US Open countdown: “Terrible Tommy” Bolt leads wire-to-wire
58th U.S. Open | June 12-14, 1958
Southern Hills Country Club, Tulsa, Oklahoma
Leaderboard
| Tommy Bolt, United States | 71 | - | 71 | - | 69 | - | 72 | — | 283 |
| Gary Player, South Africa | 75 | - | 68 | - | 73 | - | 71 | — | 287 |
| Julius Boros, United States | 71 | - | 75 | - | 72 | - | 71 | — | 289 |
| Gene Littler, United States | 74 | - | 73 | - | 67 | - | 76 | — | 290 |
| Walter Burkemo, United States | 75 | - | 74 | - | 70 | - | 72 | — | 291 |
| Bob Rosburg, United States | 75 | - | 74 | - | 72 | - | 70 | — | 291 |
Staying cool-headed in the dispiriting heat of his native state to win his only major was a huge badge of honor for Bolt.
It is because Bolt not only had a tendency to lose his temper, he also would fall into fits of club-snapping rage.
In fact, Bolt — nicknamed “Terrible Tommy” — once told a story about playing the 16th hole in the Bing Crosby Pro-Am at Pebble Beach Golf Links.
He had 135 yards remaining for his second shot. He asked his caddie for a 7-iron.
The caddie replied, “It’s either a 3-iron or a 3-wood — those are the only clubs you have left.”
Bolt finished with a four-stroke victory over Player, who was making his U.S. Open debut as a 22-year-old. With temperatures reaching 100 degrees and winds kicking up, Bolt, a 39-year-old former U.S. Army sergeant, was the lone man in the field not to shoot a round higher than 75.
He became the first wire-to-wire U.S. Open champion since Ben Hogan in 1953.
Bolt went on to win 15 PGA Tour events and was an instrumental figure in getting the 50-and-over Champions Tour off and running. At the time, he was one of five players to have shot 60 at a PGA Tour event, doing so at the 1954 Insurance City Open.
In his second national open, Jack Nicklaus made the cut and placed 41st. In search of his first U.S. Open title, Sam Snead missed the cut for the first time in 18 appearances.
todd.milles@thenewstribune.com
This story was originally published April 21, 2015 at 4:49 PM with the headline "US Open countdown: “Terrible Tommy” Bolt leads wire-to-wire ."