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Ode to golf's greatest Cinderellas in spirit of NCAA tournament

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John Daly with the Wanamaker Trophy after his 1991 PGA Championship victory. (PGA TOUR Archive)

John Daly with the Wanamaker Trophy after his 1991 PGA Championship victory. (PGA TOUR Archive)

Written by Laury Livsey

The NCAA Championship is already in full swing and as a March rite of passage, the tournament typically produces a Cinderella or two, teams that seemingly have no chance to win but ended up busting brackets. Sometimes, Cinderella, as in 1983 North Carolina State or 1985 Villanova, win the whole thing—the ultimate Cinderellas.

On the PGA TOUR, there have been plenty of unlikely winners over the years, as well. While certainly not an exhaustive list, here’s a look at a few of the more compelling out-of-nowhere wins.

Eric Axley, 2006 Valero Texas Open

A TOUR rookie, the lefthanded Axley parlayed a pair of second- and third-round 63s—including 53 consecutive bogey-free holes—into triumph. Despite a final-round, 1-over 71, Axley was still three better than Justin Rose, Dean Wilson and Anthony Kim. In 183 additional TOUR appearances following his win, Axley’s best finish was a tie for third.


Axley wins the 2006 Valero Texas Open
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    Axley wins the 2006 Valero Texas Open


    Bob Byman, 1979 Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard

    After 13 years at Rio Pinar Country Club, the Florida Citrus Open took on a name change (Bay Hill Citrus Classic) and moved to a new course (Arnold Palmer’s Bay Hill Club). Considering who was in the field, Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Lee Trevino, Tom Watson and Hale Irwin, among other stars, Bob Byman’s playoff victory over John Schroeder was remarkable as it came in only his 15th career PGA TOUR start, his only victory in 150 total appearances.

    Rod Curl, 1974 Colonial National Invitation

    Rod Curl was working construction when he took up golf, at age 19. Twelve years later, the member of the Wintu Tribe of Northern California won his lone TOUR win, coming at one of the PGA TOUR’s venerable tournaments and golf courses and against the best player in the game. The 5-foot-5 Curl outdueled Jack Nicklaus on the final day in Fort Worth, Texas, holding off the Golden Bear by a stroke to win. Curl made a critical, 20-foot birdie putt on the 16th hole that eventually earned him the victory.

    John Daly, 1991 PGA Championship

    As the ninth alternate when the week in Indiana began, it didn’t look like Daly would get into the field. But by Wednesday, after Nick Price withdrew, Daly was in. With a 69-67-69 start at Crooked Stick Golf Club, Daly, a rookie who played the inaugural season on the Korn Ferry Tour a year earlier, led Kenny Knox and Craig Stadler by three shots. Daly shot a final-round, 1-under 72 to cruise to a three-shot win over Bruce Lietzke.

    John Daly won the 1991 PGA Championship. (PGA TOUR Archive)

    John Daly won the 1991 PGA Championship. (PGA TOUR Archive)

    Derek Ernst, 2013 Truist Championship

    When 23-year-old Derek Ernst arrived in Charlotte for the Truist Championship (then-Wells Fargo Championship), he was making his ninth career TOUR appearance. Earlier in the week, he was on his way to Athens, Georgia, for that week’s Korn Ferry Tour tournament. He turned his car and began heading east when the TOUR called him and told him he was in the Charlotte field. All Ernst did after that was put together rounds of 67-71-72-70 to force a playoff with David Lynn, an overtime session he won when Lynn bogeyed the first-sudden-death hole, No. 18 at Quail Hollow Club. In 134 career PGA TOUR starts, that victory remains the only top 10 of Ernst’s career.


    Ernst wins the Wells Fargo Championship
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      Ernst wins the Wells Fargo Championship


      Dick Hart, 1965 Azalea Open

      At the 1963 PGA Championship, Dick Hart held both the 18- and 36-hole leads only to finish 76-74 for a tie for 17th. The Hinsdale (Illinois) Golf Club professional, a part-time PGA TOUR player, came back from his PGA disappointment two years later and picked up his lone PGA TOUR title, winning in one of the more compelling playoffs in TOUR history, in Wilmington, North Carolina. On the eighth playoff hole against Phil Rodgers, Hart prevailed, making par to Rodgers’ bogey.

