2017 logo
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Location |
Erin, Wisconsin in 2017 |
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Established | 1895, 122 years ago |
Course(s) | Erin Hills in 2017 |
Par | 72 in 2017 |
Length | 7,741 yd (7,078 m) in 2017 |
Organized by | USGA |
Tour(s) |
PGA Tour European Tour Japan Golf Tour |
Format | Stroke play |
Month played | June |
Aggregate | 268 Rory McIlroy (2011) |
To par | –16 Rory McIlroy (2011) −16 Brooks Koepka (2017) |
Brooks Koepka | |
2017 U.S. Open (golf) |
The United States Open Championship, commonly known as the U.S. Open, is the annual open national championship of golf in the United States. It is the second of the four major championships in golf, and is on the official schedule of both the PGA Tour and the European Tour. It is staged by the United States Golf Association (USGA) in mid-June, scheduled so that, if there are no weather delays, the final round is played on the third Sunday, which is Father's Day. The U.S. Open is staged at a variety of courses, set up in such a way that scoring is very difficult, with a premium placed on accurate driving.
The first U.S. Open was played on October 4, 1895, on a nine-hole course at the Newport Country Club in Newport, Rhode Island. It was a 36-hole competition and was played in a single day. Ten professionals and one amateur entered. The winner was Horace Rawlins, a 21-year-old Englishman, who had arrived in the U.S. earlier that year to take up a position at the host club. He received $150 cash out of a prize fund of $335, plus a $50 gold medal; his club received the Open Championship Cup trophy, which was presented by the USGA.
In the beginning, the tournament was dominated by experienced British players until 1911, when John J. McDermott became the first native-born American winner. American golfers soon began to win regularly and the tournament evolved to become one of the four majors.
Since 1911, the title has been won mostly by players from the United States. Since 1950, players from only six countries other than the United States have won the championship, most notably South Africa, which has won five times since 1965. A streak of four consecutive non-American winners occurred from 2004 to 2007 for the first time since 1910. These four players, South African Retief Goosen (2004), New Zealander Michael Campbell (2005), Australian Geoff Ogilvy (2006) and Argentine Ángel Cabrera (2007), are all from countries in the Southern Hemisphere. Northern Ireland's Graeme McDowell (2010) became the first European player to win the event since Tony Jacklin of England in 1970; three more Europeans won in the next four editions, making it only three American wins in the 11 tournaments from 2004-2014.