Earlier this week, at the Merion Golf Club in Philadelphia, a dinner was held for U.S. Open Champions. Austin's own Tom Kite was in attendance and was kind enough to share some photos of this occasion, which appear below. You can click on these images to enlarge them and then use the back arrow to return to this story.
The first photo is of 27 U.S. Open Champions that were present at the dinner. The players in this group photo are identified at the end of this story for your convenience but before you look at that, see if you can identify all the players in this photo. We've provided a link to the list of U.S. Open Champions so you can read about them if you like. There are some great stories about these players, their careers, and their Open championships at this link.
The dinner included short remarks from each of the U.S. Open Champions about their victory and what it has meant to them. Kite indicated that he commented on how "in the moment" he was during the final round of his championship.
Below on the right is a photo of the four winners of the U.S. Open held at Pebble Beach in 1982, 1992, 2002, and 2012. From left to right, Tom Kite(1992), Graeme McDowell(2012), Tiger Woods(2002), Tom Watson(1982). Each of these champions had memorable moments during their championship and their victories were significant for different reasons. Watson's win in 1982 included his chip-in on 17 to defeat Jack Nicklaus. Kite's victory was in high winds and included a chip in on hole #7. It was to be his only major championship win although he finished 2nd at the Masters on three different occasions.
Wood's victory in 2002 was the largest winning margin in a U.S. Open and perhaps the most impressive performance ever. McDowell's victory in 2012 thrust him onto the world golf stage and marked a significant victory for Irish golfers.
Shown in the photo below are Tom Kite and Tiger Woods. In 1997 Kite was the captain of the Ryder cup and Woods played on the team in his first Ryder Cup appearance. Woods parents did not make the trip to Spain for the Ryder Cup so Christy Kite served as Woods "mom" for the week. They got to know each other during that week and have remained friends since that time.
The 27 U.S. Open Winners in the Photo are:
Standing, left to right
Lucas Glover, Michael Campbell, Angel Cabrera, Hubert Green, Lee Jansen, Rory McIlroy
Andy North, Tiger Woods, Webb Simpson, Tony Jacklin, Jim Furck, Steve Jones, Hale Irwin,
Steve Pate, David Graham, Geoff Ogilvy, Raymond Floyd, Graeme McDowell, Tom Kite
Seated, left to right
Jack Fleck, Johnny Miller, Arnold Palmer, Lee Trevino, Curtis Strange, Tom Watson, Billy Casper, Lou Graham
