USGA INSIDER HISTORY
Before he became the "Walrus," we knew Craig Stadler as the 1973 U.S. Amateur Champion. (Courtesy/USGA Archives)
Sept. 2, 1973: After failing to qualify in two previous attempts, Craig Stadler won the U.S. Amateur. Then a junior at the University of Southern California who had yet to be dubbed “The Walrus,” Stadler defeated David Strawn, 6 and 5, at Inverness Club in Toledo, Ohio.
Sept. 3, 1936 : The USA Walker Cup Team, captained by three-time USGA champion Francis Ouimet, defeated Great Britain and Ireland, 9-0, at Pine Valley Golf Club. This was the first of two Walker Cups to be played at the venerable New Jersey club, the only USGA championships ever contested there.
Sept. 4, 1942: Raymond Floyd is born in Fort Bragg, N.C. He was 43 years, 9 months and 11 days old when he won the 1986 U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club, the oldest U.S. Open champion until Hale Irwin (45 years and 15 days) won the championship in 1990.
Sept. 4, 1949: Tom Watson is born in Kansas City, Mo. In 1982, Watson made one of golf's most memorable shots, chipping in at the 17th hole at Pebble Beach Golf Links to help him become the U.S. Open Champion. Winner of five Open Championships and two Masters titles, the 67-year-old Watson has shot his age or better four times in competition.
Sept. 6, 1981: Nathaniel Crosby, the youngest son of entertainer and accomplished golfer Bing Crosby, won the U.S. Amateur in a 37-hole final match over Brian Lindley at The Olympic Club’s Lake Course in San Francisco, Calif.
Sept. 20, 1913: Francis Ouimet made history as the first amateur to win the U.S. Open, capturing the 1913 championship at The Country Club in Brookline, Mass. One year later, on Sept. 5, 1914, Ouimet won the U.S. Amateur, becoming the first golfer to win both championships.
Sept. 22, 1905: Willie Anderson won his third consecutive U.S. Open Championship (and fourth overall), claiming a two-stroke victory over Alex Smith at the Myopia Hunt Club in South Hamilton, Mass. No other golfer has matched Anderson’s feat of three consecutive wins in the U.S. Open.
Sept. 24, 1938: After falling to Estelle Lawson Page in the previous year’s final, Patty Berg captured the U.S. Women’s Amateur, 6 and 5, over the defending champion. Berg went on to win the first U.S. Women’s Open in 1946 on the way to a record 15 women’s major titles.
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