::The Majors - The US Open
Major Memories: Rare English feat - Patrick Reusse, Star Tribune

Major Memories

Tony Jacklin was still three weeks away from his 26th birthday and already the architect of some historic accomplishments when he came to Hazeltine National for the U.S. Open in June 1970.

Jacklin had won the British Open at Royal Lytham in the summer of 1969, making the Scunthorpe, England native the first home-country winner since Max Faulkner in 1951. It would take until 1985 for another United Kingdom golfer, Scotland's Sandy Lyle, to win a British Open.

Then, in the fall of 1969, Jacklin gained five of a possible six points in the Ryder Cup matches at Royal Birkdale. There were two rounds of singles on the final day in that era. Jacklin defeated Jack Nicklaus 4-and-3 and then halved him in the afternoon, giving Great Britain a 16-16 tie with the United States.

That was the only non-U.S. victory in the biennial matches from 1959 to 1979, a streak of dominance that transformed the Ryder Cup into a United States vs. Europe competition in 1981.

Jacklin's heroics had come in his home country. Even more history was working against the young Englishman when he arrived at Hazeltine. A golfer from Great Britain had not won the U.S. Open since Ted Ray (seen right) in 1920.

Hazeltine opened for play in the Chaska countryside in 1962. It was a tribute to the influence of Totton Heffelfinger, Hazeltine's founder and a former president (1952-53) of the U.S. Golf Association, that a course so young would be awarded an Open.

But even before the tournament indications were that the USGA could regret its decision to do this favor for Heffelfinger so early in Hazeltine's existence. Nicklaus played a practice round at the course in May, then expressed his concerns in a Sports Illustrated article.

He told the magazine that Hazeltine lacked the "definition" to serve as a proper Open site. He reiterated that during an interview with the Minneapolis Tribune's Dwayne Netland while Nicklaus was playing in the Western Open in Chicago a week before the U.S. Open.

"I don't like to hit blind tee shots, and I don't like to hit approach shots to a green I cannot see," Nicklaus said. "Eleven of the 14 driving holes at Hazeltine have blind landing areas."

Nicklaus' appreciation for Robert Trent Jones' design did not increase Thursday. The wind came whipping across this brawny layout and scores soared in the opening road.

Big Three Golf? Nicklaus opened with an 81, Gary Player with an 80 and Arnold Palmer a 79.

Wind plays role

Only Jacklin could feel that wind off Lake Hazeltine and consider it a gentle breeze. He opened with a 1-under-par 71 -- the only subpar score -- and said:

"I try to use the wind as best I can. I don't fight it. There is a strong comparison between the playing conditions today and the playing conditions at the seaside courses at home, only the winds aren't as strong here."

The wind died Friday. Jacklin came home in 33 for a 70 and a 141 total. The cut was at a massive 9-over 153, and Nicklaus, Player and Palmer all landed on that number, surviving for the weekend but as non-contenders.

Jacklin had a three-stroke lead over Dave Hill, "an irreverent touring pro from Jackson, Mich., who shot 69 and then spent the next hour in a vitriolic denunciation of Hazeltine," wrote the Tribune's Netland.

Yes, Friday was the moment when Hill issued his course review, one that Hazeltine had to live with for more than 20 years, until the successful Open of 1991.

"How did I find the golf course? I've been trying to find it since I came to Minneapolis," Hill said. "Just because you cut the grass and put up flags doesn't mean you have a golf course.

"What does it lack? Eighty acres of corn and a few cows."

Hill wound up being fined $150 on Saturday by Joe Dey, head of the PGA Tournament Players Division (forerunner to the PGA Tour), for his detrimental comments.

That was also the day when Jacklin shot another 70 and pushed his lead to four strokes over Hill. The Englishman followed with a third 70 in a row on Sunday for a 281 total -- 7 under par and seven strokes clear of runner-up Hill.

No British golfer had won the U.S. Open for 50 years before him, and no British golfer has won in the 32 years since. It would be another 30 years before an Open winner won by as many strokes and led for all four rounds. Tiger Woods was that player, winning by 15 at Pebble Beach in 2000.

Yet, Jacklin's dominant performance always will remain the secondary story line from Hazeltine's first U.S. Open. Hill's shots at Hazeltine, as painful as they were to the club membership, helped lead to extensive remodeling that made this an infinitely more appreciated golf course

:: Hazeltine Course Guide