that I met at my hotel in 1975 after I missed the cut at Westchester,” said Roger Maltbie who won the event a decade later. “We just started chatting and he says, ‘Well, I’m a member at Winged Foot. You want to play tomorrow?’ And I said, ‘Sure. I want to go see Winged Foot. I’ve never played there.’ Chip and I have now been friends for 45 years. Every year I would go there, if I played in the morning we would go over to Winged Foot in the afternoon and play. We would go a lot, either play nine, or if we could, get in 18. I have a real love affair with the place and have for a very long time. So I went over there a lot. I loved every minute of every time I got to go play.”

U.S. Open: Tee times, TV info | Photo gallery

Of course, when the PGA Tour relocated what is now the Northern Trust after 2007, the players stopped coming around.

Before the pandemic shutdown, Winged Foot president Brendan Boyle played in the Phoenix Open pro-am and spent time on the course with the likes of Thomas and Jordan Spieth.

Neither of the well-traveled winners had working knowledge of this year’s venue.

“It’s a discussion we had,” Boyle said. “The players in this generation don’t come by as often because Westchester is no longer a PGA Tour stop. There’s nothing until you get to the FedEx Cup playoffs. I used to take off work on Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons before the Westchester Classic because you knew after the practice rounds over there, a lot of players were going to be here.”

There certainly would’ve been a line to get in this spring, but COVID-19 travel restrictions kept most participants away until late August and early September.

Johnson worked up a preliminary game plan after browsing online.

“From talking to some of the guys that have been here, I knew it was going to be difficult,” he said. “I actually watched one of the videos, I think the USGA put out, so I got a little bit of an idea on the golf course. It was kind of a drone flyover video, so I had a little bit of an idea of what it looked like and what it was going to require.”

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There are just 15 players in the field here in 2006, but the game and the West Course have changed since Geoff Ogilvy survived a train wreck of a finish.

“Obviously, the greens, they’ve all been redone, and most of the holes are a lot longer than when we played in ’06,” said Tiger Woods, who did not survive the cut in part because he did not prepare while mourning the passing of his father. “Technology has changed and the golf ball is going further. We’re playing from about the same spots. It seems like every (tee) you have to walk back a little bit further.”

Young nerves might cancel out the lack of local knowledge.

“I’m hitting it as far as I possibly can up there,” Bryson DeChambeau said. “Even if it’s in the rough, I can still get it to the front edge or the middle of the greens with pitching wedges or 9-irons.That’s the beauty of my length.”

There’s a lot of scribbling in yardage books during the practice rounds. Putts are being hit to multiple hole locations. Balls are being tossed into uneven lies around the greens.

“Some of the guys have been here before, probably not too many, though,” Rickie Fowler said. “It’s not a place we stop a lot or even play close to. It’s obviously a great venue. There are so many great courses up here, so it’s nice to come back and have a chance to play one.”

Down time is a precious commodity, so vacations aren’t likely to be spent with a club in hand.

“I’d rather relax and get away from the golf course as much as I can,” said PGA Championship winner Collin Morikwawa, whose caddie, J.J. Jakovac, played in the 2004 U.S. Amateur at Winged Foot. “To be honest, I really don’t have many (courses that I want to play) because I just don’t want to keep playing golf on those off weeks.”

There is another A.W. Tillinghast gem right across the street from Winged Foot, but Quaker Ridge might as well be in Vermont this week.

“Obviously, this is a major, so you’re really focused a lot on this golf course,” Johnson said. “But if we had an event down the road, a regular Tour event, I would probably try to sneak out here and get a round in.”

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Three takeaways from Tiger Woods’ Tuesday practice round

David Dusek discusses the three takeaways from Tiger’s Tuesday practice round at Winged Foot Golf Club.

David Dusek discusses the three takeaways from Tiger’s Tuesday practice round at Winged Foot Golf Club.

Three takeaways from Tiger Woods’ Tuesday practice round

Tiger played a practice round on Tuesday with Justin Thomas and John Augenstein, the Vanderbilt star who was the 2019 U.S. Amateur runner-up.

MAMARONECK, N.Y. — By his admission on Tuesday, Tiger Woods was not ready to play in the 2006 U.S. Open at Winged Foot. His father, Earl, had recently died, and Woods did not put in the practice time necessary before taking on the challenge of one of the most demanding courses in the United States.

He missed the cut 14 years ago, but is now trying to win his fourth U.S. Open and 16th major.

