The History Of The US Open Golf Tournament
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The US Open golf tournament is the second oldest of the modern golf majors, having started in 1895, 30 years after the first British Open. The golf majors initially consisted of The (British) Open, The Amateur Championship (British), The US Open, and The US Amateur Championship. Even though The PGA started in 1916 and The Masters in 1934, it wasn’t until about 1960 that the modern day golf majors were known as The Masters, The US Open, The Open, and The PGA.
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.
From the original 36 holes in one day, the format of The US Open has changed several times during the years. The Championship was extended by the USGA to 72-holes in 1898; 36-holes played over each of two days. The format was changed in 1926 to 18-holes played over each of two days, finishing with 36 holes on the third day. The present day format was established in 1965 - 18-holes played over each of 4 days.
The US Open’s popularity really took off after spectator tickets were sold for the first time in 1922. This almost coincided with the amazing career of an amateur golfer from Georgia, Bobby Jones who won in 1923, 1926, 1929, and 1930. The second big rise in popularity was in 1954 when the US Open was televised for the first time on national television. But it wasn’t until 1977 that all 18-holes of the final two rounds had live coverage and 1982 that the first two rounds were broadcast live.
The British dominated The US Open from its beginnings up to 1910, with Scotsmen winning 12 times in the first 15 years. One of those Scotsmen was Willie Anderson who won the US Open four times at the beginning of the Century. Only three other players have won the event four times: Bobby Jones in the 20’s with his last win in 1930, the year he won the Grand Slam; Ben Hogan in the late 40’s, early 50’s; and Jack Nicklaus between 1962 and 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.
Nobody has won the modern day Grand Slam of golf, but 5 players have managed to win the US Open plus The Open, The Masters, and The PGA. The 5 players won each event but on different years, although some have won three out of the four majors on the same year. Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus, and Tiger Woods are the only 5 players to capture all 4 majors.
Since 1911 Americans have largely dominated the event, winning the event 78 times. South Africans have had the best record since the end of the British domination, with 5 wins. Other nations that have had a win or two since 1911 are Australia, New Zealand, Argentina, England, and Scotland. As a Scotsman, I have to ask myself what has happened to Scottish golf since 1910. The last Scotsman to win the US Open was Willie MacFarlane in 1925 and the last one to win a major on American soil was Sandy Lyle at The Masters in 1988.
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