This Day in Golf History: June 3

On this date in 1945, three-time U.S. Open winner Hale Irwin was born in Joplin, Missouri. Irwin was an excellent football player, but he transferred that toughness onto the golf course and not only excelled in the U.S. Open but was a great player on tough courses in general. Perhaps his greatest display of toughness was winning the “Massacre at Winged Foot” in the 1974 U.S. Open with a 7-over-par score. The hall-of-fame golfer won the U.S. Open in 1974, 1979 and 1990, plus the U.S. Senior Open in 1998 and 2000.