Tiger played a practice round on Tuesday morning with Justin Thomas and John Augenstein, the Vanderbilt star who was the 2019 U.S. Amateur runner-up.

U.S. Open: Tee times, TV info | Photo gallery

Practice rounds are typically loose affairs, with golfers often hitting more than one tee shot, trying numerous chips and pitch shots and completely ignoring the hole’s location. However, they can provide an insight into how well a player is hitting the ball and what he thinks will important for success.

Here are my three takeaways from Tiger’s Tuesday practice round.

Tiger did not look good off the tee

Tiger hit 3-wood off the tee on the 11th hole, a 384-yard par 4, and missed the fairway to the left. On the next hole, the 633-yard par-5 12th, Woods again found the left rough after hitting driver. The grass was so thick and tall that even taking a full swing, his second shot only advanced the ball about 100 yards. Tiger’s divot looked like an exploded head of cabbage flying through the air.

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Tiger’s driver on the 14th hole went into the fairway bunker on the left, and then, on the par-4 15th, he hit two extra 3-wood shots after his first went into the left rough.

He missed the fairway to the right on the 16th hole, then hit another tee shot and split the fairway. Tiger found another fairway bunker on the right side of the 17th hole before hitting into the left rough on 18.

“Wow,” said Tiger’s caddie, Joe LaCava, upon seeing Woods’ lie on 18. Instead of playing the ball, Tiger picked it up and dropped it in the fairway. Justin Thomas, who also missed left on 18, did the same thing.

It was only nine holes on a meaningless Tuesday, but if Woods doesn’t straighten out his driving, he will struggle at Winged Foot.

Woods may putt instead of chip

On several occasions, Woods dropped several balls in front of the green and hit pitch shots and chip shots at tees positioned in spots where logical hole locations might be this week. That happens every week, but Woods also practiced putting from those same spots on the 12th, 14th and 17th holes. That is not something we see much at PGA Tour events.

U.S. Open
Tiger Woods on the 12th hole during a practice round on Tuesday at Winged Foot in advance of the U.S. Open. Photo by David Dusek/Golfweek

Several holes at Winged Foot have false fronts and closely mowed areas that guard the greens. The lies are incredibly tight, and that can make pitching over humps and ridges tricky business. It was fascinating to watch him study how balls slowly rolled off the 14th green. They wobbled, sometimes for 10 to 15 seconds as Tiger made mental notes of where they finally came to rest before putting them back to different spots.

Don’t be surprised to see Tiger putting from 30 feet off some putting surfaces.

Woods’ lag putting appeared solid

If Tiger is wayward off the tee and forced to play shots from the rough, just getting the ball on the green is often be a good accomplishment. The greens will likely roll to about 12 on the Stimpmeter starting on Thursday and could reach 13 by Sunday afternoon. Many have large swales and undulations too, so lag putting and controlling the speed on long putts will be critical.

Woods, Thomas and Augenstein often ignored the holes Tuesday morning and opted to putt at tees they put in the greens’ corners, so gauging how well they putted was tough. However, Tiger spent a lot of time hitting 30- to 50-foot putts, monitoring how the balls rolled off slopes and features. His lag putts rarely stopped more than a few feet from the hole and replicating that this week could help him avoid three-putts and bogeys.

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Dustin Johnson Q&A: ‘I’ll trade that BMW Championship for a FedEx Cup any day’

Dustin Johnson was named the 2019-20 PGA Tour Player of the Year, marking the second time in five years he’s won the award.

To see Dustin Johnson holding the FedEx Cup, uncharacteristically wide smile beneath a full, well-kept beard, is to see the finished product, one that’s come off the assembly line after sufficient R&D and plenty of modifications.

Johnson has been properly built for the weekly rigors of tournament golf. He’s always had the engine to hang with the sport’s elite — a booming driver — but through time honed his ability to aerodynamically deflect the negative while staying focused on the finish line.

On Monday, when he was named the 2019-20 PGA Tour Player of the Year, marking the second time in five years he’s won the award, Johnson already put the FedEx Cup victory behind him, even though one of his career’s crowning achievements — and an elite stretch of golf — was barely in the rearview mirror.

But to truly appreciate the new DJ model is to understand how his FedEx Cup journey came to pass. As with most of the accomplishments in Johnson’s career, it came from a setback. A self-inflicted setback. Johnson remembers it well.

