The Us Open Golf Tournament
The second oldest of the major golf tournaments, the US Open golf tournament started 35 years alter The Open in 1895. Originally, the majors consisted of The Open, The (British) Amateur Championship, The US Open, and The US Amateur. With the introduction of The PGA in 1916 and The Masters in 1934, eventually the majors were described 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.
There have been various formats of The US Open since the original 36-holes in one day. The first change made by the USGA was in 1898, when the format was 72 holes played over two days. The next major change was in 1926 when the 72 holes was divided into a 3 day event - 2 days of 18 holes and a final day of 36 holes. The format that we know today was implemented in 1965 which is four days of 18 holes each.
The popularity of The US Open coincided with the incredible career of Georgia amateur, Bobby Jones, who won in 1923, 1926, 1929, and 1930. Another contributing factor was that spectator tickets were sold to the public for the first time in 1922. The next big surge in popularity happened in 1954 because the event was televised on national television for the first time. All 18 holes from the final two days had live coverage in 1977 and, believe it or not, it wasn't until 1982 that there was live broadcasts of the first two days.
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.
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.
