Larry Canning

Hello Readers, I thought you should be the first to know. I’m going to play in next year’s US Open.

Sure, I know, my age demographic is more aligned to someone holding up a white piece of wood saying “Quiet Please” or sitting in a tent handing out draws and explaining where the dunnies are but given you have to pay the USGA $240 US, for this privilege and the entry fee to play is $200 US, I’m all in.

Unfortunately, I’ve just checked my world golf ranking, and it has slipped outside the top 60. Instead, I’ll talk about some of my favourite US Opens over the years which again might expose my age, but who cares!

I think its fair to say a golfer doesn’t play a US Open Course they go into a life-or-death battle against it. Barbed wire rough, fairways tighter than Clive Palmer’s wallet and greens as receptive as a teenage girl’s Dad, create a degree of physical and mental questions not seen at any other tournaments.

In addition to the officials checking cards in the scorer’s tent, I’ve heard this year, there’s an ice filled bath and couch with an Austrian psychoanalyst sitting on a leather chair, waiting.

I’m not yet old enough to remember Johnny McDermot become the first Yank to claim the trophy but I’m definitely of an age where I vividly remember watching one of the most resolute Aussie golfers in our history become the first Down-under-rian to claim the treasured silver cup.  

Golf historians, and even Ben Hogan, who won his second title on the same course, have referred to David Graham’s final round at Merion in 1981 as near perfection. I think “near perfection” is nearer to a huge under-statement when you consider David missed just one painfully thin fairway by a foot and made it to all 18 dance floors in regulation. His 67 was the best score of the day and left him 3 shots clear of Open Champion Bill Rogers and George Burns.

Being a painfully proud patriotic Aussie Pro, my next favourite is obviously Geoff Ogilvy’s victory in 2006 on one of the most torturous course setups in US Open history. It hasn’t been confirmed but I’ve heard the Course Super for that event is still, to this day, in Witness Protection tucked away near Saskatchewan disguised as a lumberjack.

I still don’t think I’ve seen a better pitch shot on a final hole to win a major, in my spectating career! Let me put that into more context…

After chipping in for a par on 17, the lanky Aussie rode the wave by blistering his drive right down the centre of the 18th fairway. His emotions did a 180 degree turn when he arrived to his pill only to see it resting a dirty sand filled divot. It became even worse when he gouged a beautiful mid iron shot straight at the flag only to miss his landing spot by a metre and watch his Pro V spin back off the front leaving him a tough chip shot over a huge tier, onto a down slope. Geoff managed to mentally re-gather and nip an exquisite short shot to within 7 feet. By this time, Lefty Mickelson was 1 shot better but his final drive had just rattled into the trees and everyone, including Ogilvy himself, saw Phil was in some serious poo.

Knowing his rival was going to at best make a bogey, the gritty Ogilvy stepped up and rolled his downhill slider right into the centre of the hole and waited in the scorer’s tent for Lefty to untangle himself from the forest. History will sadly show Phil Mickelson would add another US Open Runner Up finish to his list of 5 and Australia would see our second male winner. 5 over par won that week at Winged Foot!!

Jan Stephenson pathed a way for our Aussie women to not only perform in the US but to win their most sought-after titles so it was no surprise 3 of her 16 LPGA victories were majors including the 1983 US Open defeating two giants of women’s golf by a shot– Joanne Carner and Patty Sheehan.

The first Australian star to continue down that pathway was 7-time major winner Karrie Webb who not only claimed the choccies in 2000 but liked the taste so much wanted more and won again in 2001. Like Stephenson, Webb’s nearest pursuers were multiple major winners – Meg Mallon, Kristie Kerr and Se Ri Pak.   

It might come as somewhat of a surprise but when I began this piece, I had a plan to recall some of my favourite US Opens but “STROOTH READERS!”, I now find myself going full on Aussie, bringing me to another Ripper Sheila named Minjee Lee.

Its common knowledge that every man and his dog knew Minjee was the best ball striker in Women’s golf who seemed to regularly pitch a swag on Major leader’s board’s only to drop a bickie or two on Sunday. In 2021 she chose to stay off the beaten track coming into the final round at the Evian then reel in 7 shots on the leaders to eventually win her first major. The shackles (Too Much Aussie??), were now off and it was no surprise to see her inflict a walloping of the best in the world to rap her mitts around the 2022 US Open trophy.

So Blokes and Chicks, I leave you with these two questions –

Which Aussie will win this years Men’s and Women’s Yankee Opens?? And have I annoyed anyone else as much as myself with the overuse of Aussie Slang?

See yus in a Month.