He was on the 18th hole of the 2008 Barclays, the first event of the FedEx Cup playoff’s second season, and all that stood between him and the next event was a simple four-footer, something he’d practiced a million times before. Instead of dropping the short putt and moving on to the next week, he horseshoed it, lipping out and missing the subsequent Deutsche Bank Championship.

Johnson left hurt, but determined, a look he’s worn well ever since.

“I went back to Myrtle Beach and practiced. A lot,” he told Golfweek during an exclusive one-on-one prior to this week’s U.S. Open. “I kept practicing and was determined to come back and compete even harder. A few weeks later, it happened.”

Just six weeks removed from the missed putt, he went on to his first victory at the Turning Stone Resort Championship, and the wins have been consistently coming ever since — 23 of them to be exact.

In an era of social media roasts, product-endorsement strategy and sound bytes, Johnson might have slid somewhat underappreciated under the radar. Golfweek had a full heart-to-heart with DJ about life with Paulina, an injury that he thought might derail his season, and what’s left ahead.

GOLFWEEK: First, congrats on an amazing stretch of golf.  Is your head out of the clouds yet?

DUSTIN JOHNSON: I got to celebrate a little with Paulina and the kids. I didn’t really get too much time, but it was a nice week. Obviously it’s been a great five weeks, it’s been a lot of fun, and to be out there competing every week and that’s why I’m out there, that’s what I enjoy doing is competing. But it’s been special, now it’s time to get back to work.

GW: The return to golf didn’t go too well for you — you missed the cut in Fort Worth. Did you have any idea this stretch was ahead of you?

DJ: Going into Fort Worth, as I was getting ready for Colonial, I was playing the Bear’s Club with my brother and on the first hole I went out and hit a tee shot and felt something in my knee. I had surgery in the fall last year and it felt right like it did when I was coming out of surgery, so now this happens a week before I’m leaving to go to Fort Worth. So I didn’t get to practice for a whole week leading up to that, at least not like I wanted to, my knee was giving me a little bit of trouble.

I got worked on by my physio, but as I got to Fort Worth, it was still bothering me. If that would have been any other week, say during a normal season, I wouldn’t have played. But since I hadn’t played in three months, it was one of those things where I felt like I had to.

I came home and got an MRI afterward and found it wasn’t my knee, that had healed up great. I had strained a tendon, which ended up, well, it’s fine now. That really gave me piece of mind that everything was good. I got back to training, obviously, and it just got better from there.

GW: Then, you win at Travelers, but you fall apart at the Memorial. What happened there?

DJ: I can’t tell you. It’s like everything that could go wrong, went wrong. I wasn’t focused mentally, I guess. I can’t even tell you what went wrong. I sat down, got a little reset, and went from there and obviously things have worked out.

GW: You moved to the new TaylorMade SIM, and seen pretty outstanding results. Any significance?

DJ: They do a great job and the driver has been great, I’ve even used a couple hybrids, but the driver’s been really great for me, I’ve been driving it really well. And that’s the big piece for me, if I’m driving it well, I’m probably going to contend every week.

GW: Talk a little about your confidence level heading into Winged Foot. Obviously, the talk is about how difficult this course will play. You’ve never competed there. What do you expect?

DJ: I’ve never played there at all, so I know it’s very hard, but very fair. It’s like Oakmont, it’s right in front of you. It’s just hard. Those are the kind of golf courses I like playing. I’ve been doing this for long enough now, where I know how to work with it. Olympia Fields, I’d never been there, and I didn’t get a lot of prep time, but that worked well. I enjoy playing new golf courses, especially really hard ones.

GW: Speaking of Olympia Fields, you bury an amazing putt and watch as Jon Rahm hits a longer one. Does that stick with you? And do you handle that better now than you might have as a younger player?

DJ: It’s just golf. I didn’t give him the tournament. So it wasn’t anything for me to get upset about, or anything for me to get over. He made an absolutely incredible putt. It’s golf and that happens. With the FedEx Cup playoffs there wasn’t really any time to worry about what happened. You go out and try to win the next week. And that’s what I did.

And I’ll trade that BMW Championship for a FedEx Cup any day.

GW: Talk about your relationship with Paulina’s dad, Wayne Gretzky. Obviously, this is someone who knows what it’s like to complete under pressure.

