4 of The Greatest U.S. Open Golf Collapses | Golf Digest

Golf Digest presents the biggest collapses at the US Open Golf tournament. The US Open has become known as The Choke Open. A panel of golf journalists including Jaime Diaz (Editor-in-Chief, Golf World), Alex Myers (Associate Editor, GolfDigest.com), Guy Yocom (Senior Writer, Golf Digest), and E. Michael Johnson (Senior Editor, Golf Digest), give their picks for the greatest meltdowns, chokes, and collapses in US Open golf history. US Open golf collapses include: Dustin Johnson in the 2010 US Open at Pebble Beach. Gil Morgan at Pebble Beach in 1992. Arnold Palmer at Olympic Club in 1966. Phil Mickelson at Winged Foot in 2006. Transcript You know, the U.S. Open is by its nature. It s the choke open. It s where people give away leads because it s so hard to keep playing well when the pressure s on cause the margin of error is so small, it s the smallest. The worst U.S. Open collapse I can think of is Dustin Johnson in 2010. Had absolutely torn up the course through three rounds and here he comes out on Sunday with a three shot lead. Absolutely has a meltdown and just like that five shots are gone. He ended up shooting an 82. That s gotta be one that really stings. Gil Morgan, Pebble Beach, 1992. He was the first gut to ever get it to double digits under par in a U.S. Open. He got to 12 under par and no one had ever gotten to 10. He had a seven stroke lead. Suddenly it just becomes this free fall. [Guy] You just saw a guy kinda like slowly bleed to death. It was torture to watch. Arnold Palmer in 66 at Olympic Club. He had a seven stroke lead with nine to go. The excitement of trying to win the Open cause Arnold had lost a couple playoffs already in the U.S. Open. There was a mental burden there. Wanting to break Hogan s record, which he says was the key. Billy Casper shot 32. I think that s something that s forgotten and Arnold shot 39. We ve seen a lot of 39s in U.S. Opens that didn t end up costing people the tournament, but it was just wrong place, wrong time. The U.S. Open collapse that sticks with me the most is Phil Mickelson at Winged Foot in 2006. Well you have to remember what Mickelson was going for at that U.S. Open was three majors in a row and the U.S. Open. Giving him that national title, would have catapulted him into a totally different stratosphere in the history of the game. He s an all-time great yes, but it was a chance to join the really all-time greats. Still haven’t subscribed to Golf Digest on YouTube? ►► http://bit.ly/golfdigestyoutubesub ABOUT GOLF DIGEST Home of the annual Hot List, instructional videos, news and trends, Golf Digest is the definitive destination for all-things golf. 4 of The Greatest U.S. Open Golf Collapses | Golf Digest