Corey Pavin’s 1995 U.S. Open

by Chad Hollingsworth
Love of Sports Correspondent

Please humor me by glancing at these physical stats that PGATour.com lists for Corey Pavin’s physical build:

Height: 5’9”
Weight: 155 lbs.

And this is right now. And the man is 48 years old.

Basically, I can’t even emphasize how undersized Pavin is now. It’s even harder to explain how undersized he was in 1995 when he teed off at Shinnecock Hills for the U.S. Open. Yet, on that June day in 1995, one of the best golfers of the 1990s (and at the time, one of the best players to have not yet won a major) inked his name in the PGA history books while doing it in heart-stopping fashion.

Let’s go back to 1995 and take a look at what happened on the Sunday at this U.S. Open championship. Pavin is a little over 200 yards from the green on the 72nd hole at Shinnecock Hills.  Now remember, Pavin is not a big guy. If this was Tiger Woods, he’d calmly ask Steve Williams to hand him his 6 or 7 iron and Tiger would go ahead and launch a high shot which would land pin high. 

However, Pavin did not have the luxury of Tiger’s strength and the luxury of today’s equipment. Remember when Pavin used to shill Cleveland VAS irons? No? Okay, I’m guess I’m getting older by the minute. Moving on…

Pavin gets his 4 wood from his caddy and proceeds to hit one of the most remarkable shots in PGA history. His ball bounced just short of the green and then rolled to within five feet of the hole. The fact that a ball could even stop on Shinnecock’s slippery greens is incredible. The fact that Pavin knocked a 4 wood stiff to within five feet is astounding. A two putt for par (the guy probably had so much adrenaline going through his 5’9” frame, he’s lucky he didn’t knock it ten feet past the hole) and Pavin had won his first major.

It wasn’t easy though. All day long, Pavin had 2 time British Open winner Greg Norman on his tail. In case you forgot, Norman had yet to win a major on American soil (but he ended up winning at Augusta in 1996 so it all turned out… wait… oh… never mind). And right behind Norman was another fan favorite in Tom Lehman. Lehman essentially shared the “Best Player To Have Never Won A Major” burden with Pavin for a few years and would shed it by winning the British Open in 1996. To put it into today’s standards, it’d be like Stewart Cink (talented player that hasn’t won a major) holding off Geoff Ogilvy and Kenny Perry (an Aussie with a major victory and a resurgent veteran who’s playing well enough to win a major soon) winning his first major. Obviously, Pavin pulled off a hard-fought victory with tough competition on a tough course.

Unfortunately, Pavin fell off the radar not too long after his U.S. Open triumph. However, he played on three Ryder Cup teams in the 1990s, owns 27 victories in his career, and arguably had one of the best mustaches sported by a professional athlete.

Pavin has also recently started to bring his game back into form thirteen years later. On a Tiger-less Tour, the opportunities are ripe for young guns and forgotten veterans. He finished tied for 12th at the Buick Open over the weekend and also finished tied for 9th at the Travelers Championship two weeks ago. It’d be nice to see Pavin pull off the unthinkable again with a victory, FedEx Cup run, and possible Ryder Cup nomination. Will it happen? Probably not, but I wouldn’t bet against a man who’s made a career of surprising golf fans either.