With the start of the U.S. Open just three days away, we’ve complied ten of our favourite facts and figures ahead of the 124th edition of the third Major Championship of the season.
36
The event began as a one-day 36-hole tournament played on the nine-hole course at Newport Golf & Country Club. Only ten professional golfers and one amateur teed it up for the inaugural edition.
268
Rory McIlroy holds the record for the lowest aggregate score after posting 268 in 2011. McIlroy and Brooks Koepka share the record for the lowest score in relation to par with a winning score of 16 under par.
19
Ray Ainsley, who played in the 1938 U.S. Open, holds the record for highest score on a single hole after making 19 strokes on the par-4 16th hole at Cherry Hills Country Club.
$150
The winner of the first U.S. Open in 1891 was Horace Rawlins, who won $150, a gold medal and the trophy. This week’s champion will receive upwards of $3.5m!
15
Tiger Woods won by a whopping 15 strokes with his score of 272 at Pebble Beach in California in 2000. This is also the record winning margin across all four Major Championships.
6
The Country Club of Buffalo held the 1912 U.S. Open which featured the only par-6 in the tournament’s history. Champion John McDermott played the 606-yard long hole at six under for the tournament.
44
Jack Nicklaus started 44 consecutive U.S. Opens, starting as a 17-year-old amateur in 1957 and finishing as a 60-year-old, four-time winner in 2000.
7
Arnold Palmer has the greatest comeback in U.S. Open final round history after making up a seven-stroke deficit to win the 1960 edition at Cherry Hills.
1946
The original U.S. Open Trophy was destroyed in 1946. Lloyd Mangrum, winner of that year’s U.S. Open, took the trophy home to show off in the clubhouse of his home course, Tam O’Shanter. The clubhouse burned to the ground and the 51-year-old trophy with it.
40
Graeme McDowell became the first European winner of the event in 40 years at Pebble Beach in 2010. Five more Europeans have won since: Rory McIlroy, Justin Rose, Martin Kaymer, Jon Rahm and Matt Fitzpatrick.
