Father’s Day is U.S. Open Sunday. We hope you have had a great day, and we send our best to Trojan dads and all dads who celebrate this day with their families. It was 37 years ago that a USC golfer won the 1987 U.S. Open in San Francisco. Scott Simpson created an immortal moment against a stacked leaderboard.
Entering the final round of the 1987 United States Open Golf Championship at the Olympic Club in San Francisco, Tom Watson — owner of eight major championships — held a one-stroke lead over a tightly-bunched field with big names. If Watson wasn’t going to win, young Keith Clearwater — who roared to the top section of the leaderboard with a stunning 64, the second-lowest score in U.S. Open history — did not figure to overtake him.
The smart money rested with Seve Ballesteros, Bernhard Langer, or Ben Crenshaw, all major champions.
Those big names weren’t just major champions, we should note; they were multiple major title winners (though some had not yet won a second major at the time). This was a loaded field. Scott Simpson rose above them all.
USC has won a lot of football games in the San Francisco Bay Area over the decades. This was as sweet a Bay Area win for the Trojans as any other they have achieved. Scott Simpson achieved golf immortality with his one shining moment at the Olympic Club.
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