2001 U.S. OPEN FACT SHEET
June 14-17, 2001
at Southern Hills Country Club
Tulsa, Okla.
PAR AND YARDAGE - Southern Hills Country Club is set at 6,973 yards
and plays to par 35-35-70.
ARCHITECTS - Designed by Perry Maxwell and opened in 1936, Southern
Hills underwent revisions in 1957 by Robert Trent Jones and by George and
Tom Fazio in 1977.
2000 CHAMPION - Tiger Woods led from start to finish and shot a
12-under-par 272 at Pebble Beach (Calif.) Golf Links to win the 2000 U.S.
Open by a record margin of 15 strokes. Ernie Els and Miguel Angel Jimenez
tied for second place, at 3 over par.
Woods' margin of victory was the largest in the history of major
championship golf, beating the previous mark of 13 strokes by Old Tom
Morris at the 1862 British Open. At age 25, Woods has already won seven
USGA titles, including the U.S. Amateur (1994-96) and the U.S. Junior
Amateur (1991-93) each three times.
QUICK RECAP - In winning for the fifth time in the 2000 season, Woods
broke many U.S. Open records and captured his third career major
championship.
TIGER WOODS UPON WINNING THE 2000 OPEN - "It doesn't get much
better than this; to come out here and perform the way I did on one of the
greatest venues there is in golf," said Woods. "You don't really understand
what you've done until time passes. I had a wonderful week. I have the
trophy right here, and now I get to go home."
PAIRINGS AND STARTING TIMES - Pairings and starting times will be
available Thursday, June 7th, two days after sectional qualifying has been
completed. They will be posted on the USGA Internet site at www.usga.org.
Starting times for Thursday and Friday will begin at 6:30 a.m.
USGA TOLL-FREE INTERVIEW HOTLINE - Top players have broadcast
quality preview interviews available for media use 24 hours a day. Call (888)
321-USGA or visit www.usga.org
WWW.USGA.ORG - Log on to the USGA Internet site (www.usga.org or
www.usopen.com) for the latest U.S. Open information during the
championship.
EXEMPT PLAYERS - Sixty-seven players are currently fully exempt into the
156- player Open field, including seven past champions - Lee Janzen
(1998,1993), Ernie Els
(1997,1994), Steve Jones (1996), Corey Pavin (1995), Tom Kite (1992),
Hale Irwin (1990), and Tiger Woods (2000). A champion receives a full
exemption into the field for 10 years.
DEFENDING THE CROWN - Since 1991, no champion has finished better
than 40th in trying to defending his Open crown. Three champions missed
the cut the next year. The best among the group, beginning with 1991
champion Payne Stewart, was Corey Pavin's 40th place finish at Oakland
Hills CC in 1996.
TRADITIONAL PAIRING - The reigning U.S. Open, British Open and U.S.
Amateur champions are traditionally paired together for the opening two
rounds of the U.S. Open. Since Tiger Woods currently holds both the Open
and British Open crowns, someone else will need to join Woods and
Amateur champ Jeff Quinney of Eugene, Ore., for Thursday and Friday play
at Southern Hills.
INFLATION - Hubert Green took home $45,000 for winning the 1977 U.S.
Open at Southern Hills CC. This year's top prize is $900,000.
DEATH THREAT TO GREEN - After leaving the 14th green on Sunday,
Hubert Green was leading the 1977 Open Championship by one over Lou
Graham, who was just finishing his round four groups ahead of Green. He
was informed by USGA officials of a threatening phone call just received.
Green chose to play on, joking that the threat was probably from an old
girlfriend. He finished with a birdie on the 16th and a bogey on the 18th to
maintain his one-stroke margin and claim the win. "I'm just glad it's over," he
said. "It's very nice being the champion."
IRWIN'S OPEN STREAK AT 31 - The 2000 U.S. Senior Open champion,
Hale Irwin, will be playing in his 31st consecutive U.S. Open (and 32nd
overall), going back to his first as a professional in 1971 at Merion (Pa.) Golf
Club. His first Open was in 1966, as an amateur, at the Olympic Club. He
started his consecutive streak in 1971. He is a three-time U.S. Open
champion (1974, 1979, and 1990). Another long-time participant will be past
Open champion Tom Kite, who will be playing in his 27th consecutive Open
(30th overall).
