Merion not only area venue to host titles

WHILE MERION GOLF CLUB is obviously the most renowned Philadelphia-area course to host a U.S. Open, it hasn't been the only one. Likewise, the Open isn't the only men's major that has been played here.

In 1907, the Philadelphia Cricket Club's original St. Martin's layout in Chestnut Hill was the venue for the 13th national championship. A par 73 measuring a smidge under 6,000 yards, it was short compared to the other Open sites of that era. The winner was Scotland's Alex Ross, whose brother Donald gained more fame by building over 500 courses in the United States, the most notable being Pinehurst No. 2. This was his lone major victory. Donald finished 10th, 10 strokes back. Ross shot 302, two better than Gilbert Nicholls.

Jack Hobens, who led by one after three rounds, had the first hole-in-one in this major, in the second round on the 147-yard 10th. Another all-time course designer, A.W. Tillinghast, might have finished as the low amateur. But on the 13th in the final round he was overcome by the heat and forced to withdraw.

Three years later the Open returned, for what turned out to be the last time. Alex Smith (71) - the 1906 champion and two-time runner-up (1901 and '05) - beat his brother Macdonald (77) and Philly's own John McDermott (75) in an 18-hole playoff after they had the first 3-way tie at 298. Smith's other brother Willie won the Open in 1899, making them the only ones to do so. This was the first time that the professionals were given access to the clubhouse and locker room. Alex Smith had a chance to win in regulation but he 3-putted from 15 feet after driving the closing 240-yard par-4. The birdie try was from 18 inches. McDermott won the next two years.

That was the last Open for four-time winner Willie Anderson, who finished 11th. He died 4 months later at 30 from arteriosclerosis. Also, H.W. Sherwood opened with a 100 (and followed with a second-round 99). Only one player since has shot triple digits: in 1941, Brazilian Dr. Walter Ratto had a second-round 100.

St. Martin's is still there, but only as a 9-holer. The last three, though, remain the same as they were then.

The other Philly Open, in 1939 at Philadelphia Country Club's Spring Mill course, will always be remembered more for Sam Snead losing than Byron Nelson winning. Snead, the runner-up 2 years earlier, needed a par on the closing par 5 to win. But he thought he had to make a birdie. So he tried to hit a 2-wood onto the green on his second shot. Instead he hit it into a bunker well short, where it plugged. His next shot stayed in the sand. He finally exploded the next one out, but it went into another bunker. At that point someone told him that he could still tie if he could get up and down from there. After nearly making a 30-foot putt for 6 he missed the short one for 7 that no longer mattered. That hole later became the third.

The Open would be the only major he never won. He did have three more runner-ups: in 1947 (when he missed a 2 1/2-foot putt on the last playoff hole to lose by 1), 1949 (again by 1, in regulation) and 1953. Only Phil Mickelson, with five, has had more seconds.

For Nelson, it was the second of what would be five major wins, and his lone Open crown. He trailed by five after 54 holes before closing with a 68 to tie Craig Wood and Denny Shute. Nelson and Wood, who would win the Masters and Open in 1941, had 68s to eliminate Shute (76), a three-time major winner. Lord Bryon then won by three with a 70. On No. 4 he holed out for an eagle from 215 yards with a 1-iron to go up by five. A plaque marks the spot.

Wood became the first man to finish second in every major. He also lost in a playoff in each (including extra holes in the PGA, when it was still a match-play event), a distinction he shares with one Greg Norman. Marvin "Bud" Ward missed the playoff by one at 285, the lowest score by an amateur until Jack Nicklaus (282) in 1960.

Our town would get two other majors, a pair of PGA Championships in a 5-year span. The first was in 1958 at Havertown's Llanerch C.C. That was the first PGA contested at medal, or stroke, play. Dow Finsterwald, who lost in the final match the year before to Lionel Hebert (3 and 1), won his only major by two over Billy Casper. Snead, a three-time winner, was the third-round leader but settled for third with a closing 3-over 73.

In 1962, Gary Player got the third of his nine majors and first of two PGAs at Aronimink Golf Club in Newtown Square (which would host Tiger Woods' AT&T National in 2010-11), by one over Bob Goalby. The British Open had been held the previous week, the first of five times in that decade that those two majors were played back-to-back in July. Player, who missed the cut at Royal Troon, parred the 72nd hole after hitting a big slice from out of the trees onto the green with a 3-wood.

It's no secret that Aronimink would very much like to get another major, probably the PGA Championship. Until then Merion, which of course last hosted the Open in 1981, will have to carry that torch for cheese wit nation.

THE DAILY NEWS COVERS THE OPEN: Check out PhillyDailyNews.com's U.S. Open page for our guide to the tournament at Merion.