US Open Golf Tournament Facts
30 years after the start of The Open, the US Open was first played in 1895, making it the second oldest of the modern day golf majors. Since 1895, the original golf majors were The Open, The Amateur Championship, The US Open, and The US Amateur.
It wasn’t until 1960, when Arnold Palmer commented that he could win the Grand Slam, after he had won The Masters and The US Open, if he could manage to win The Open and The PGA, that the modern day golf majors were established. The US Open was played for the first time on the same course and on the same week as the US Amateur.
The event was held at a 9-hole course at Newport Golf and Country Club, Rhode Island. It comprised 4 rounds of 9-holes played on the same day and was won by Englishman, Horace Rawlins. Only ten professionals and one amateur took part and the total prize money was $335.
The format of the U.S. Open has changed a number of times over the years. The USGA extended the championship to 72 holes in 1898, with 36 holes played each of two days. In 1926, the format was 18 holes played each of two days, followed by 36 holes on the third day. In 1965, the present format of four 18-hole daily rounds was implemented for the first time.
In 1922, spectator tickets were sold for the very first time which helped increase the popularity of The US Open. Bobby Jones, an amateur golfer from Georgia who won the event in 1923, 1926, 1929, and 1930, also contributed to the popularity of the event and the sport in general.
In 1954, the event was televised and broadcast on national television which helped increase the popularity even more. Surprisingly, it wasn’t until 1977 that there was live coverage of all 18 holes from the final two days, and 1982 when the first two days had live coverage.
The US Open was dominated by British players since its beginnings up to 1910 (actually it was Scotsmen who took most of the titles (12 of the first 15 events.) The top Scotsman in those days was Willie Anderson who won the event four times between 1901 and 1905. In fact, there has only been three other golfers to win four US Opens – Bobby Jones from 1923 to 1930, the year he won the Grand Slam; Ben Hogan from 1948 to 1953; and Jack Nicklaus from 1962 to 1980.
With Tiger Woods remarkable win in the 2008 US Open bringing his US Open wins to three, I am sure he will be joining the four golfing legends above quite soon. Another interesting statistic is that a European has not won the US Open since Tony Jacklin in 1970. Also in the 2008 US Open, England’s Lee Westwood was very close to breaking the 38 year European drought but missed his birdie putt on the 18th that would have forced a three way play-off.
Surprisingly, only 5 players have managed to win The US Open as well as The Open, The Masters, and The PGA. None of them have won all 4 majors in one single year though – Bobby Jones did his Grand Slam with The Open, The (British) Amateur Championship, The US Open, and The US Amateur. The five players to win the four golf majors were Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus, and Tiger Woods.
Americans have dominated the event since 1911 having won a total of 78 times. Since the end of the British dominance, South Africa have the second best record with 5 wins. The only other nations that have won the event once or twice each is Australia, New Zealand, Scotland, Argentina, and England. It is sad that Scotland, being the home of golf, have not produced many great golfers since 1910. Willie MacFarlane in 1925, was the last Scotsman to win the US Open and the last Scotsman to win a golf major on American soil was Sandy Lyle at The Masters in 1988.
Mick Euan Tait has been playing golf and golf fan for many years. Visit his website for Golf Tips for Beginners and free golf tips to improve your game. You can also visit his blog for Golf Reviews and golf swing tips. Get a totally unique version of this article from our article submission service
Discussion Area - Leave a Comment