US Open 2017: 5 best moments in history
By John Buhler
4. Ben Hogan survives car crash to win 1950 US Open
Ben Hogan won nine major championships in his professional golfing career. He is one of five men’s golfers to have won all four major tournaments in a career. Hogan would win the US Open four times in his career, but none were impressive than when he did it in 1950.
Hogan’s fourth career major came only 16 months after he and his wife Valerie nearly died in a car accident back on February 2, 1949. A Greyhound bus would collide with their car head-on under a clouded bridge. Hogan would reach across to the passenger’s side to protect his wife. Had he not done so, he would have died on impact as the steering column went through the driver’s seat.
Hogan suffered several injuries all over his body, including a twice-fractured pelvis and severe blood clots all over the place. Though he would suffer from circulatory problems for the rest of this life, Hogan would return to the PGA Tour in November 1949.
He would secure the “Miracle at Merion” by defeating 1946 champion Lloyd Mangrum and George Fazio in an 18-hole playoff round. Hogan would go on to win five more majors, including three in 1953 alone. He would win two Green Jackets in Augusta and twice more in the US Open before finishing his professional golfing career with nine major victories.