Jackson Donald Fleck (November 7, 1921 – March 21, 2014) was an American professional golfer, best known for winning the U.S. Open in 1955 in a playoff over

Ben Hogan William Ben Hogan (August 13, 1912 – July 25, 1997) was an American professional golfer who is generally considered to be one of the greatest players in the history of the game. He is notable for his profound influence on golf swing theory an ...

Early years

Born in 1921 and raised in

Bettendorf, Iowa Bettendorf is a city in Scott County, Iowa, United States. It is the 15th largest city of Iowa and the third-largest city in the "Quad Cities". It is part of the Davenport– Moline– Rock Island, IA- IL Metropolitan Statistical Area. The popul ...

, Fleck's parents were poor

farmer A farmer is a person engaged in agriculture, raising living organisms for food or raw materials. The term usually applies to people who do some combination of raising field crops, orchards, vineyards, poultry, or other livestock. A farmer m ...

s who had lost their land in the 1920s. He attended Davenport High School and played on its

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping ...

team. Fleck started as a caddie for a local dentist in the mid-1930s, turned professional in 1939, and worked as an assistant golf pro at the Des Moines Country Club for five dollars a week prior to

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. He joined the military in 1942 and served in the

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage o ...

as a

quartermaster Quartermaster is a military term, the meaning of which depends on the country and service. In land armies, a quartermaster is generally a relatively senior soldier who supervises stores or barracks and distributes supplies and provisions. In ...

; he participated in the D-Day invasion from a British rocket-firing ship off

Normandy Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...

Utah Beach Utah, commonly known as Utah Beach, was the code name for one of the five sectors of the Allied invasion of German-occupied France in the Normandy landings on June 6, 1944 (D-Day), during World War II. The westernmost of the five code-named la ...

. Within two weeks after his discharge from the service, Fleck was on the PGA's winter golf tour with pro friends trying to qualify for

PGA Tour The PGA Tour (stylized in all capital letters as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in the United States and North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also ...

events.

Pro career

After a few years of competing in local and PGA Tour events, Fleck decided to play full-time on the

Tour Tour or Tours may refer to: Travel * Tourism, travel for pleasure * Tour of duty, a period of time spent in military service * Campus tour, a journey through a college or university's campus * Guided tour, a journey through a location, directed ...

for two years. Within six months, Fleck had his first win — on the biggest stage in men's professional golf — at the 1955 U.S. Open. Fleck won an 18-hole Sunday playoff by three strokes over his idol,

, at the Olympic Club in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

. His first round deficit of nine strokes (behind

Tommy Bolt Tommy may refer to: People * Tommy (given name) * Tommy Atkins, or just Tommy, a slang term for a common soldier in the British Army Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Tommy'' (1931 film), a Soviet drama film * ''Tommy'' (1975 fil ...

), was the greatest number overcome by a U.S. Open winner. The following year he resigned his job as a municipal club pro in Davenport and moved to the

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...

area in October 1956. Fleck made three playoffs on tour in 1960, winning at the

Phoenix Open The Phoenix Open (branded as the WM Phoenix Open for sponsorship reasons) is a professional golf tournament on the PGA Tour, held in late January/early February at TPC Scottsdale in Scottsdale, Arizona. The tournament was originally the Arizona ...

in February. He tied for third at the U.S. Open in

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Jan ...

, and won his third and last tour event in October 1961, The Bakersfield Open, also in a playoff. Fleck finished in the top ten at the

PGA Championship The PGA Championship (often referred to as the US PGA Championship or USPGA outside the United States) is an annual golf tournament conducted by the Professional Golfers' Association of America. It is one of the four men's major championships ...

