A few hours after the 210 top amateur golfers s"et out to decide who would be U.S. champion for 1949, the tournament came to a water-logged stop. Rain beat down on Rochester's Oak Hill course. When play was resumed, it was too dark for Ted Bishop, the 1946 champion, to complete his first-round match—and he bowed early next morning to a Denver schoolteacher named John Kraft.
It was that kind of tournament, with high winds and rain confounding the form charts. Bull-shouldered Bob ("Skee") Riegel, the 1947 champ, upset Toledo's golfing virtuoso and tourney favorite, Frank Stranahan, before getting belted unceremoniously out-of...
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