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Shinnecock Hills Golf Club, one of the oldest golf club's in the United States, is set to host its sixth and seventh U.S. Opens over the next decade.
Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy and Bryson DeChambeau enter as favorites to win the sixth edition of the U.S. Open at Shinnecock, the first time the club has hosted the major tournament since 2018.
Now, if they want to lift the famed 18-inch-tall sterling silver cup, they will want to learn how the past winners were able to survive Shinnecock and what happened during the course of the previous five tournaments.
Winner: Brooks Koepka (+1)
How it was won: Koepka joined Ben Hogan and Curtis Strange as the only U.S. Open winners to successfully defend their titles.
Top storylines:
The USGA changed the playoff format in February, from a full round (18 holes) to a two-hole aggregate playoff.[1] Previously, playoffs at the U.S. Open were 18 holes, followed by sudden death, if needed.
Winner: Retief Goosen (-4)
How it was won: Goosen outlasted Phil Mickelson, fellow countrymen Ernie Els and Mother Nature in a final round that saw the average score at 78.7, thanks to extreme wind and dry playing conditions that locked up the field (no one finished under par on Sunday). Mickelson, who had won at Augusta earlier in the year, was making a bid to become the sixth player ever to win the year's first two major. Instead, he wound up three putting from five feet on No. 17, carding a double bogey that would end that quest. Goosen, who was playing with his compatriot Els in the final pairing, sunk a 12-foot birdie on No. 16 to take a two-stroke lead that he would not relinquish.
Top storylines: It was Goosen's second U.S. Open crown, having outlasted Mark Brooks in an 18-hole playoff on Monday in 2001. Additionally, Mickelson recorded his third runner-up in six years at the 2004 U.S. Open. More than two decades later, he's still in pursuit of the career Grand Slam.
Perhaps the most controversial moment of the tournament was the USGA's decision to water a few of the greens during play, enabling balls to roll off the green on several holes. As a result, players teeing off later in the day faced much easier playing conditions than the rest of the field — the final five pairs had a scoring average of 75.9, compared to the field's 78.7.
Winner: Corey Pavin (E)
How it was won: Greg Norman was in a familiar position entering the final round at Shinnecock. The Australian and former world No. 1 had the 54-hole lead nine years prior, and at the 100th U.S. Open shared it with Tom Lehman at 1 under. But it was a stressful weekend for Norman, who birdied the opening hole on Saturday's third round and then went without another until No. 15 on Sunday. As Norman and Lehman faded on their respective back nines, Pavin climbed the leaderboard thanks to a three-under final 10 holes that helped him card a 68 and win by two strokes.
Most remember this victory for Pavin's approach shot on 18th — one of golf's most famous shots, which ran onto the green and landed within five feet of the hole amid Pavin's raucous celebration.
Top storylines: Other than another Norman collapse out on Long Island? Can we trot out that it was the first time Tiger Woods, 19, played in a U.S. Open? He eventually withdrew with a wrist injury during his second round.
If that doesn't quite land, then let's go with Neal Lancaster setting the U.S. record with a 29 on the back nine during his final round at Shinnecock. Lancaster (65 on Sunday) finished in fourth place at 4 over, a stroke behind Lehman and two behind the second-place Norman.
Winner: Raymond Floyd (-1)
How it was won: Like he did at every major that year, Norman held the 54-hole lead. But Sunday proved to be brutal (again) for Norman as he carded a 75 and finished six strokes back of Floyd, good for 12th place. Floyd, for his part, birdied the par-3 11th to create a nine-player tie atop the leaderboard. Floyd was one of 10 to hold the lead or a share of it on Sunday. He started three shots back of Norman but completed a bogey-free final round to win by two strokes over runners-up Chip Beck and Lanny Wadkins for his only U.S. Open title.
Top storylines: Shinnecock debuted as a 4,423-yard course in the 19th century, which established it as the shortest tournament host in U.S. Open history. When the USGA returned the event to Long Island 90 years later, the course had been lengthened to almost 7,000 yards and proved a worthy test to the field. First-round play was besieged by heavy rains and winds, making low scores a premium.
Sunday proved slightly more favorable than the previous three rounds as the then-course record was set once in the morning by Mark Calcavecchia (66) and then reset by Beck and Wadkins later in the round (each carded a 65).
Floyd became the U.S. Open's oldest winner at 43 years and 284 days old, a record that didn't stand very long: Hale Irwin won at age 45 in 1990.
Winner: James Foulis
How it was won: Foulis took home the — get this — $150 grand prize by defeating England's Horace Rawlins by three strokes. The Scotsman, who finished third at the inaugural tournament the year prior, would never win another major, but he did thwart Rawlins' bid for a repeat title.
Top storylines: Players attempted to petition for John Shippen and Oscar Bunn's exclusion from the field before play began. The petition was denied, allowing the African American Shippen and the Native American Bunn to compete at Shinnecock. And that they did: Shippen tied for sixth, plagued by an 11 on the 13th hole that sunk his hopes of winning.
