U.S. Open at Shinnecock: Recalling some classic behind-the-scenes moments

As fans will no doubt witness again this week, some of the best U.S. Open stories occur before the final putt and never are mentioned at the awards ceremony. Some classic moments from behind the scenes in previous Opens at Shinnecock Hills.

1986

The first round of Shinnecock’s first Open in 90 years seemed like something out of Shakespeare’s “The Tempest.” The day was cold, windy and very wet. Newsday’s Joe Gergen wrote, “Was this Southampton, N.Y. or Southampton, England?”

One huge gust blasted Jack Nicklaus during his backswing on the par-4 10th tee. The ball went far right into rough, bushes or brush. No one knows for sure because no one could find it, at least not before his allotted five-minute search had expired. Nicklaus, then 46, hit another tee shot and made double bogey. By his own recollection, it was the first time in his professional career that he lost a ball during a tournament. He ultimately tied for eighth.

1995

In keeping with U.S. Open custom, the U.S. Amateur champion was placed in a group with the defending U.S. Open champion and reigning British Open champion. So, a skinny 19-year-old played alongside Ernie Els and Nick Price for the first two rounds. Shinnecock’s gnarly rough proved too much for the kid.

He injured his wrist hacking out of the stuff on the third hole Friday and aggravated it on the fifth. He left for the medical tent after his tee shot on No. 6, withdrawing from the championship. The kid left and never was heard from again . . . 

Only kidding. It was Tiger Woods.

2004

What if? What if Phil Mickelson had played the 17th hole better on Sunday?

He clearly was the people’s choice, having been adopted by Long Island fans two years earlier at Bethpage. Plus, he had just ended his career-long major drought with a victory at the Masters. Mickelson seemed poised to make it two majors in a row as he birdied the par-5 16th and took a one-stroke lead. But he hit his tee shot on the par-3 17th into a bunker, blasted long and three-putted for double bogey. He lost to Retief Goosen.

Had Mickelson won, he might have had clear sailing onto the Mount Rushmore of career Grand Slam winners. Perhaps this Open would have been known more for Mickelson’s triumph than for the overcooked greens. We’ll never know.

2018

This was the final time for the U.S. Open as the season’s second major. Starting in 2019 at Bethpage Black, the PGA Championship moved to May. More pertinent to local golf aficionados was that this U.S. Open was one of three big professional tournaments on Long Island in less than two years. The Barclays, a PGA Tour FedEx Cup playoff event, was held at Glen Oaks Club in August 2017.

All of which emphasized how the U.S. Open’s return to Shinnecock in 1986 launched a golden age of Long Island professional golf. Since then, the Island has hosted 21 Senior PGA Tour (now Champions Tour) tournaments at Meadow Brook Club and Eisenhower Red, a U.S. Women’s Open at Sebonack Golf Club, three more U.S. Opens at Shinnecock, the one PGA Tour stop at Glen Oaks and two U.S. Opens, a PGA Championship, two PGA Tour playoff events and a Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black. With more to come.