Frost Adapts 'The Greatest Game Ever Played'

[Tuesday, June 18th, 2002]
"The Greatest Game Ever Played," a nonfiction Hyperion book written by "Twin Peaks" co-creator Mark Frost about golfer Francis Ouimet's unlikely 1913 U.S. Open victory over Harry Vardon. Frost will write the script and produce with David Steinberg and Larry Brezner, reports The Hollywood Reporter

Ouimet, a former caddy, was the first amateur to win the Open. The only way any of his rivals would know him was if he'd carried their clubs.

"Francis grew up low to middle class and worked at the country club as a caddy," said Frost, who came across the story as he watched the U.S. come from behind to win the Ryder Cup in 1999. That match was capped by a 40-foot putt by Justin Leonard that prompted an announcer to compare it with a shot Oiumet had made on the same course in the Open. Frost, an avid golfer who shoots in the low 80s, hopes the story has the kind of historical tone in golf that "Seabiscuit" has in horse racing.

"Francis' victory was the greatest underdog story in the history of American sports," Frost said. "Here was this amateur playing against his idol, Vardon ... who won the British Open five times. In the previous two times he'd come to America, Vardon never lost a match. After Francis was added at the last second, his caddy was seduced away from him by another pro, and he wound up having a 10-year old kid carrying his bags. Francis ... forced a playoff with Vardon and British Open winner Ted Ray. These two seasoned champions teed off against him the next morning, and the 19-year old kid who'd never won anything in his life beat them straight up." Ouimet went on to win two amateur championships, but never turned pro.

"He wanted to erase the idea that he was hired help, so he used golf as a trajectory to become a respected member of the Boston community, a stockbroker and ... president of the Boston Bruins," Frost said.

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