PLAYERS FROM 1977 - Hale Irwin is one of just two players from this
year's field who also played in the 1977 U.S. Open at Southern Hills CC.
Irwin finished T41. The other was Tom Kite (T27). (Irwin and Kite also played
in the 1982 and 1994 PGA Championships at Southern Hills).
OPEN A SELLOUT - For the 15th consecutive year the U.S. Open is a
sellout, with 35,000 tickets sold for each day of the Championship.
USGA CHAMPIONSHIPS AT SOUTHERN HILLS - This will be the eighth
national championship to be conducted at Southern Hills. The first USGA
championship at Southern Hills was the 1946 U.S. Women's Amateur. The
U.S. Junior Amateur was held there in 1953, followed by the U.S. Open in
1958 and the USGA Senior Amateur in 1961. The U.S. Amateur was
conducted there in 1965, the U.S. Open in 1977 and the first U.S. Women's
Mid-Amateur - in 1987.
1946 Women's Amateur Babe Zaharias def. Clara Sherman, 11 and 9
1953 Junior Amateur Rex Baxter def. George Warren III, 2 and 1
1958 Open Tommy Bolt (283, +3) by four over Gary Player
1961 Senior Amateur Dexter Daniels def. Col. William K. Lanman Jr.,
2 and 1
1965 Amateur Bob Murphy (291) by one over Bob Dickson
1977 Open Hubert Green (278, -2) by one over Lou Graham
1987 Women's Mid-Amateur Cindy Scholefield def. Pat Cornett-Iker, 6 and 5
OTHER MAJOR CHAMPIONSHIPS AT SOUTHERN HILLS - Five other
highly visible events has been played at Southern Hills:
Event Winner
1970 PGA Championship - Dave Stockton
1982 PGA Championship - Raymond Floyd
1994 PGA Championship - Nick Price
1995 Tour Championship - Billy Mayfair
1996 Tour Championship - Tom Lehman
THE WINNER'S SHARE - First place money for this Open is $900,000. The
total purse in 2001 is $5 million, an increase of $500,000 from the $4.5
million purse in 2000.
OTHER PRIZES - Among the benefits enjoyed by the Open winner are:
1) an Open exemption for the next 10 years
2) an invitation to the next five Masters Tournaments
3) an invitation to the next 10 British Open Championships
4) an invitation to the next five Players Championships
5) an invitation to the next five PGA Championships
6) exempt status on the PGA Tour for five years
QUALIFYING FOR THE OTHER MAJORS -
* The top 15 finishers are exempt for next year's (2002) U.S. Open
* The top 16 finishers are invited to next year's (2001) Masters Tournament
* The winner qualifies for this year's (2001) British Open
* The winner qualifies for this year's (2001) PGA Championship
TELEVISION COVERAGE - The Open will enjoy 28 hours of live network
coverage, with 16 of those hours live on NBC. Dan Hicks will be at the helm
of the NBC broadcast team. ESPN will air 11 hours over the first two days of
play.
Eastern Daylight Times: Thursday and Friday (June 14-15) - 12-3 p.m. on
ESPN, 3-5 p.m. on NBC, and 5-8 p.m. on ESPN. Saturday and Sunday
(June 16-17) - 1:30-8 p.m. on NBC. If an 18-hole playoff is necessary on
Monday, ESPN will begin coverage from its noon start, with NBC picking up
play at 1 p.m.
FROM JOHNNY MILLER - "The Open is the hardest major to win," says
NBC lead analyst Johnny Miller, the 1973 Open champion. "The fact that it's
our national championship adds tremendous pressure. It's the hardest test
of golf and probably the most prestigious prize. If you asked a player to trade
a U.S. Open championship for another one, I don't think he would. Every
player wants to win the U.S. Open."
