Hubert Green, whose unique swing, mental toughness and determination saw him win 2 major championships (US Open and USPGA), win multiple times on the PGA Tour and Champions Tour, have a 100% record in Ryder Cup singles and be inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame.
Unorthodox
Hubert Green’s swing and putting style were, to say the least unorthodox.
He had a backswing which was very short and lightning quick. It certainly looked very unusual but his accuracy on finding fairways and greens, allied with an ability to get the “ball in the hole”, resulted in him being one of the best competitors of his era.
Jim Murray, the acclaimed American Sportswriter, known for his caustic wit, once wrote: “His swing looks like a drunk trying to find a keyhole in the dark”.
Hubert Green responded to questions about his swing with witty one-liners such as “I don’t try to analyse my swing. I looked at it once on film and almost got sick”.
As for his putting style, the image (below) clearly illustrates his split-handed putting grip, stroke and stance with a hickory-shafted putter, and yet he had one of the best short games of any professional golfer.
Jerry Pate, who as a 22-year-old rookie won the 1976 US Open, paid Hubert Green a fantastic compliment by saying “Although his swing and putting style were not ones to be mimicked, he beat you through hours of practice and unfettered determination”.
Early Days
Hubert Myatt Green was born on 28th December 1946 in Birmingham, Alabama. As a junior, he played golf at the Birmingham Country Club where his parents were both members.
In 1964 he graduated from Shades Valley High School and secured a golf scholarship at Florida State University. Whilst at University he won several prestigious competitions, including the Southern and the Alabama Amateur championships on two occasions. The pinnacle of his amateur career was probably his victory by 5 shots in the Miami Invitational, the largest collegiate tournament in the USA.
He graduated in 1968 with a degree in Business Administration and in the same year he undertook National Service with the Alabama National Guard.
Early Professional Career
He turned professional in 1969 and secured his card for the PGA Tour in 1970.
His first professional victory on the PGA Tour came in May 1971 at the Houston Champions International and he ended the season by being named PGA Tour Rookie of the Year.
He secured many victories on the PGA Tour throughout the 1970s, including winning three PGA Tour events over consecutive weeks in March 1976, with an aggregate score for those three events of 40 under par!!
US Open 1977
Hubert Green won his first major at the 1977 US Open, which was held at the Southern Hills Country Club, Oklahoma.
He led a quality field, including the likes of Nicklaus, Miller & Irwin from start to finish.
Sounds easy? Ask any professional golfer on whether winning a major is easy? For Hubert Green, it was far from easy and even more so when he received a death threat during the final round.
Just after Green had completed the 14th and requiring a level par finish over the closing 4 holes to secure his maiden major, he was advised by officials of a death threat, saying that he would be shot as he approached the 15th green. Options such as halting play to clear spectators from the course or suspend play to the following day were offered, but Green bravely decided to play on.
His renowned mental toughness saw him through with a remarkable Par-Birdie-Par-Bogey finish, winning by 1 stroke from Lou Graham, who had won the US Open in 1975.
Duel in the Sun
The consensus is that the 1977 Open Championship, which was played on the Ailsa course at Turnberry, was one of the best tournaments played in the modern era.
This Open was dubbed the “Duel in the Sun”. Tom Watson and Jack Nicklaus were paired together for the final 2 rounds and under clear summer skies effectively fought out a personal duel, with Watson finally edging out Nicklaus by 1 shot with a winning total of 268 (12 under par).
Only one other player finished under par, albeit a distant 11 shots behind Watson and that was Hubert Green.
This resulted in one of the most famous golfing quotes of all time when he said “I won the golf tournament. I don’t know what game those other two guys were playing”.
Other Quotes
Some of his other well-known quotes and one-liners included:
“I just try to move an object from one place to the next”, when he was referring to his approach to golf.
“My father told me if you’re digging a ditch, dig a good ditch. If you’re cutting the grass, cut it well. Whatever you’re doing, do the best you can”.
At the 1974 US Open played at Winged Foot, his playing partner Lanny Wadkins complained about his lie in the deep rough. Hubert Green responded with “It couldn’t have been too bad. I could still see your knees”.
