By Ryan Bologna
There are many improbable well-known sports stories, many of them from golf. Here are four golf stories that should be recognized as some of the most improbable in sports.
Calvin Peete’s Emergence
We see many stories about professional athletes coming from unlikely places, but there rarely do you see a story of someone being introduced to the game they played professionally at a late age like Calvin Peete. Peete played his first round of golf at 23 years old, and that was only because his friends tricked him into it.
Peete thought he was just having a usual day hanging out with his buddies, until they got to the golf course and told him he was either playing or waiting until they were done. The first time he held a club he felt like it was calling. That night he went to the driving range and practiced until he was told to go home.
Peete’s career ended with 12 wins, and he was the most successful African-American golfer on the PGA Tour before Tiger Woods. For someone that did not pick up the game until he was 23, that is a miraculous career.
Ben Hogan’s 1950 U.S. Open Win
Ben Hogan is a late riser in his own right, as he won his first major tournament at 34 years old. But his 1950 win at the U.S. Open is the most miraculous in his career. Just 16 months before that tournament, Hogan was in a head-on collision with a bus that left him with severe injuries to both of his legs. He has a rough upbringing as well, as he witnessed his father take his own life at nine years old.
He was visually limping during that tournament and had a successful season as a whole. His journey is one of the best in sports.
Tiger Wins With Fractured Leg
Tiger Woods roaring in celebration with the crowd after sinking a 12-foot putt to force a playoff at the 2008 U.S. Open is one of the most iconic scenes in golf. Woods would go on to beat Rocco Mediate in a 19-hole playoff for his 14th major championship at Torrey Pines, but it is the physical ailments he dealt with that weekend that makes this one of the most improbable stories in golf history.
Two days after the tournament Woods announced that he was dealing with two stress fractures in his left leg along with a torn ACL. Being able to just walk the course was an accomplishment, let alone playing an extra 19 holes to win the whole tournament.
Michael Campbell Takes Down Prime Tiger
Michael Campbell’s win at the 2005 U.S. Open was one of the more puzzling results in golf history, as it was the New Zealander’s only major win in his career. He spent most of the tournament as an under-the-radar contender but made a surge for the win on the final day of the tournament, beating out Tiger Woods.
Campbell made light of his victory by naming himself as one of the most underwhelming U.S. Open winners, and I agree with him. This was the era of prime Woods, and it was shocking that he did not close out this victory. That in itself makes his win an overwhelming result and one that should be remembered.
Picture Credit: Debby Wong
