Early in the week of the 1990 US Open at Medinah, the bookmakers had Nick Faldo as narrow 9-1 favourite. The Englishman had won a second straight Masters Tournament two months earlier and was thus the only man in the field who had the opportunity to secure a ‘Grand Slam’ that season.
Just behind him in terms of interest in the paddock was Curtis Strange at 10-1. The American was looking to emulate the exploits of North Berwick-born Willie Anderson some 85 years earlier and win three consecutive instalments of the American national championship. Others who were fancied by the pundits and punters at Medinah included the likes of Greg Norman, Payne Stewart and Seve Ballesteros.
Hale Irwin was not being talked about. Although he had won the US Open twice before, back in the 1970s, he hadn’t won on the PGA Tour for more than five years and had only returned threefinishes on the circuit over the previous 18 months, although one of those had come in the Kemper Open in the lead-up to this, the 90th US Open. Despite that, Irwin wasn’t considered a likely contender at Medinah. He was 45 and the course was the longest ever seen for a US Open, measuring some 7,195 yards. He was playing at Medinah only thanks to a ‘special exemption’ from the USGA.