HISTORY - This is the 101th U.S. Open Championship. The first was
played in 1895. The Open championship was not held for two years
(1917-18) during WWI and for four years (1942-45) during WWII.
The youngest winner of the Open was 19-year-old John McDermott, who
won in 1911. Eight players age 21 or younger have won the Open, but none
that young since Robert Jones won in 1923. Since then, Jerry Pate is the
youngest winner at age 22 in 1976. The oldest winner is Hale Irwin, who was
45 when he won in 1990.
Only four players have ever won the Masters and Open titles in the same
year - Craig Wood (1941), Ben Hogan (1951 and 1953), Arnold Palmer
(1960) and Jack Nicklaus (1972). Thirteen players have won both events in
their professional careers, the most recent being Tiger Woods.
WHO CAN ENTER - The Championship is open to any professional or
amateur golfer with a USGA Handicap Index not exceeding 1.4. The deadline
for entries was April 25.
ENTRIES - In 2001, the USGA accepted 8,398 entries, the second-highest
total in Open history. It's just 59 shy of last year's record of 8,57 entries.
Twenty-four percent (2,045 entries) of the total was logged via the USGA
Internet. Another 1,088 entries were received via overnight mail delivery in
the last two days before the April 25 deadline, and 82 more entries arrived a
day too late.
LOCAL QUALIFYING - Local qualifying over 18 holes was held at 101 sites
in mid-May. From the more than 7,000 golfers making the attempt to qualify,
only about 750 advanced to sectional qualifying.
SECTIONAL QUALIFYING - Sectional qualifying over 36 holes was held at
13 sites on June 4-5. Eighty-nine golfers from sectional qualifying joined the
67 players who were fully exempt into the Open field. In 1996, Steve Jones
was the first non-exempt winner since 1976. He qualified at the Columbus,
Ohio, sectional qualifier. In fact, he survived an 11-for-10 playoff at 141 (-3)
to earn his place in the field.
CHAMPIONSHIP FIELD - The starting field of 156 golfers will be cut after
36 holes to the low 60 scorers (and ties), and any player within 10 strokes of
the leader.
SCHEDULE OF PLAY - Eighteen holes of stroke play is scheduled each
day from June 14 (Thursday) through June 17 (Sunday). In the case of a tie
after 72 holes, an 18-hole playoff will be held on June 18 (Monday),
beginning at noon (EDT). The last playoff was in 1994, a three-way playoff
which was won by Ernie Els. The other two players in the playoff were Loren
Roberts and Colin Montgomerie.
ON THE RANGE - More than 12,000 golf balls are used on the practice
range at an Open.
COURSE SET-UP -The 642-yard 5th hole will be the longest par 5 in U.S.
Open history and the 491-yard 16th hole will be the longest par 4. The
fairway widths in the drive zone will be between 24 (No. 4) and 32 yards (No.
18). The primary rough will be grown to 3 inches (one inch lower than in
2000), and the intermediate rough will be 1½ inches. The greens will be set
to run at 11" on the Stimpmeter at the beginning of the week.
COURSE HOLE-BY-HOLE:
Holes one through nine at Southern Hills Country Club:
No. 1, 454-yard, par 4; No. 2, 467-yard, par 4; No. 3, 408-yard, par 4; No. 4,
368-yard, par 4; No. 5, 642-yard, par 5; No. 6, 175-yard, par 3; No. 7,
382-yard, par 4; No. 8, 225-yard, par 3; No. 9, 374-yard, par 4; 3,495 yards,
par 35
Holes 10 through 18: No. 10, 374-yard, par 4; No. 11, 165-yard, par 3; No.
12, 456-yard, par 4; No. 13, 534-yard, par 5; No. 14, 215-yard, par 3; No. 15,
412-yard, par 4; No. 16, 491-yard, par 4; No. 17, 365-yard, par 4; No. 18,
466-yard, par 5; 3,478 yards, par 35; Total: 6,973 yards, par 70
IMPORTANT PHONE NUMBERS -
USGA Communications Department - (908) 234-2300
U.S. Open Championship Office - (918) 495-2001
U.S. Open Media Center (as of 6/7/01) - (918) 477-1200
U.S. Open Media Center Fax (as of 6/7/01) - (918) 477-1225
FOR MORE INFORMATION - Please contact Craig Smith, USGA director
of media relations, at (908) 234-2300 until June 6. Call the Media Center
after June 6.