DJ: I’m very close with all of the Gretzkys. It’s great to be able to just listen. I’ve learned so much from Wayne, just watching the way he acts and the way he treats other people. His dad, Walter, is unbelievable,. He might be more popular than Wayne. But obviously, with Wayne, it’s great to have someone who dominated their sport the way he did for such a long period of time.

GW: I think everyone agrees determination is one of your strong suits — even when you’ve had low moments you’ve found a way to channel those things and work hard and get better. How have you done that?

DJ: You learn a lot more from when failures or situations where you don’t win, than the situations where you do. I try to take positives out of every situation and see what I can do to improve.

GW: You’re somewhat quiet. I’ve been in interview rooms with you and you’re a personable guy, but you’re not the flamboyant personality that some guys on Tour are. Do you think sometimes you get a little mislabeled because of that?

DJ: That’s just me. I think some guys put their foot in their mouth a lot and some just don’t do that. I’m just me. That’s all I’ll always try to be and I don’t try to be anything different.

GW: That’s been pretty well-received, right?

DJ: I think so.

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GW: You’ve got two kiddos, Tatum and River, and I know what that did to my life. We all made a big deal about Rory becoming dad, but he’s in a different place in his life right now, his head is probably spinning. Your kids are getting to that age, they’re a little older that and you’ve probably settled into a routine. What’s it like now, being a dad, and what do they add to your life?

DJ: The best thing in the world is having kids. We’re lucky to have two wonderful boys. It’s really been amazing, watching them grow up and enjoying the time. They get to travel with us a bunch. Tatum’s in kindergarten. They’re getting a little older. And I can see a little of me and Paulina in both of them, just in their personalities and the things they do. It’s funny. There are times when you watch them and say, ‘Where in the heck did you learn that?’ and then you realize, oh man, it’s from me.

GW: Has it changed you?

DJ: Absolutely. it puts things in perspective. For me, golf was always the most important thing. And now, it’s Paulina and the kids. And they’ll always be the most important. Obviously, I love the game of golf, competing and playing. But they’re the most important thing.

GW: Let’s talk fitness. This has become a hotter topic with Bryson and others, but fitness and working out has always been essential for you, right?

DJ: Any athlete, professional athlete, across any sport, diet and training are a huge part of it. If you look at the top 10 guys in the world, they all train, they all work on their diet, it’s just something you have to do. With training and diet, probably the biggest thing I’ve changed is when I’m on the road I rent a house and I have a chef who comes and cooks for me so I can keep everything the same.

It’s a lot to stay in shape and be ready for four days each week. The thing people probably don’t understand is the amount of work I put in to get where I am. I don’t think most people have any idea how much time I spend in the gym, practicing, playing. And diet’s really important, too.

GW: Finally, let’s talk about Paulina and how your relationship has evolved.

DJ: She’s a huge part of me, our family and my success. She’s home with the kids, and has been great with that, and just has been a huge supporter for me, with everything I need to do. She understands everything it takes to get to where you want to be and the sacrifices you have to make. Having her dad as the greatest hockey player, she understands.

You couldn’t ask for a better partner.

GW: What’s left? What do you feel you need to still accomplish?

DJ: I need to keep practicing and continue to get better. There are things I want to do with my career, I’d love a green jacket and a few more majors, doesn’t matter which ones they are. A green jacket would definitely be at the top of the list. But any major’s a good one.

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En route to Winged Foot, U.S. Open trophy makes rounds at public course

Winged Foot Golf Club won’t allow any spectators at this year’s U.S. Open, so the USGA decided to bring a piece of the tournament to fans.

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SCARSDALE, N.Y. — Winged Foot Golf Club won’t allow any spectators at this year’s U.S. Open, so the United States Golf Association decided to bring a piece of the esteemed tournament to the fans.

The U.S. Open championship trophy was on display nearby at Saxon Woods Golf Course on Monday afternoon. Local golfers had a chance to pose for pictures and trade stories about memorable winners of years past.

“It’s beautiful, the intricacy you just can’t get it on TV — the little carvings and stuff,” White Plains resident Sam Suen said. “It’s actually smaller than I thought it would be. It looks bigger on TV, but it’s just beautiful. I can’t say enough about it. It’s just beautiful.”

Like many golf aficionados, Suen will watch the tournament from home. The U.S. Open, which was postponed from June due to the coronavirus pandemic, is slated to begin on Thursday and conclude on Sunday.

“We’re going to try to be around there to catch a glimpse of Tiger Woods,” he joked. “Maybe we’ll bicycle in and they won’t notice.”

