Play-off tradition causes fans frustration

THE USGA, by general agreement, did a great job in staging the 108th US Open Championship. But they lost a lot of friends yesterday through the continuation of their tradition of deciding a tie in the event with an 18-hole play-off.

That issue is discussed elsewhere on this page but suffice to say, there were plenty of frustrated people at Torrey Pines on Sunday night.

As far as the USGA are concerned, it’s a straightforward situation. Tradition has a part to play in it but they also believe this is the best way of identifying the outstanding player that particular week. With a full 18-hole play-off, they insist there is less likelihood of a fluke winner and obviously there is merit in that argument. However, it doesn’t necessarily stand up and most certainly did not in 1955 at Olympic, San Francisco, when a virtual unknown, Jack Fleck, defeated the legendary Ben Hogan, thereby denying the great man a record fifth Open title.