Jackson Donald Fleck (November 8, 1921 – March 21, 2014) was an American professional golfer, best known for winning the U.S. Open in 1955 in a playoff over Ben Hogan.
Early life In 1921, Fleck was born. He was raised in Bettendorf, Iowa, Fleck's parents were poor farmers who had lost their land in the 1920s. He attended Davenport High School and played on its golf team. Fleck started as a caddie for a local dentist in the mid-1930s.
Professional career In 1939, Fleck turned professional.Jack Fleck, Davenport, 1972 He worked as an assistant golf pro at the Des Moines Country Club for five dollars a week prior to World War II. He joined the military in 1942 and served in the U.S. Navy as a quartermaster; he participated in the D-Day invasion from a British rocket-firing ship off Normandy's Utah Beach. Within two weeks after his discharge from the service, Fleck was on the PGA's winter golf tour with pro friends trying to qualify for PGA Tour events.
After a few years of competing in local and PGA Tour events, Fleck decided to play full-time on the Tour for two years. Within six months, Fleck had his first win — on the biggest stage in men's professional golf — at the 1955 U.S. Open. Fleck won an 18-hole Sunday playoff by three strokes over his idol, Ben Hogan, at the Olympic Club in San Francisco. His first round deficit of nine strokes (behind Tommy Bolt) was the greatest number overcome by a U.S. Open winner.U.S. Open Records - Best Comeback by Winner, Final 54 Holes The following year he resigned his job as a municipal club pro in Davenport and moved to the Detroit area in October 1956.
Fleck made three playoffs on tour in 1960, winning at the Phoenix Open in February. He tied for third at the U.S. Open in 1960, and won his third and last tour event in October 1961, The Bakersfield Open, also in a playoff. Fleck finished in the top ten at the PGA Championship in 1962 at Aronimink near Philadelphia, a tie for seventh, then left the tour in 1963. He was a club pro in Wisconsin, Illinois, and California (Plumas Lake CC), and attempted a comeback on tour in 1970. Following the death of his wife Lynn in 1975, he qualified for the U.S. Open in 1977 at age 55, but missed the cut.
Less than two years later, Fleck won the PGA Seniors' Championship in February 1979, also won in a playoff, a year prior to the formation of the Senior PGA Tour.
In 1993, needing money to salvage a little golf course he owned in rural Arkansas that had been damaged by flooding, a place he called Li'l Bit of Heaven, he sold his 1955 U.S. Open gold medal.
Personal life Fleck met his first wife, Lynn Burnsdale of Chicago, when she stopped in the municipal course's pro shop in Davenport in 1949 with a club that needed repair. They were married six weeks later and late the next year added their only child, a son. Fleck wanted to name him Snead Hogan Fleck, but they settled on Craig, after Craig Wood, the winner of the Masters and U.S. Open in 1941. Lynn is credited with encouraging him to play on tour in the early 1950s and again in the early 1970s. She died in 1975 and Fleck remarried in 1980. He married his wife Carmen in 2001. He died on March 21, 2014, in Fort Smith, Arkansas, at the age of 92. He was the oldest living U.S. Open champion at the time of his death.
Awards and honors In 1990, Fleck was inducted into the Iowa Golf Hall of Fame.
Professional wins (9) PGA Tour wins (3) LegendMajor championships (1)Other PGA Tour (2) No.DateTournamentWinning scoreTo parMargin ofvictoryRunner-up1 Jun 19, 1955U.S. Open76-69-75-67=287+7Playoff Ben Hogan2Feb 15, 1960Phoenix Open Invitational68-68-71-66=273−11Playoff Bill Collins3Oct 1, 1961Bakersfield Open71-71-69-65=276−12Playoff Bob Rosburg
PGA Tour playoff record (3–2) No.YearTournamentOpponent(s)Result11955U.S. Open Ben HoganWon 18-hole playoff;Fleck: −1 (69),Hogan: +2 (72) 21960Phoenix Open Invitational Bill CollinsWon 18-hole playoff;Fleck: −3 (68),Collins: E (71)31960St. Petersburg Open Invitational George BayerLost to birdie on first extra hole41960Insurance City Open Invitational Bill Collins, Arnold PalmerPalmer won with birdie on third extra holeCollins eliminated by birdie on first hole51961Bakersfield Open Bob RosburgWon with birdie on first extra hole Source:
Other wins (4) 1952 RGCC Shelden Invitational 1954 RGCC Shelden Invitational 1964 Illinois PGA Championship 1965 Illinois Open Championship
Senior wins (2) 1979 PGA Seniors' Championship 1995 Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf - Demaret Division (with Tommy Bolt)
Major championships Wins (1) YearChampionship54 holesWinning scoreMarginRunner-up 1955 U.S. Open 3 shot deficit +7 (76-69-75-67=287) Playoff 1 Ben Hogan 1 Defeated Hogan in an 18-hole playoff – Fleck 69 (–1), Hogan 72 (+2).
Results timeline Tournament1950195119521953195419551956195719581959Masters TournamentT43T26T39T18U.S. OpenCUTT521CUTT26CUTT19PGA ChampionshipR64R16R32R64WD
Tournament1960196119621963196419651966196719681969Masters TournamentT34WDT1142CUTDQU.S. OpenT3T27CUTCUTCUTPGA ChampionshipCUTT19T7WDT20T49
Tournament19701971197219731974197519761977Masters TournamentU.S. OpenCUTPGA Championship Note: Fleck never played The Open Championship.
CUT = missed the half-way cut (3rd round cut in 1960 PGA Championship) DQ = disqualified WD = withdrew R64, R32, R16, QF, SF = Round in which player lost in PGA Championship match play "T" = tied
Summary Tournament Wins 2nd 3rd Top-5 Top-10 Top-25 Events Cuts madeMasters Tournament 0 0 0 0 0 2 10 7U.S. Open 1 0 1 2 2 3 13 6The Open Championship 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0PGA Championship 0 0 0 0 2 5 11 8Totals 1 0 1 2 4 10 34 21 Most consecutive cuts made – 5 (three times) Longest streak of top-10s – 2 (1955 U.S. Open – 1955 PGA)
U.S. national team appearances Hopkins Trophy: 1956 (winners)
References
Further reading
External links Google Books Bettendorf Iowa's Exciting City published 2000