Augusta Masters 1978
The Augusta Masters was a major championship that eluded Hubert throughout his illustrious career, but in 1978 he came ever so close to winning.
After 54 holes, he was 3 shots clear of the field and 7 shots clear of the eventual winner Gary Player.
Player shot an amazing final round of 64 (8 under par), taking only 30 shots for the back nine. This meant that Hubert had to birdie the 18th to force a play-off. After a tremendous approach shot to 3 feet from the flag, he backed away from the putt after hearing radio announcer Jim Kelly, say something. He missed the putt and thus lost the Masters by 1 stroke.
To his credit, he never blamed Kelly and he never made any sort of excuse for this very costly miss.
USPGA Championship 1985
Hubert Green finally won his second major at the 1985 USPGA Championship, which was held at the Cherry Hills Country Club, Colorado.
After 36 holes, he was 2 shots behind the defending champion Lee Trevino. However, in the 3rd round, Trevino shot a 75 whilst Green shot a 70, resulting in Green leading Trevino by 3 shots entering the final round.
Hubert Green held his nerve during the final round, shooting a (one-over) 72. His winning score of 278 (6 under par) secured his second major by a margin of 2 shots over Trevino.
This was the 19th and final PGA victory of his professional career.
Ryder Cup
Hubert Green represented the USA 3 times in the biennial Ryder Cup. He made his debut in 1977 when the event was played at Royal Lytham & St Annes, and the last time the Ryder Cup was contested between the USA and GB & Ireland.
The format in that year was reduced to 20 matches (5 foursomes, 5 fourballs and 10 singles). In the fourballs, Hubert partnered Tom Watson to a 5&4 win over Brian Barnes and Tommy Horton. In the singles, he defeated Eamon Darcy 1 up.
In 1979, the match was held at The Greenbrier, West Virginia. The format was as per today but with Team Europe replacing GB & Ireland. Despite a 100% record from his first appearance, Hubert only played twice. In the foursomes on Day 1, in partnership with rookie Fuzzy Zoeller, he lost 3&2 to Seve Ballesteros and Antonio Garrido.
However, in the singles, he beat Peter Oosterhuis 2up. An impressive performance, even more so when you consider this was the first time Oosterhuis lost a Ryder Cup singles match, with a record before this defeat of Won 6, Halved 1, Lost 0.
His final appearance in the Ryder Cup was at The Belfry in 1985, where Team Europe won for the first time. He again partnered Fuzzy Zoeller, but they lost both their fourball matches to Paul Way and Ian Woosnam. He did, however, manage to maintain his 100% win record in singles matches by defeating a Ryder Cup great, Nick Faldo, by 3&1.
World Golf Hall of Fame
His golfing career and achievements were finally recognised when, in 2007, he was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame. His profile on the Hall of Fame website commences with “Tough and talented, Hubert Green stood tall in an era of giants”…says it all.
Champions Tour
In 1997 he joined the PGA Champions Tour and won four times in all. In 1998, his first victory on the Seniors Tour was sealed with a stunning Par, 4 birdies and an eagle in the final 6 holes to defeat Hale Irwin by a single shot. His final victory came in 2002 at the Long Island Classic, where he again pipped Hale Irwin, but this time in a playoff.
In 2003, he was diagnosed with oral cancer but after undergoing treatment he returned the following year to the Champions Tour. He finally retired from the Champions Tour in 2009.
He sadly passed away on 19th June 2018 at the age of 71, following his long battle with throat cancer.
Golden Generation
Defined parallels can be drawn from the respective sporting careers of Hubert Green and Andy Murray.
In his career, which due to injury is sadly coming to an end, Andy has won 3 Grand Slams, but they have been achieved during the golden tennis generation of Federer, Nadal and Djokovic, possibly the 3 greatest players of all time.
Likewise, Hubert Green won his 2 Major Championships during the golden golfing generation of Nicklaus, Watson, Trevino, Ballesteros…and many, many more greats of the game.
Hopefully, in generations to come, Hubert Green will always be remembered as a true legend and gentleman of golf, and he will always be my golfing hero.
Over to You
Over to the Golfing Herald readers to share any memories of Hubert Green and to comment on where you believe he stands within the pantheon of golfing greats?
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