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Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy and Bryson DeChambeau enter as favorites to win the sixth edition of the U.S. Open at Shinnecock, the first time the club has hosted the major tournament since 2018.
Now, if they want to lift the famed 18-inch-tall sterling silver cup, they will want to learn how the past winners were able to survive Shinnecock and what happened during the course of the previous five tournaments.
2018 U.S. Open
Winner: Brooks Koepka (+1)
How it was won: Koepka joined Ben Hogan and Curtis Strange as the only U.S. Open winners to successfully defend their titles.
Top storylines:
The USGA changed the playoff format in February, from a full round (18 holes) to a two-hole aggregate playoff.[1] Previously, playoffs at the U.S. Open were 18 holes, followed by sudden death, if needed.
2004 U.S. Open
Winner: Retief Goosen (-4)
How it was won: Goosen outlasted Phil Mickelson, fellow countrymen Ernie Els and Mother Nature in a final round that saw the average score at 78.7, thanks to extreme wind and dry playing conditions that locked up the field (no one finished under par on Sunday). Mickelson, who had won at Augusta earlier in the year, was making a bid to become the sixth player ever to win the year's first two major. Instead, he wound up three putting from five feet on No. 17, carding a double bogey that would end that quest. Goosen, who was playing with his compatriot Els in the final pairing, sunk a 12-foot birdie on No. 16 to take a two-stroke lead that he would not relinquish.
Top storylines: It was Goosen's second U.S. Open crown, having outlasted Mark Brooks in an 18-hole playoff on Monday in 2001. Additionally, Mickelson recorded his third runner-up in six years at the 2004 U.S. Open. More than two decades later, he's still in pursuit of the career Grand Slam.
Perhaps the most controversial moment of the tournament was the USGA's decision to water a few of the greens during play, enabling balls to roll off the green on several holes. As a result, players teeing off later in the day faced much easier playing conditions than the rest of the field — the final five pairs had a scoring average of 75.9, compared to the field's 78.7.
1995 U.S. Open
Winner: Corey Pavin (E)
How it was won: Greg Norman was in a familiar position entering the final round at Shinnecock. The Australian and former world No. 1 had the 54-hole lead nine years prior, and at the 100th U.S. Open shared it with Tom Lehman at 1 under. But it was a stressful weekend for Norman, who birdied the opening hole on Saturday's third round and then went without another until No. 15 on Sunday. As Norman and Lehman faded on their respective back nines, Pavin climbed the leaderboard thanks to a three-under final 10 holes that helped him card a 68 and win by two strokes.
Most remember this victory for Pavin's approach shot on 18th — one of golf's most famous shots, which ran onto the green and landed within five feet of the hole amid Pavin's raucous celebration.
Top storylines: Other than another Norman collapse out on Long Island? Can we trot out that it was the first time Tiger Woods, 19, played in a U.S. Open? He eventually withdrew with a wrist injury during his second round.
If that doesn't quite land, then let's go with Neal Lancaster setting the U.S. record with a 29 on the back nine during his final round at Shinnecock. Lancaster (65 on Sunday) finished in fourth place at 4 over, a stroke behind Lehman and two behind the second-place Norman.
1986 U.S. Open
Winner: Raymond Floyd (-1)
How it was won: Like he did at every major that year, Norman held the 54-hole lead. But Sunday proved to be brutal (again) for Norman as he carded a 75 and finished six strokes back of Floyd, good for 12th place. Floyd, for his part, birdied the par-3 11th to create a nine-player tie atop the leaderboard. Floyd was one of 10 to hold the lead or a share of it on Sunday. He started three shots back of Norman but completed a bogey-free final round to win by two strokes over runners-up Chip Beck and Lanny Wadkins for his only U.S. Open title.
Top storylines: Shinnecock debuted as a 4,423-yard course in the 19th century, which established it as the shortest tournament host in U.S. Open history. When the USGA returned the event to Long Island 90 years later, the course had been lengthened to almost 7,000 yards and proved a worthy test to the field. First-round play was besieged by heavy rains and winds, making low scores a premium.
Sunday proved slightly more favorable than the previous three rounds as the then-course record was set once in the morning by Mark Calcavecchia (66) and then reset by Beck and Wadkins later in the round (each carded a 65).
Floyd became the U.S. Open's oldest winner at 43 years and 284 days old, a record that didn't stand very long: Hale Irwin won at age 45 in 1990.
1896 U.S. Open
Winner: James Foulis
How it was won: Foulis took home the — get this — $150 grand prize by defeating England's Horace Rawlins by three strokes. The Scotsman, who finished third at the inaugural tournament the year prior, would never win another major, but he did thwart Rawlins' bid for a repeat title.
Top storylines: Players attempted to petition for John Shippen and Oscar Bunn's exclusion from the field before play began. The petition was denied, allowing the African American Shippen and the Native American Bunn to compete at Shinnecock. And that they did: Shippen tied for sixth, plagued by an 11 on the 13th hole that sunk his hopes of winning.
Continue reading...