      David Ishii, 1990 Sony Open in Hawaii

      David Ishii never played more than eight PGA TOUR tournaments in a season and was primarily a Japan Golf Tour player during his career. In 1990, he entered his hometown tournament (then known as the Hawaiian Open) and sandwiched a 67-68 showing between opening and closing 72s at Waialae Country Club to hold off Paul Azinger by a shot.

      Don Iverson, 1975 B.C. Open

      With 18 holes to play at the weather-delayed B.C. Open, Iverson trailed Butch Baird by two strokes Monday morning. When Baird fell off, with a final-round, 3-over 74, Iverson matched Jim Colbert and David Graham’s 68s to secure his lone TOUR win.

      Max Evans, 1955 Long Island Rotary Open

      Nobody gave Max Evans much chance of winning on Long Island. The Associated Press referred to him as “lightly regarded,” while United Press International called him a “dark horse.” None of that mattered, as Evans posted back-to-back 67s at Huntington Crescent Club to win by three, beating three-time 1955 TOUR winner Tommy Bolt and Don Fairfield.

      Jack Fleck, 1955 U.S. Open

      Not only was Jack Fleck winless in 55 previous PGA TOUR starts, he opened the 1955 U.S. Open with a 6-over 76 at San Francisco’s Olympic Club. No problem. Fleck recovered to make the cut by shooting a second-round 69—one of only six under-par scores that week. He then closed the tournament with a 67 to force an 18-hole playoff with 63-time TOUR winner Ben Hogan. As the prohibitive underdog and with most of the gallery rooting for Hogan to win his 10th major championship and fifth U.S. Open, Fleck held a one-shot lead with one hole remaining in the 18-hole playoff. Fleck parred No. 18 at Olympic, while Hogan double-bogeyed, giving Fleck his lone major title.

      William McGirt, the Memorial Tournament presented by Workday 2016

      Whoever emerged from the sudden-death playoff at the Memorial was going to earn Cinderella status, as William McGirt and Jon Curran finished regulation tied at 15-under. In the playoff, McGirt, the Lumberton, North Carolina, native got up and down from behind 18th green at Muirfield Village Golf Club, rolling in a 6-footer that gave him the victory in his 165th TOUR start. McGirt joked after winning the $1,530,000 first prize that he thought the $16,000 he won for winning the 2007 Cabarrus Classic on the Tar Heel Tour was a life-changer.


      William McGirt wins the 2016 Memorial Tournament
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        William McGirt wins the 2016 Memorial Tournament



        Orville Moody, 1969 U.S. Open

        An excellent ball-striker but a historically poor putter, U.S. Army veteran Orville Moody qualified for the U.S. Open by going through both local and sectional qualifying. Once in the tournament, “Sarge” put himself into contention with a 71-70-68 start. He was three shots behind Miller Barber with 18 holes to play. Moody managed a 2-over 72 at Champions Golf Club in Houston (only two players broke par on the final day), and with Barber faltering, Moody hung on for a one-shot win over Deane Beman, Al Geiberger and Bob Rosburg. Although an 11-time PGA TOUR Champions winner, who found new life as a player using a long putter after turning 50, his U.S. Open title was his only PGA TOUR win.

        Francis Ouimet, 1913 U.S. Open

        After losing in the quarterfinals of the 1913 U.S. Amateur, Ouimet made his debut in the U.S. Open, held at The Country Club in Brookline, Massachusetts. In one of the most unlikely U.S. Opens in history, Ouimet, a 20-year-old Brookline native, with a 10-year-old caddie, Eddie Lowery, finished regulation tied with British golfers Ted Ray and Harry Vardon. In the 18-hole playoff in the rain, Ouimet shot a 1-under, beating Vardon by five shots and Ray by six.

        Fred Wampler, 1954 Los Angeles Open

        The head pro at Denver Country Club was a full-time TOUR player from 1953 to 1957 and a sometimes touring professional after that. At Fox Hills Country Club in Culver City, outside Los Angeles, Wampler took a five-shot, 54-hole lead at the TOUR’s season-opener then stumbled badly on the final day, shooting a 4-over 75 on Sunday but still able to hold off Jerry Barber and Chick Harbert. The win was Wampler’s lone TOUR title.

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