U.S. Open champion, Arkansas resident Jack Fleck dies at 92

March 21, 2014 at 3:07 p.m.

by Frankie Frisco

FILE-This June 17, 1955 file photo shows Jack Fleck, formerly of Davenport, Iowa, warming up before a playoff with Ben Hogan for the National Open title. The Olympic Club gained a reputation as the "graveyard of champions" for the major champions who finish second. And the 1955 U.S. Open is best known for how unheralded Fleck took down Ben Hogan in one of golf's great upsets. (AP Photo/File)
FILE-This June 17, 1955 file photo shows Jack Fleck, formerly of Davenport, Iowa, warming up before a playoff with Ben Hogan for the National Open title. The Olympic Club gained a reputation as the "graveyard of champions" for the major champions who finish second. And the 1955 U.S. Open is best known for how unheralded Fleck took down Ben Hogan in one of golf's great upsets. (AP Photo/File)

Jack Fleck, who won the 1955 U.S. Open golf championship over the legendary Ben Hogan, died Friday in Fort Smith at the age of 92.

Fleck had three victories on the PGA Tour during his career, all coming in playoffs, but the most notable came in the 1955 U.S. Open when he and Hogan finished in a tie at 7 over par at Olympic Club in San Francisco. Fleck's birdie putt on the 72nd hole forced an 18-hole playoff, which he won by three shots.

Fleck also won the Senior PGA Championship in 1979 in a playoff and the 1995 Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf with Tommy Bolt, who died in Cherokee Village in 2008 at the age of 92.

In his later years, Fleck owned the Lil' Bit of Heaven Golf Club in Magazine.

Funeral arrangements are pending at Edwards Funeral Home in Fort Smith.

Read Saturday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for more on this story.

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