As of June 2001
PLAYERS FULLY EXEMPT (67) FOR THE 2001 U.S. OPEN
Robert Allenby 9,12,17
Stuart Appleby 9,17
Paul Azinger 8, 9,17
Notah Begay III 9,12,17
Thomas Bjorn 10,17
Mark Brooks 5
Angel Cabrera 10,14,17
Mark Calcavecchia 9,11,17
Michael Campbell 8,10,14,17
Stewart Cink 8, 9, 17
Darren Clarke 10, 17
Jose Coceres 10
Chris DiMarco 9
Joe Durant 11,12,17
David Duval 8, 9,17
Ernie Els 1,8,9,10,17
Nick Faldo 8
Brad Faxon 11,12,17
Steve Flesch 9
Carlos Franco 9
Pierre Fulke 10,17
Jim Furyk 9, 17
Sergio Garcia 17
Retief Goosen 8,10,17
Padraig Harrington 8,10,17
Scott Hoch 17
John Huston 8, 9,17
Hale Irwin 7
Toshi Izawa 17
Lee Janzen 1
Miguel Angel Jimenez 8,10,17
Steve Jones 1
Shingo Katayama 15,17
Tom Kite 1
Franklin Langham 9
Bernhard Langer 17
Paul Lawrie 4
Tom Lehman 4, 9,17
Justin Leonard 4, 9,17
Frank Lickliter 11
Davis Love III 5,9,11,17
Bob May 9
Rocco Mediate 17
Phil Mickelson 9,11,12,17
Colin Montgomerie 10,17
Jose Maria Olazabal 3, 8,10
Mark O'Meara 3, 4
Gary Orr 10
Jesper Parnevik 9,12,17
Dennis Paulson 17
Corey Pavin 1
Chris Perry 9,17
Nick Price 9
Phillip Price 10,17
Jeff Quinney 2
Loren Roberts 8, 9,17
Eduardo Romero 17
Vijay Singh 3, 5, 8, 9,11,17
Hal Sutton 9,17
Toru Taniguchi 15,17
David Toms 9,11,17
Kirk Triplett 9,17
Scott Verplank 9,17
Duffy Waldorf 17
Mike Weir 9,17
Lee Westwood 8,10,17
Tiger Woods 1,3,4,5,6,8,9,11,12,17
Key to Player Exemptions -
1) Winners of the U.S. Open Championship for the last 10 years.
2) Winner of the 2000 U.S. Amateur Championship.
3) Winners of the Masters Tournament the last five years.
4) Winners of the British Open Championship the last five years.
5) Winners of the PGA of America Championship the last five years.
6) Winner of the 2001 Players Championship.
7) Winner of the 2000 U.S. Senior Open Championship.
8) From the 2000 U.S. Open Championship, the 15 lowest scorers and
anyone tying for 15th place.
9) From the 2000 final official PGA Tour money list, the top 30 money
leaders.
10) From the 2000 final official PGA European Tour, the top 15 money
leaders.
11) From the 2001 official PGA Tour money list, the top 10 money leaders
through May 27.
12) Any multiple winner of PGA Tour co-sponsored events whose victories
are considered official from April 26, 2000 through June 3, 2001
13) Special exemptions selected by the USGA Executive Committee
International players not otherwise exempt as selected by the USGA
Executive Committee.
14) From the 2001 PGA European Tour, the top two money leaders through
May 28.
15) From the 2000 final Japan Golf Tour money list, the top two leaders
provided they are within the top 75 point leaders of the World Rankings at
that time.
16) From the 2000-2001 final official PGA Tour of Australasia money list, the
top two leaders provided they are within the top 75 point leaders of the World
Rankings at that time.
17) From the final World Rankings list, the top 50 point leaders as of May 28. |