Sean Houlihan, left, who works at Winged Foot Golf Club, and Saxon Woods’ head pro Charles Meola get a closer look at the official U.S. Open trophy during its visit to Saxon Woods Golf Course Sept. 14, 2020 in Scarsdale. The 120th U.S. Open will be contested this week at Winged Foot Golf Club in nearby Mamaroneck. (Tanya Savayan/USA Today Network)

Saxon Woods Golf Course manager Mike Belmont felt fortunate for the opportunity to hold the display. According to Belmont, he’s noticed a spike in interest for golf during the pandemic, so the tournament’s no fan policy is a disappointing one.

“A lot of people feel bad that they can’t watch it in person, so I kind of opened the door to let people come over and visit,” he said. “It’s unbelievable (displaying the trophy). In 2006, I was here, and this didn’t happen, maybe because it was open to everybody over at Winged Foot.”

For golfers like Pelham resident John Manganiello, seeing the trophy up close is a consolation prize for not being able to watch the Open in person. He has attended other events in the past at New Rochelle’s Wykagyl Country Club and Shinnecock Hills in Long Island, and had looked forward to seeing some of the world’s best golfers at the U.S. Open.

“I was going to take my sons, so we had four tickets and we were going to go,” Manganiello said. “My sons took care of getting the tickets, and unfortunately, they gave him a refund because of the virus, so we’ll be missing it.

“It’s disappointing. What am I gonna say? Of course it is. You go to any sporting event, whether it’s a Yankee game or Giants football game, it’s not the same as watching it on TV. Obviously, I’m gonna watch it on TV and tape it to make sure I don’t miss a thing.”

Joanmarie O’Connor of New Rochelle fell in love with golf a few years ago and has been following it closely ever since. With no tickets for sale, she signed up to be a tournament volunteer, but she knows the odds of earning one of those exclusive spots aren’t in her favor.

“It’s disappointing, but it’s understandable,” she said. “There will be other years.”

It’s the first time Winged Foot will host the U.S. Open since 2006, when Australian Geoff Ogilvy emerged as champion in a closely-contested finish.

Longtime Winged Foot caddy Sean Houlihan remembers that year fondly, but more because of runner-up Phil Mickelson.

“Seeing him on the grounds, seeing the way he was displaying himself, it was very cool,” Houlihan said. “I think everybody was pulling for him, just because of the fact he was such a nice guy.”

Houlihan has caddied at Winged Foot since 1985, but he will sit this year’s tournament out. Despite that, he has a few ideas for how U.S. Open participants can succeed and which golfers may win.

“It’s either gonna be Rory McIlroy or Xander Schauffele, but we’ll see how that works out,” he said. “It’s gotta be somebody who can hit it an awfully long way. If you hit it in the rough over there, and you have to hit a 5-6-7-iron out there, it’s not going to go well for you, but if you can hit a pitching wedge, 9-iron, or maybe even 8-iron and reach the greens, it’ll go a lot better for you. You’re gonna shoot a decent number there.

“If you don’t know that place like the back of your hand, the short game is just not going to be all that effective out there.”

Follow Eugene Rapay on Twitter at @erapay5. This coverage is only possible with support from our readers.

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I like you, Betty: Danny Noonan has his day on a bag at Winged Foot

Michael O’Keefe, who played Danny Noonan in “Caddyshack” was back in action at WInged Foot on Monday.

MAMARONECK, N.Y. — Nostalgia plays well at Winged Foot, so it was fitting to see Michael O’Keefe back at work Monday with a familiar red Bushwood hat on his head and a cumbersome Titleist staff bag on his shoulder.

The 65-year-old actor was a caddie here for two summers and went on to play Danny Noonan in Caddyshack.

He was on social media last week lobbying for a loop here, just hoping to get back inside the gates to see the U.S. Open up close and in person. He picked up a couple days of work when local club professional Danny Balin responded with an invitation.

The introduction was made by golf instructor and television commentator Michael Breed and Monday, at 8:51 a.m., Noonan and Balin were off to scout the back nine.