1962 Events January * January 1 – Western Samoa becomes independent from New Zealand. * January 3 – Pope John XXIII excommunicates Fidel Castro for preaching communism. * January 8 – Harmelen train disaster: 93 die in the wor ...

at Aronimink near

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

, a tie for seventh, then left the tour in

1963 Events January * January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Co ...

. He was a club pro in Wisconsin, Illinois, and California (Plumas Lake CC), and attempted a comeback on tour in 1970. Following the death of his wife Lynn in 1975, he qualified for the U.S. Open in

1977 Events January * January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democrat ...

at age 55, but missed the cut. Less than two years later, Fleck won the

PGA Seniors' Championship The Senior PGA Championship, established in 1937, is the oldest of the five major championships in men's senior golf. It is administered by the Professional Golfers' Association of America and is recognized as a major championship by both PGA ...

in February 1979, also won in a playoff, a year prior to the formation of the Senior PGA Tour. He was inducted into the Iowa Golf Hall of Fame in 1990. In 1993, needing money to salvage a little golf course he owned in rural Arkansas that had been damaged by flooding, a place he called ''Li'l Bit of Heaven'', he sold his 1955 U.S. Open gold medal. He lived in

Fort Smith, Arkansas Fort Smith is the third-largest city in Arkansas and one of the two county seats of Sebastian County. As of the 2020 Census, the population was 89,142. It is the principal city of the Fort Smith, Arkansas–Oklahoma Metropolitan Statistical Are ...

with his wife Carmen Fleck.

Personal

Fleck met his first wife, Lynn Burnsdale of

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, when she stopped in the municipal course's pro shop in Davenport in 1949 with a club that needed repair. They were married six weeks later and late the next year added their only child, a son. Fleck wanted to name him Snead Hogan Fleck, but they settled on Craig, after Craig Wood, the winner of the Masters and U.S. Open in 1941. Lynn is credited with encouraging him to play on tour in the early 1950s and again in the early 1970s. She died in 1975 and Fleck remarried in 1980. He married his wife Carmen in 2001. He died on March 21, 2014, in

, at the age of 92. He was the oldest living U.S. Open champion at the time of his death.

Professional wins (9)

PGA Tour wins (3)

PGA Tour playoff record (3–2)

Other wins (4)

*1952 RGCC Shelden Invitational *1954 RGCC Shelden Invitational *1964

Illinois PGA Championship The Illinois PGA Championship is a golf tournament that is conducted by the Illinois PGA (Professional Golfers' Association). The 54-hole, stroke play Championship conducted over three days is the premier member event on the Illinois PGA calendar ...

*1965

Illinois Open Championship The Illinois Open Championship is a golf tournament that is administered by the Illinois PGA (Professional Golfers' Association). The state championship of golf is a 54-hole championship over three days to determine the finest player in the sta ...

Senior wins (2)

*1979

*1995

Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf The Bass Pro Shops Legends of Golf at Big Cedar is a golf tournament in Missouri on the PGA Tour Champions. Since 2014, it has been played at Big Cedar Lodge in Ridgedale on the par-3 Top of the Rock course, designed by Jack Nicklaus and the 18- ...

- Demaret Division (with

)

Major championships

Wins (1)

¹ Defeated Hogan in an 18-hole playoff – Fleck 69 (–1), Hogan 72 (+2).

Results timeline

''Note: Fleck never played

The Open Championship The Open Championship, often referred to as The Open or the British Open, is the oldest golf tournament in the world, and one of the most prestigious. Founded in 1860, it was originally held annually at Prestwick Golf Club in Scotland. Later t ...

.''
CUT = missed the half-way cut (3rd round cut in 1960 PGA Championship)
DQ = disqualified
WD = withdrew
R64, R32, R16, QF, SF = Round in which player lost in PGA Championship match play
"T" = tied

Summary

*Most consecutive cuts made – 5 (three times) *Longest streak of top-10s – 2 (1955 U.S. Open – 1955 PGA)

U.S. national team appearances

Hopkins Trophy The Hopkins Trophy was an annual men's professional team golf competition between teams representing the United States and Canada. It was played from 1952 to 1956. The Americans won all five contests that were played. The matches were sponsored by ...

: 1956 (winners)

References

External links

Google Books
Bettendorf Iowa's Exciting City published 2000 * {{DEFAULTSORT:Fleck, Jack American male golfers PGA Tour golfers PGA Tour Champions golfers Winners of men's major golf championships Golfers from Iowa Golfers from Arkansas People from Bettendorf, Iowa Sportspeople from Fort Smith, Arkansas United States Navy sailors United States Navy personnel of World War II Burials at Fort Smith National Cemetery 1921 births 2014 deaths