| U.S. Open Championship [message #982865] |
Wed, 26 April 2006 16:15 |
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U.S. Open Championship
June 15th- 18th
Winged Foot Golf Club, Mamaroneck, New York
Live on NBC/XM 146/ESPN
Purse: $6,250,000
Last Champion: Michael Campbell
On Oct. 4, 1895, the first U.S. Open Championship was conducted by the
United States Golf Association on the nine-hole course of Newport (R.I.)
Golf and Country Club.
The first U.S. Open was considered something of a sideshow to the first U.S.
Amateur, which was played on the same course and during the same week. Both
championships had been scheduled for September but were postponed because of
a conflict with a more established Newport sports spectacle, the America's
Cup yacht races.
Ten professionals and one amateur started in the 36-hole competition, which
were four trips around the Newport course in one day. The surprise winner
was Horace Rawlins, 21 an English professional who was the assistant at the
host course. Rawlins scored 91-82-173 with the gutta-percha ball.
Prize money totaled $335, of which Rawlins won the $150 first prize. He also
received a gold medal and custody of the Open Championship Cup for his club
for one year. In its first decade, the U.S. Open was conducted for amateurs
and the largely British wave of immigrant golf professionals coming to the
United States.
As American players began to dominate the game, the U.S. Open evolved into
an important world golf championship. Young John J. McDermott became the
first native-born American winner in 1911 and repeated as champion in 1912.
In 1913, the U.S. Open really took off when Francis Ouimet, a 20-year-old
American amateur, stunned the golf world by defeating the famous English
professionals, Harry Vardon and Ted Ray, in a playoff.
In each era, the world's greatest players have been identified by surviving
the rigorous examination provided by the U.S. Open. Ben Hogan's steely
determination boosted him to four victories (1948, 1950, 1951, 1953). Arnold
Palmer's record comeback win in 1960, when he fired a final round of 65 to
come from seven strokes off the lead, cemented his dashing image. Jack
Nicklaus's historic assault on the professional record book began when he
won the first of his four U.S. Open Championships in 1962, his rookie season
as a professional.
In 2002, a two-tee (#1 and #10) start was used for the first and second
rounds. In addition, Bethpage State Park's Black Course in Farmingdale,
N.Y., was the first facility owned by the public to host a U.S. Open.
International qualifying sites were added in 2005 and the favorite on all
Sportsbook odds Michael Campbell, ended as champion at Pinehurst Resort in
N.C., who qualified in England.
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| Re: U.S. Open Championship [message #982866 ] |
Wed, 26 April 2006 17:33 |
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<kathy [at] wagerweb.com> wrote in message
news:KYGdnT8jvaAGHdLZnZ2dnUVZ_tednZ2d [at] giganews.com...
> U.S. Open Championship
>
> June 15th- 18th
>
> Last Champion: Michael Campbell
> On Oct. 4, 1895, the first U.S. Open Championship was conducted by the
> United States Golf Association on the nine-hole course of Newport (R.I.)
> Golf and Country Club.
>
> The first U.S. Open was considered something of a sideshow to the first
> U.S.
> Amateur,
> ............................................................ ........................ >
Why, thanks Kathy.
But why not just post the link? Or is there a point to the text which you
forgot to add to this and you other three posts, similar in nature?
http://www.usopen.com/history/
Nice potted history all the same. An education.
Ian
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