Webb Domain

By Joe Schackman

When the dust settled at the 2012 U.S. Open, Webb Simpson was left holding the trophy. 

Shortly after finishing his third round on Saturday night, Graeme McDowell surveyed the scene. He was just one shot of the lead at that point, sitting in prime position. Nevertheless, McDowell knew what was in store. The final round of the U.S. Open, he said, would be a “street fight.” Now, a golf tournament represents a street fight only inasmuch as West Side Story is an accurate depiction of gang violence. But the message was clear: Sunday would be tough, gritty, and very ugly. 

Out of that mess emerged an unlikely victor. Twenty-six-year-old Webb Simpson rose above a field that included previous Open champions McDowell and Jim Furyk, gutting out two stellar weekend rounds to claim his first major.

Simpson might not have been a household name before Sunday, but he'd been building up to this moment for some time. As recent as last year, he’d put together a few great performances, including winning the Wyndham Championship in August 2011 and then capturing the Deutsche Bank Tournament. Simpson was the points leader in the run-up to the Tour Championship, and if it wasn’t for a fantastic charge by Bill Haas, he would have pocketed the $10 million prize.

Thanks to a slow start to the 2012 season, though, he managed to fly under the radar at the U.S. Open, and his opening rounds of 72 and 73 did little to change that. But Saturday proved to be a turning point. He fired a 2-under 68, bringing himself within striking distance of the lead.

On a course as tough as Olympic, Simpson knew there was no way he could win the tournament on his own. As everything stood, it would take something along the lines of a 65 to hunt down the leaders, and that was out of the question. What he would need was a little help from those around him.

While Simpson lurked, Furyk sat in the driver’s seat. For a player as talented and experienced as him, the U.S. Open appeared ripe for the taking. Yet Furyk faltered, and as he stepped to the 16th tee, he found himself tied with Simpson — who had just finished his round — and in a dogfight with McDowell. He had the only two par fives on the course left in front of him. Three holes, two birdie chances. Everyone could do the math.

What didn’t add up for Furyk, however, was the new tee placement on 16. It sat 100 yards closer than the day before, and that difference threw him for a loop. He never committed to his swing, and hit an ugly snap hook into the left trees. It would mark the end of Furyk’s Open hopes. He had a chance on 18 to force a playoff, but by then, there was nothing left in the tank. Furyk put his wedge into the left bunker.

McDowell had his own set of chances, despite struggling off the tee throughout the final round. And after a birdie on 17, he stood just one shot behind Simpson. But that would be as close as he would get. McDowell put his second shot on 18 about 24 feet away from the hole. The ensuing putt was never on line, and it rolled left. The miss clinched the championship for Webb Simpson.

To put Simpson’s back-to-back rounds of 68 into context, just a day earlier Tiger Woods’ successive 69 and 70 had set the world on fire and given him the lead at -1. Simpson bettered that by three shots amid tricky conditions on one of golf's toughest courses.

Simpson did it without a signature shot, like the one that Bubba Watson blasted out of the pine straw at the Masters, or the chip out of the rough that Woods made at The Memorial. Rather, what clinched the trophy for Webb were 36 holes of uneventful, but error-free, golf. And in the U.S. Open, as in a street fight, the player left standing at the end is sometimes just the one who managed to fall backwards the slowest.


Joe Schackman is a co-founder and editor of Began in '96