Sep 14, 2020; Mamaroneck, New York, USA; Actor Michael O’Keefe, left, caddies for golfer Danny Balin during a practice round for the 2020 U.S. Open golf tournament at Winged Foot Golf Club – West. O’Keefe is known for playing Danny Noonan in the movie “Caddyshack.” Mandatory Credit: Danielle Parhizkaran-USA TODAY Sports

“I’ve given a lot of interviews this year because it’s the 40th anniversary of the release of the movie,” said O’Keefe, who’s a Larchmont native. “I knew the Open was going to be here. My brother, Billy, is a member here and a former (club) president and I was thinking, ‘Wouldn’t it be fun if somebody put me on their bag?’ And I thought the chances of that happening were about as likely as Carl Spackler winning the Masters, but the next thing you know, I get a call from Mike Breed and he said, ‘Hey, are you serious?’ I was like, ‘Yeah, why?’ He said, ‘Start doing some push-ups, I think it’s going to work out.’ ”

Balin loved the idea from the start.

“I had a Team Titleist event with Michael Breed, and afterward Michael pulled me to the side and told me he thought it would be a great thing to do,” said the 38-year-old Valhalla resident, who is the head pro at Fresh Meadow Country Club on Long Island. “We had spoken and kind of agreed that it would be great, two locals, him having grown up here me being here as a club pro and one of the only locals in the field. We both have a little history here at Winged Foot and I thought it would just be great for golf, great for the 40th anniversary of the making of Caddyshack. And getting some notoriety in the area is a good thing for me, for the club that I work at and all the members I work with.”

The pairing is also spotlighting a fundraising effort started by Winged Foot member Bill Fugazy to aid the club’s full-time caddies who have lost work due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Right now, the Richie’s Gift campaign on GoFundMe.org is nearing $250,000.

O’Keefe has kicked in money.

“We just did our first nine together and it was a blast,” he said. “It was so much fun to be back out there and get a feel for the course again. Danny has got game. He has made my dream come true, so I owe him everything for that.”

They will be together again on Tuesday and Balin’s regular caddie, Marc Mondelblatt, a Penn State fraternity brother, will be on the bag the rest of the week.

“It was sort of a lark when I wrote it and then we got like 50,000 social media hits and then Danny jumped on it,” O’Keefe added. “I’m just here having a blast and I’m hoping the poison I gave his caddie Marc will kick in sometime later tomorrow and he’ll have to put me on his bag Thursday and Friday.”

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Balin, who grew up in Maryland, figures he’s seen Caddyshack 15 or 20 times.

“Any time I would caddie or go even play golf with somebody, it was always like, ‘Danny, do you do drugs? … Every day.’ So between that and, ‘Be the ball. Be the ball, Danny,’ I got it a lot,” Balin said. “The movie was great. Michael was a lot of fun.”

Since the pandemic shut down qualifying events this year, Balin got into the PGA Championship and the U.S. Open by virtue of a top five at last year’s PGA Professional Championship.

“It was a lot more firm today than it has been,” Balin said of the West Course. “Yesterday, the wind was a little different, I hit a 5-iron into the 18th green. Today, I hit a pitching wedge. So as with every major, every golf tournament, the course plays a little harder throughout the week and today showed that. It’s amazing.”

And the rough?

“It’s five inches of Dante hell,” O’Keefe said.

He was a caddie at Winged Foot in 1971 and 1972, following in the footsteps of Billy, a former caddie of the year.

“It was not unlike (the Hollywood version), without the celebrity play,” O’Keefe said of the experience. “(Caddie master) Gene Hayden was an incredibly tough taskmaster. He scared the hell out of everybody. If you got a loop, just the call of your name would put the fear of God in you.

“Some of the older caddies were amazing because they had been around forever and they really knew the course and could size up a golfer while he was taking a practice swing on the first tee. They were great about sharing the shortcuts, where you want to drop the bag, where you could save a couple of steps, teaching you about the grain and the putts breaking back toward the clubhouse.”

He again looked the part aside from the hat.

It was almost too perfect, clean and perfectly shaped, begging a question about the location of the original Bushwood cap from the movie.

“Probably in some bar in Davie, Florida, somewhere,” said O’Keefe, referencing the film shoot’s off-the-beaten path location.

Mike Dougherty covers golf for The Journal News/lohud, a member of the USA Today Network. He can be reached at mdougher@lohud.com, or on Twitter @hoopsmbd, @lohudlacrosse, @lohudhoopsmbd and @lohudgolf.

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The rough at Winged Foot is THICK

Golfweek’s David Dusek previews the rough for this week’s U.S. Open at Winged Foot Golf Club.

Golfweek’s David Dusek previews the rough for this week’s U.S. Open at Winged Foot Golf Club.

