Jack Fleck

Jack Fleck (born November 7, 1921) is an American professional golfer best known for winning the 1955 U.S. Open.

Fleck was born and raised in Bettendorf, Iowa. His parents were poor farmers who had lost their land in the 1920s. Fleck attended Davenport High School in Davenport, Iowa where he played on the golf team. He started as a caddy for a local dentist in the mid-1930s. He worked as an assistant golf pro before World War II. During the war, Fleck served in the Navy and participated in the D-Day invasion from a British rocket-firing ship off Utah Beach. Within two weeks after separation from the Navy, 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 playoff by three strokes over his idol, the legendary Ben Hogan, at the Olympic Club in San Francisco. [ cite web | title=Biographical information from Jack Fleck Golf | url=http://www.jackfleckgolf.com/about.html | accessdate=2006-06-15 ]

Fleck came close to winning the 1960 U.S. Open, but would ultimately settle for only two more trophies on the PGA Tour in the early 1960s. He also won the 1979 PGA Seniors' Championship just prior to the formation of the Senior PGA Tour.cite web | title=Jack Fleck's visit to Valhalla | publisher=Golf Digest | url=http://www.golfdigest.com/newsandtour/index.ssf?/newsandtour/gw20040604fields.html | accessdate=2006-06-15]

Fleck was inducted into the Iowa Golf Hall of Fame in 1989. 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. He makes his home in Magazine, Arkansas. [cite web | title=Jack Fleck Golf Magazine | url=http://www.hsnp.com/walkofame/Jack%20Fleck.htm | accessdate=2006-06-15]

PGA Tour wins

*1955 U.S. Open
*1960 Phoenix Open Invitational
*1961 Bakersfield Open

Major championship shown in bold

Other wins

*1965 Illinois Open Championship

enior wins

*1979 PGA Seniors' Championship
*1995 Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf - Demaret Division (with Tommy Bolt)

Results in major championships

DNP = Did not play
WD = Withdrew
DQ = Disqualified
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place
Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-10

Notes and References