THE FINAL SHOTFleck Topped Hogan On HisWay To Heaven On EarthBy Jim Harrisnly two golferswith Arkansasconnections have wonthe U.S. Open, andneither were natives.Both made Arkansastheir adopted homelater in life, however.Both Tommy Boltand Jack Fleck foundArkansas to be whatI’ve always felt was anapt description of TheNatural State: It’s a golfcourse waiting to be built.Fleck, who was born in Iowa,actually did that, while Boltfound a home with a nicecourse for a backyard.Bolt, a native of Oklahoma,lived to the ripe old age of 92,calling Cherokee Village hishome in the last years of his lifebefore he died in 2008.The last we saw of Fleck lastsummer, when he was enjoyinga newfound 15 minutes of famehere and on the West Coast, hewas still spry and going strong atage 91. He’s living in Fort Smithand playing golf as often as hecan at the demanding HardscrabbleCountry Club.Every time the U.S. Openreturned to Southern Hills inTulsa after the colorful Bolt’svictory there in 1958,he’d be back in golfwriters’ thoughtsas they describedhow he survived abrutally hot weekendand his own hottemper to capturethe big prize.Bolt went on tohave a good PGAand Senior Tour career,and he was stillgiving exhibitionsjust a few short yearsago. The best partwas always when Bolt describedthe correct way to throw a club,his specialty.Last summer, when the Openwas returning to the OlympicClub in San Francisco, it wastime again to revisit Fleck’sBen Hogan, right, jokingly tries to cool off JackFleck’s putter after Fleck put the club to good useto beat Hogan in the 1955 U.S. Open.Neil Sagebiel’s bookon the Open.amazing upset of Ben Hogan inthe 1955 Open there.Both Bolt and Fleck deniedHogan his fifth Open title intime when Hogan dominatedgolf in books, newspapers andmagazines, if not on the course.Fleck’s win was particularlygalling for Hogan, as Fleck gotup and down with a pitch shotshort of the 18th green and a7-foot putt to tie Hogan afterTV had already declared Hoganthe winner, and then Hoganchopped broccoli in the roughon the final hole of the 18-holeplayoff to lose by three shots.Yet, Hogan was the graciousloser, seeing something of himselfin Fleck — not to mentionproviding Fleck with Hoganbrandirons.Some 67 yearslater, Fleck wasstill around to talkabout staring downand defeating thevaunted Hawk, whodied in 1998.Fleck’s win wasconsidered fluky,since he never wonanother event onthe PGA Tour — hedid win twice on thesenior circuit — butFleck remindedanyone who cared to listen thathe finished third in the famed1960 U.S. Open at Cherry Hillsoutside Denver. That landmarktournament featured a victoriousArnold Palmer at his peak, arising star in then-amateur JackIn his 90s, Jack Fleck still likes to geton the course and get in his swingswhen he has the opportunity.Nicklaus, who finished second,and the fading Hogan, was sawhis last opportunity to win anOpen trickle into a greensidecreek on his last hole.That’s right. Fleck was third,just behind the greats Palmerand Nicklaus and ahead of Hogan.It’s hard to think of Fleck inthose terms as a “fluky” winnerfive years earlier.Mainly, he was just a journeymanpro who — in the dayswhen professionals didn’thit the lottery every weekendand coast with their riches —scratched out a living like therest of his breed and put hisgame together in one magicalfour-round stretch at Olympic.In 1981, Fleck married forthe second time and the couplemoved to Arkansas. In tinyMagazine a decade later, Fleckcarved out his own “Lil’ Bit AHeaven,” a nine-hole coursethat he tried his darnedest toJack Fleck, right, and Ben Hogan atthe 1955 U.S. Open in which Hoganappeared on his way to victory.maintain and keep open, eventhough Mother Nature wasn’talways willing. She flooded theplace in 1992.Eventually, Fleck gave up theproperty, and by last summer hewasn’t sure what had become ofthe “Lil’ Bit A Heaven.”But he was the deservingsubject of a book, “The LongestShot: Jack Fleck, Ben Hogan andPro Golf’s Greatest Upset at the1955 U.S. Open” that came outlast year. Neil Sagebiel wrote thebook, which takes golf fans asdeep as any tome ever has onthat classic major shocker thatstill confounds Hogan fans andgolf historians to this day.Last summer, Fleck lookedno different in his basic, slightphysique than he did in photographsfrom his pro golfing days— thin waist and possessing bighands to maneuver the clubheadand shape the ball the wayhe wanted, even at age 91.Like Bolt before him, Fleckhas enjoyed a long life afterhis serious golf days ended. Iwonder if it’s just coincidencethey both did that living theirlater years in this special Bit AHeaven: Arkansas.Photos by Associated Press42 ARKANSAS BUSINESS EXECUTIVE GOLFER / 2013
2013 / ARKANSAS BUSINESS EXECUTIVE GOLFER 43
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