Lou Graham is an American professional golfer who won six PGA Tour tournaments including the 1975 U.S. Open….as most of his wins were in the 1970’s….after Graham joined the PGA Tour in September 1964. His first win was at the Minnesota Golf Classic at Hazeltine National Golf Club in 1967 during his third full year on the tour….as Graham won again in 1972 at the Liggett Myers Open….which was followed by his U.S. Open win in 1975. Graham had only three wins in fifteen years….and then in 1979….he won three more times in the space of eleven weeks. For this achievement, he won Golf Digest’s 1979 Comeback of the Year award. Graham’s greatest success in major championships has been at the U.S. Open….when he won in 1975 at the Medinah Country Club in Medinah, Illinois after beating John Mahaffey by two strokes in a playoff. In 1977, he finished 2nd while losing by one stroke to Hubert Green at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Oklahoma….as he also had a previous T-3 finish at the US Open in 1974.
John Mahaffey is an American professional golfer….who has won numerous tournaments including 10 PGA Tour events….and came close to winning back to back U.S. Opens….when in 1975 he lost in a playoff to Lou Graham at the Medinah Country Club….then the following year at the US Open, Mahaffey had a two-shot lead after 54 holes at the Atlanta Athletic Club in Johns Creek, Georgia before shooting a final round 73 and finishing T4th. The 1978 PGA championship was held at Oakmont Country Club in Oakmont, Pennsylvania….where Mahaffey became the best comeback winner in PGA history after trailing Tom Watson by seven strokes with 14 holes to play. Ultimately, the tournament came down to a three-player playoff between Mahaffey, Watson and Jerry Pate…..as all three players made par on the first playoff hole. The drama ended on the second playoff hole when Pate missed the green, Watson missed a 30-foot birdie attempt and Mahaffey made his 12-foot birdie putt for the Championship.
