Top 10 Professional Wins

By Lee Pace

Top 10 lists are always fun. Check out the opinion of golf writer, Lee Pace, top ten professional plays in Pinehurst, NC.

1. Ben Hogan, 1940 North & South Open, No. 2 — One could make an argument that either entries No. 2 or No. 3 should be perched at the top of a list of momentous professional golf moments at Pinehurst. But Payne Stewart and Bryson DeChambeau were already U.S. Open winners when they struck their milestone shots. Ben Hogan was just about to quit the PGA Tour in early 1940. Eight years, no wins and a job as a club pro waiting for him in his hometown of Fort Worth. It was victory or bust in 1940. His triumph in 1940 struck the match on a keg of golf dynamite and a place on the Mount Rushmore of golfing greats.

Caption: Donald Ross & Ben Hogan

2 & 3. Tie between Stewart in the 1999 U.S. Open and DeChambeau in the 2024 U.S. Open, No. 2 — Payne’s putt from 20 feet on the last stroke to win in 1999 and Bryson’s bunker shot from 54 yards to save par a quarter of a century later both go into the pantheon of all-time greatest shots — not only in 129 years of Pinehurst history but also in major championship golf. There is no doubt that it took more skill for DeChambeau to execute his long bunker shot than it did for Stewart to roll one putt. But that ’99 Open and the drama of Stewart edging Phil Mickelson was the first domino to fall in what has become Pinehurst No. 2 being anointed the first U.S. Open “anchor site” with five more dates set through 2047. Argue either side and you’re not wrong.

4. Annika Sorenstam, 1996 U.S. Women’s Open, Pine Needles — The resort lovingly maintained by the Bells had hosted the U.S. Girls Junior in 1989 and U.S. Women’s Senior in 1991. “Now if we could get the pros in here, we’d have it covered,” Peggy Bell said, mostly in jest. She got her wish in the fall of ’91 when the USGA awarded its Women’s Open five years down the road to Pine Needles. Only two players broke par for 72 holes, with Sorenstam repeating as champion and winning in a six-shot rout with a 272 total, eight-under. A Women’s Open record at the time of 106,000 attendees descended on the Sandhills that week.

Caption: Michelle Wie

5. Michelle Wie, 2014 U.S. Women’s Open, No. 2 — The USGA was in a jam in the summer of 2009. The scheduled venue for its Women’s Open in 2014 had begged off in the throes of the Global Financial Collapse. Already Pinehurst was set for the 2014 U.S. Open, so USGA Executive Director David Fay invoked the line of baseball great Ernie Banks: “Let’s play two.” After Martin Kaymer won the men’s event, the ladies moved in and Wie collected her first and only Women’s Open, beating Stacy Lewis by two shots. The back-to-back format had never happened before and hasn’t happened since, but it will in 2029 on the very same course.

6. Denny Shute, 1936 PGA Championship, No. 2 — Denny Shute later remembered it as the finest stroke of his golf career — a three-wood second shot on the par-five 16th hole of No. 2. With that he collected a 3-and-2 win over Jimmy Thomson and a winner’s check of $1,000. “I’m happy that the PGA picked Pinehurst,” defending champion Johnny Revolta said. “For win, lose or draw at Pinehurst, there’s just something about the place that makes you feel grand because you’ve played there.”

7. Johnny Miller, 1974 World Open, No. 2 — September 1974 marked the opening of the World Golf Hall of Fame, the sport’s answer to Cooperstown for baseball and Canton for football. Part of that festive week was the second iteration of the World Open, conceived by the owners of Pinehurst since the end of 1970, the Diamondhead Corp. The highlight was Miller shooting an eight-under 63 in the second round that could have been one lower if not for a missed six-footer for birdie on the 18th hole. “It was like one of those old Johnny Miller blitzes,” he remembers. “I dominated the course and scored a fairly easy 63, if there is such a thing.” Miller beat Jack Nicklaus, Bob Murphy and Frank Beard in a playoff for the win.

8. Jack Nicklaus, 1975 Colgate Hall of Fame Classic, No. 2 — Nicklaus had won the 1959 North & South Amateur on a course he called one his favorites and just missed as a pro in ’74, losing that playoff to Miller. He beat Billy Casper in a playoff in ’75 during the PGA’s Tour decade in Pinehurst, with the state of the putting surfaces creating much consternation at the time. The greens had been converted to bent grass, but with the tournament held in the heat of late summer, they were watered frequently to keep them from dying. “You’d hit the green and it went ‘splat,’” Nicklaus said. “It was a completely different golf course, much greener and softer.”

9. Craig Stadler, 1991 TOUR Championship, No. 2 — The PGA Tour played in Pinehurst from 1973-82 but lost its spot because of bad slots in the calendar, lack of corporate support and the inconsistency of the putting surfaces. But when Robert Dedman Sr. of Dallas bought the resort in 1984, he started on a reclamation project with a goal of returning the golf spotlight to Pinehurst. This event held in late October with The Walrus beating Russ Cochran in a playoff was the first step back.

10. United States, 1951 Ryder Cup, No. 2 — The biennial matches between the top pros from the U.S. versus the best from Great Britain and Ireland were a lopsided mess from their inception in 1927 for half a century. The 9.5 to 2.5 American win in Pinehurst was typical of the lack of competitive fervor. The Americans were just too good. It turns out that Don Padgett Sr., a longtime club pro and officer of the PGA of America, would be at the heart of negotiations in the 1970s to expand the GB&I team to include all of Europe and thus turn the Ryder Cup into the competitive colossus it is today. Padgett later came to Pinehurst as director of golf from 1987-2002.

Caption: Ryder Cup 1951