Why was a 16-year-old looper on Hale Irwin’s bag during the famed ‘Massacre at Winged Foot’?

Peter McGarey is enthusiastic when he recalls the details of Hale Irwin’s victory. The 16-year-old was on the bag at the U.S. Open.

The details of a gritty U.S. Open win remain vivid nearly five decades later, but there’s not even a hint of hyperbole when Hale Irwin replays a memorable week that’s recorded in history as the Massacre at Winged Foot.

“It was difficult,” he said.

With a little encouragement, Irwin offers a little more.

“It was very difficult,” he added.

Many of the best players in the game walked off the West Course scarred – Johnny Miller, Gary Player and Tom Watson among them. Irwin’s assessment is typically accurate. The cut was 13-over par. Irwin was resolute from wire to wire, playing through all the grumbling and grousing directed at the USGA.

He posted a 7-over total of 287 to capture the first of his three U.S. Open titles.

“I think Winged Foot was certainly the hardest course I’ve ever played where weather was not an issue,” Irwin said last week from his home in Arizona. “It was trying. You got on the first tee and knew it was just going to get harder from there. Every shot was going to be challenging. You couldn’t get upset with a bogey because you were going to make them. My goal was to be very happy with par, on any hole. What I wanted to escape was making anything worse than a bogey. If you made a double or more that was a killer because you couldn’t make up enough strokes to offset that.”

Peter McGarey, 16, of Scottsdale, Ariz., reaches to offer congratulations to Hale Irwin after the latter's fairway shot on the 18th reached the green and prior to Irwin's winning the U.S. Open golf championship, June 16, 1974, in Mamaroneck, N.Y. Peter, formally of Larchmont, a neighboring town, was invited back to caddy in the Open by the caddie master at the Winged Foot Golf Club, site of the Open.
Peter McGarey, 16, of Scottsdale, Ariz., reaches to offer congratulations to Hale Irwin after the latter’s fairway shot on the 18th reached the green and prior to Irwin’s winning the U.S. Open golf championship, June 16, 1974, in Mamaroneck, N.Y. Peter, formally of Larchmont, a neighboring town, was invited back to caddy in the Open by the caddie master at the Winged Foot Golf Club, site of the Open.

That game plan suited the setup.

Peter McGarey is noticeably more enthusiastic when he recalls the details of that victory, right down to a stellar 2-iron on the 72nd hole that locked down the victory. He was there. Up close. Inside the ropes for every shot.

The 62-year-old home builder from Cincinnati was on the bag.

“Very few people believe me when I tell that story,” said McGarey, who grew up in Larchmont and began to work at Winged Foot at the age of 9. “And my wife is tired of hearing it.”

In those days, the USGA mandated players use loopers from the host club.

“Early on, you could shag balls at the range,” McGarey said. “My older brother started caddying so I did, too. It was a pretty good way to make money, plus you got to play on Mondays. Gene Hayden was the caddie master back then and he rewarded people for showing up on a regular basis. It was $6.50 a loop, plus tips. They always had tournaments and not just the member-guests. I was there for the 1972 U.S. Women’s Open and drew Jane Booth, who came in tied for sixth as an amateur.”

The family later moved to Scottsdale, Arizona, but wrote Hayden and the board at Winged Foot asking if McGarey could return to work the U.S. Open.

“I barely knew who Irwin was, to tell you the truth,” said McGarey, who was 16 years old that June and got the loop in a lottery. “He did have a couple of wins. You couldn’t Google things back then. Word of mouth was he’d done well in Philadelphia a week or two before.”

Hale Irwin holds the U.S. Open Championship Trophy in 1974 after finishing the grind with a 7-over total of 287 on the West Course at Winged Foot Golf Club.
Hale Irwin holds the U.S. Open Championship Trophy in 1974 after finishing the grind with a 7-over total of 287 on the West Course at Winged Foot Golf Club.

The relationship inside the ropes was cordial, but quiet.

 “I wanted a caddie who was on time and not one who might attempt to influence how I was going to play,” said Irwin, who read the greens and picked clubs even. “I had a plan. Peter was a good caddie in the sense that he did what he was supposed to do. One day he may have been a little bit tardy and I mentioned that, but he did everything I asked of him. Peter kept up well, he was a nice young man and I enjoyed having him there.”

A little tardy?

