This year the U.S. Open was played at Oakland Hills Country Club in Birmingham, Michigan, a course so feared golfers call it "The Monster". The second hole is a difficult 527 yard par five.

As T.C. Chen stood at the second hole tee during the first round, his face reflected confidence and concentration. He took out his number one wood and drove the ball 292 yards, a long drive by any standard, and in the fairway. Having given himself a good start, he looked relaxed as he approached his second shot. His hips turned, his arms swung, and the ball was off with a crack, straight on line with the pin. It dropped eighteen feet from the cup and then without any hesitation rolled right in. The gallery reacted at first with silence, as if shaken, and then broke out in wild applause. They had just seen the first double eagle in U.S. Open history.

Two hundred yards away, T.C. Chen had no idea he had accomplished an historic first. Finally someone told him he had just scored a double eagle. He reacted at first with a blank face and then broke into a smile.

Many golfers losing the U.S. Open, the most prestigious tournament in golf, in the last round might have lost their temper, stamped their feet, thrown a club or two, but not T.C. Chen. His equanimity and poise make him stand out among his peers. Said a reporter from Newsday, "He smiles at every question, and struggles with the answer, doing so graciously."

Chen also cares deeply about his country. After he hit his double eagle, he affixed a small Republic of China flag to his cap. One old friend humorously remarked that Chen was proud of being a competitor from the ROC but, because he hadn't been in the spotlight, had not had a chance to demonstrate his patriotism. After his historic shot, he immediately took advantage of the opportunity to announce himself and his country.

T.C. Chen's father says, "Whatever he sets himself to do he does thoroughly. He's much more conscientious than most people." When Chen was a boy on the farm, no one washed the buffalo cleaner or treated them better, according to his father.

Such competitive instincts extended to golf. His home was next to the Linkou Golf Course, and Chen and the neighborhood youngsters often played a primitive kind of golf with tree branches and stones and old golf balls. In his junior high school days during vacation, he would work as a caddy to earn a few dollars and pick up some tips. On school days after class he would go by himself to the course to practice his game.

Chen left school at fifteen, as his family's economic situation required him to work. After serving as an apprentice in a motorcycle factory for a year, he realized that his heart was still with golf. His older brother was already an excellent amateur golfer, and Chen decided to make him his model. The regimen he then committed himself to featured rising at 4:30 each morning to run six kilometers to strengthen his legs and improve his stamina. After this warm-up, he was ready for serious practice. "He would take the same shot at the same angle with the same club over and over, concentrating on the feel when the club met the ball," says a friend of over twenty years.

At 18, Chen entered the Youth Cup Golf Tournament for the first time and walked away the winner. The victory cemented his determination to become a golfer and landed him a place in the amateur golf association. The director of the association, Lu Wei-hsiang, calls Chen one of the finest golfers he has ever met and comments, "He has a good mind and is extremely calm. He knows how to read wind direction and speed and ball lies quite well. Mistakes don't faze him and he corrects his errors very quickly."

In the past ten years, T.C. Chen has begun to put together an enviable record for himself. In 1976, as the national representative at the Eisenhower Cup in Portugal, he placed fourth. In 1979, he won five of the six tournaments in Asia that he entered. In five years on the amateur tour, Chen triumphed in 22 tournaments and finished second in seven more.

In 1980, Chen made the big move into the professional ranks and in 1983 entered the American Professional Golf Association. Applicants must pass a strenuous test that several thousand golfers take every year, of which only the top fifty pass. Chen placed fourth and became the first golfer from the ROC and Asia to join the PGA.

Throughout his career, it has been his brother, who first inspired Chen to devote his life to golf, that has been his greatest influence. Chen credits him with helping him maintain his poise and pushing him to study English and Japanese, invaluable tools for a life abroad. When not practicing or playing golf, Chen has few amusements to entertain himself, which prompts him to frequently phone up his family and friends in Taiwan, sometimes waking them up in the dead of night. One day his mother answered the phone and heard her son ask her from thousands of miles away, "Mom, how do you cook pork with soy sauce?"

(Mark Halperin)

[Picture Caption]

T. C. Chen studies a putt at the U.S. Open last month (AP photo).

Chen practices here at the Linkou Golf Club driving range.

A younger Chen manhandles a chicken leg at his brother's engagement dinner.

Chen in his last year of junior high school.

Chen and his older brother, an excellent amateur golfer (Olympus Sports photo).

Linkou Elementary School, where Chen studied in his early years.

Chen poses after winning the Dunlop Tournament in Japan.

Chen's three year old niece works on her putting stroke. The pictures tothe sides are from Japanese tournaments won this year by the Chen brothers.

Passing down the family trade: Chen's older brother (at left) employs a nephew for caddy duty.

Chen's mother, who rarely gets a look these days at her busy son.

Chen practices here at the Linkou Golf Club driving range.

A younger Chen manhandles a chicken leg at his brother's engagement dinner.

Chen and his older brother, an excellent amateur golfer （Olympus Sports photo）.

Chen in his last year of junior high school.

an excellent amateur golfer （Olympus Sports photo）.

Chen poses after winning the Dunlop Tournament in Japan.

Chen's three year old niece works on her putting stroke. The pictures to　the sides are from Japanese tournaments won this year by the Chen brothers.

Chen's mother, who rarely gets a look these days at her busy son.

Passing down the family trade: Chen's older brother （at left） employs a nephew for caddy duty.