OAKMONT, Pa. – Everybody knows that you do not shoot 76 in the first round and then win the U.S. Open. It just doesn’t happen.
The last person to do that – to shoot 76 and actually win – was an Iowa club pro named Jack Fleck more than 60 years ago. And, you probably know, that was nuts, a once-in-a-century kind of fluke. Fleck shot 7 over par at Olympic and somehow that was good enough to force a playoff with Ben Hogan. Fleck then won that playoff in one of the great upsets in golf – and sports – history.