“Hale was very nice, very strict,” McGarey said. “He was disciplined and expected the same from me. There was a set of expectations. I’m sure it was on Monday, I wanted to see Arnold Palmer. You wore those blue jump suits and Hale’s name was pinned to my back. Palmer was coming up to nine green so I was waiting. I had the bag with me and Hale grabbed the back of my jumper. He was not very happy.”

Irwin laughs about it now.

“Who wouldn’t want to watch Arnold Palmer?” he said. “We all did. I got to know Arnie better and better over the years. He was a great man and I don’t blame Peter one bit.”

McGarey went stride for stride with Irwin the rest of the week.

“Hale was a great player and only got better from there,” he said. “I’ve often thought, with the chances of winning a U.S. Open being so narrow, even if he needed to focus more because I was so young, I figure I contributed in some way. I was probably the youngest caddie on the course. Some of the my friends did not get the chance. They were spotting balls in the fairway. Hale was quiet. He was very focused. It was pretty intense. Saturday we were with Raymond Floyd and Sunday we were with Tom Watson and Hale prevailed both days against very stiff competition.”

Even a slight miscalculation came with a hefty price that week.

Many of the players swore the USGA was exacting payback after Miller shot a final-round 63 to win at Oakmont the previous year and the debate raged for years.

Gary Player was tied for the lead after 36 holes, but closed with rounds of 77 and 73 to finish in an eighth-place tie.

“I’ll never forget Winged Foot that year, it was so hard, the rough was so high,” he said. “I was leading the championship and hit the most beautiful approach on No. 4 and the ball went half an inch out of bounds. That really hurt. What a test that course was.”

Hale Irwin only had to correct Peter McGarey once during the week after the 16-year-old wandered off to get a glimpse of Arnold Palmer.
Hale Irwin only had to correct Peter McGarey once during the week after the 16-year-old wandered off to get a glimpse of Arnold Palmer.

Watson had a one-shot lead after 54 holes, but closed with a 79 and finished in a fifth-place tie.

And with the weather cooperating, the conditions are perfect for another week-long struggle. The rough is healthy and menacing. The greens are undulating and slick.

“The doom and gloom in the locker room several days prior to the tournament was palpable,” said Irwin, who collected 20 PGA Tour wins, including the 1990 Buick Classic at Westchester Country Club. “We were all walking around like, ‘How in the world am I going to make it through this week?’ You had to hit the ball in the fairway and I think these guys have seen that this season. Jack Nicklaus had the rough up at the Memorial and the rough was up for the BMW Championship at Olympia Fields. You’ve got to hit the ball in the fairway. That was kind of up my alley. I drove the ball straight and hit a lot of greens. I’m not saying I didn’t make mistakes. We all made mistakes that week. It was very difficult that week and the greens were Winged Foot greens. Even by 1974 standards, they were very quick, so it had all the ingredients.”

And what happens if there’s a repeat.

“Well, there will probably be a lot of fines,” Irwin said with a nod to social media habits.

Twitter would no doubt be ablaze with commentary.

Irwin, is 72 now and plays select PGA Tour Champions events. He is also beginning a new venture with Keeler1930, a multi-channel digital platform that will be unveiled in the coming weeks.

“They have me kind of be up front, telling stories and bringing forth some of the history, talking about the individuals who have been instrumental in making golf what it is and some of the things that have happened through the years,” he said.

Irwin has no issue with the Massacre at Winged Foot label, which maybe credits the win more to attrition than skill.

“It was a massacre,” he said. “You can’t deny that. It’s like Custer and Little Big Horn. It was a massacre. There’s no better way to describe it and it does make for a title you can remember so that’s OK.”

McGarey is coming back to Winged Foot this week and will be a USGA volunteer on the driving range alongside his son after they go through all the COVID-19 testing protocols.

A flashback or two is entirely possible.

“The whole experience was incredible,” McGarey said. “When they got in the rough that week they were hacking it out. It was tough even finding golf balls in there. It was a large stage and being in the last group in a Sunday in a major was unreal. I had my own little mini crowd of followers cheering us on the entire weekend. After every tee shot there was a lot of, ‘Go Peter.’ I think Hale was in a zone. And on the last hole, there was a tee shot to the top of the hill, right side of the fairway, and then he hit that 2-iron right over the stick. Boom. It was crazy.”

Mike Dougherty covers golf for The Journal News/lohud.com, part of the USA today Network. He can be reached at mdougher@lohud.com or on Twitter @hoopsmbd and @lohudgolf.

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