Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame: Jack Fleck

1955 U.S. Open champ preferred being just another guy on course

Ed Tallach and Jack Fleck At Fleck-designed and owned "Little Bit 'O Heaven" course in Magazine, Ark
Photo Credit : Sharon Bogelpohl
Ed Tallach and Jack Fleck At Fleck-designed and owned "Little Bit 'O Heaven" course in Magazine, Ark Photo Credit : Sharon Bogelpohl

Jack Fleck never cared to be in the spotlight during his golf career, but that didn't mean one of the sport's all-time greatest didn't take notice of him.

Fleck, who died in 2014 at the age of 92, tried sneaking in an early morning practice round at the 2003 British Open at Turnberry, but he couldn't escape the eye of nine-time major champion Gary Player.

Jack Fleck at a glance

BORN Nov. 7, 1921 (in Bettendorf, Iowa)

DIED March 21, 2014 (in Fort Smith)

TURNED PROFESSIONAL 1939

PGA TOUR VICTORIES 3

BEST FINISHES IN MAJORS Masters, tied for 11th, 1962; U.S. Open, first, 1955; British Open, did not play; PGA Championship, tied for seventh, 1962.

NOTEWORTHY Defeated Ben Hogan in a playoff in at the 1955 U.S. Open at Olympic Club in San Francisco. … Was the oldest living U.S. Open champion at the time of his death. … Inducted into the Iowa Golf Hall of Fame in 1990. …Owned Lil’ Bit of Heaven Golf Course near Magazine.

Ed Tallach, Fleck's close friend and former caddie who described the 1955 U.S. Open winner as an "early to bed, early to rise" person, said Fleck wanted to arrive at the course as soon as possible that July morning without any fanfare. He almost pulled it off, too.

"He was more worried about playing good, getting his rest and practicing," Tallach said of Fleck, who was 81 at the time. "He said, 'Look, we're going to the golf course before anybody is there and we're going to play early so I can avoid all these writers.' I know we were eating breakfast in the dark, and when we got to the golf course nobody was there. No greens keeper. Nobody.

"We were playing the 18th hole and everybody else was just getting there. We're playing No. 18 and Gary Player and his caddie are coming across the 18th fairway to go to the practice area and he grabs me and says, 'What time did you tee off?' I said, 'The sun was just breaking the horizon and he was hitting it off No. 1.' Gary said, 'You got to love him, don't you?' I said, 'Yeah, if you can put up with him.' "

Fleck's U.S. Open upset victory over the legendary Ben Hogan in a playoff at Olympic Club in San Francisco in 1955 was Fleck's greatest victory, but Hardscrabble Country Club pro Jeremy Moe said Fleck's stature in the golf world remains nearly 60 years later.

Moe said Fleck preferred to be thought of as a regular guy instead of as a former major champion while hitting golf balls and talking to members of the club in Fort Smith.

"He still has a terrific legacy," Moe said. "He was so active up until the last year he was with us. He made the top 10 for SportsCenter in 2013 at the Masters in the par-3 tournament when he hit a shot within a foot. In 2012, when the U.S. Open returned to Olympic Club, there he was on television talking about the 1955 event.

"For the younger generation that maybe didn't know about him already, hopefully they got a good taste of it there."

Just last month, ESPN ranked Fleck's victory as the 16th top golf upset of all time and it was among the 20 replayed on the network's Who's Number 1 show. Not too bad for for a guy who preferred to shy away from attention.

"A guy of his age and to have won so many years ago, I think people have a good taste of who Jack Fleck is," Moe said. "Of course we all knew him out here, even though he just kept to himself, enjoyed the members and had his friends and played every day.

Fleck's upset victory kept Hogan from winning a fifth U.S. Open. Fleck, who played the tournament with a set of Hogan brand clubs, needed a birdie on the 72nd hole to force a playoff while Hogan was already in the clubhouse receiving congratulations on what was thought to be another grand slam title.

In the playoff and trailing a stroke, Hogan drove into the rough on No. 18 and took three strokes to get into the fairway on his way to a double bogey. A par sealed the victory, but Moe said Fleck felt the USGA later made sure its rough would never be as brutal as it was that day when Hogan was left hacking his way out of it on the 18th hole.

"Jack said afterward the USGA made it a point not to grow the rough that way again because they think the rough kept Hogan from winning the Open," Moe said. "He thought the USGA altered their course setup, didn't want to grow their rough and that they didn't want to make its golf course as hard because the great players struggled.

"I think he always felt like he wasn't getting the credit he deserved. It's 72 holes, of course. If Jack Fleck is an upset, what about Ben Curtis winning the [2003] British Open? That has to be one of the greatest 'Who the heck did you say just won?' majors."

Fleck, who won twice more on the PGA Tour and the 1979 PGA Seniors Championship, had his best chance to win another major at the 1960 U.S. Open at Cherry Hill. But his putter failed him during a final-round 71 and he finished tied for third place, five strokes behind Arnold Palmer. An excellent ball-striker, Fleck's putting kept him from winning more, according to Tallach and Moe.

"He told me on several different occasions he would play a 72-hole event without missing a green," Moe said. "Then he said to me, 'If you tell anybody I said that, I will deny it.' I took that to mean that people wouldn't believe him and that would really upset him.

"He wasn't the type person that would brag like that. That came out because we were talking about putting. He hits every green in regulation and I said certainly he won the tournament. He said, 'Oh no, I was lucky to make the cut.' "

Tallach said Fleck, who continued to travel with the USGA and owned Lil' Bit of Heaven Golf Course near Magazine in his later years, was a diligent practice player but couldn't overcome his putting problems.

"His putting was definitely his demise," Tallach said. "He was a great ball-striker. When did he play good? In the Open and on hard golf courses where it wasn't a putting contest. ... That was his Achilles heel."

Player, who completed golf's grand slam when he won his only U.S. Open in 1965, had a reputation as being one of the most physically fit players on tour. But Tallach said before Player, it was Fleck's healthy lifestyle that was considered different from other players and contributed to his living into his 90s.

Tallach said Fleck would drive him crazy lecturing employees in high-class restaurants about having his meals prepared in certain ways, or questioning them about why they wouldn't serve dark bread instead of white bread.

"Golfers in the early days were not your health and body conscious people," Tallach said. "They were a little different realm. Drinking was prevalent.

"He never drank. He never smoked. He was very meticulous about his diet. He was probably the first person in the golf world that was conscious about how physical fitness was relevant and good nutrition was relevant to the longevity of the career."

Player and Tallach would have conversations about Fleck's physical condition when they were drawn together. The man known as Mr. Fitness on the PGA Tour would tell Tallach, "That Jack, he's my idol."

Despite not winning as often as he would have liked on the PGA Tour, Tallach said Fleck's meticulous way of life ultimately paid off.

"Golf was his whole life and he planned to play as long as he could, and he did," Tallach said. "The only thing that excited him was a golf tournament. He executed his plan until the very end."

Sports on 02/18/2015

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