LOS ANGELES (AP) — A capsule look at the previous 14 times the U.S. Open was held in California. The U.S. Open returns to Los Angeles on June 15-18 for the first time in 75 years.
Year: 1948
Course: Riviera Country Club
Winner: Ben Hogan
Runner-up: Jimmy Demaret
Winning score: 276
Winner’s check: $2,000
Summary: Riviera became “Hogan’s Alley” when Ben Hogan won his first U.S. Open, which followed wins at Riviera in the Los Angeles Open in 1947 and 1948. This was the first of his four U.S. Open titles. His score of 276 set a U.S. Open record that stood until Jack Nicklaus broke it at Baltusrol in 1967.
Year: 1955
Course: The Olympic Club
Winner: Jack Fleck
Runner-up: Ben Hogan
Winning score: 287 (Fleck shot 69 in the playoff to Hogan’s 72).
Winner’s check: $6,000.
Summary: In one of the biggest upsets in golf, Jack Fleck denied Ben Hogan a record fifth U.S. Open when he birdied two of the last four holes for a 67 to force an 18-hole playoff. Fleck had a one-shot lead playing the 18th in the playoff when Hogan hooked his drive into the rough, slashed at it twice to get it back in play and made double bogey. That began Olympic’s reputation as the “Graveyard of Champions.” Hogan never won another major.
Year: 1966
Course: The Olympic Club
Winner: Billy Casper
Runner-up: Arnold Palmer
Winning score: 278 (Casper shot 69 in the playoff to Palmer’s 73).
Winner’s check: $26,500
Summary: In a stunning comeback and collapse, Billy Casper rallied from a seven-shot deficit over the final nine holes for a 68 to catch Arnold Palmer and force a playoff. Palmer had his sights set on Ben Hogan’s U.S. Open record of 276. A 36 on the back nine would have done it. Instead he shot 39. In the playoff, another collapse. Palmer had a two-shot lead with seven holes to play, but played the next five holes in 5-over par. Palmer, like Hogan 11 years before him, never won another major.
Year: 1972
Course: Pebble Beach
Winner: Jack Nicklaus
Runner-up: Bruce Crampton
Winning score: 290
Winner’s check: $30,000
Summary: Jack Nicklaus, coming off a three-shot win in the Masters, captured the second leg of the Grand Slam with a three-shot win at Pebble Beach. Bruce Crampton was the runner-up in both majors. This was the first time Pebble Beach hosted the U.S. Open. Nicklaus had won the Bing Crosby National Pro-Am at Pebble earlier in the year. This U.S. Open is best remembered for Nicklaus hitting 1-iron off the pin on the par-3 17th.
Year: 1982
Course: Pebble Beach
Winner: Tom Watson
Runner-up: Jack Nicklaus
Winning score: 282
Winner’s check: $60,000
Summary: The 17th hole at Pebble Beach was memorable again, this time for Tom Watson. Nicklaus already was in the clubhouse at 284. Watson was tied for the lead and hit 2-iron on the 17th over the green. His caddie, Bruce Edwards, urged him to hit the chip close. “To hell with getting it close. I’m going to make it,” Watson said. He chipped in for birdie. He birdied the 18th for a two-shot win, denying Nicklaus a fifth U.S. Open.
Year: 1987
Course: The Olympic Club
Winner: Scott Simpson
Runner-up: Tom Watson
Winning score: 277
Winner’s check: $150,000
Summary: Scott Simpson captured his only major with a rally on the back nine for a 68 to win by two shots over Watson. Simpson pulled away with birdies on the 14th, 15th and 16th holes. Watson needed to make a 45-foot birdie putt on the 18th to force a playoff, and the putt stopped inches from the hole.
Year: 1992
Course: Pebble Beach
Winner: Tom Kite
Runner-up: Jeff Sluman
Winning score: 285
Winner’s check: $275,000
Summary: Tom Kite survived a wild, wind-blown final round at Pebble Beach by closing with a 72 to win his only major at age 42. Gil Morgan became the first player to reach double digits under par at any point, only to post rounds of 77 and 81 in the final round. The wind was so strong that when Colin Montgomerie shot 70 to post at even-par 288, Jack Nicklaus in the broadcast booth congratulated him on winning. Montgomerie never won a major. Kite didn’t win another one.
Year: 1998
Course: The Olympic Club
Winner: Lee Janzen
Runner-up: Payne Stewart
Winning score: 281
Winner’s check: $535,000
Summary: Lee Janzen made up a five-shot deficit against Payne Stewart by closing with a 68 to win his second U.S. Open. Stewart had led from the opening round and built his lead to seven shots early in the final round when Janzen made a pair of bogeys. Janzen’s biggest break was when his tee shot got stuck in a tree on the fifth hole. He was headed back to the tee when it dropped to the ground, saving him two shots.
Year: 2000
Course: Pebble Beach
Winner: Tiger Woods
Runner-up: Ernie Els, Miguel Angel Jimenez
Winning score: 272
Winner’s check: $800,000
Summary: This still embodies Tiger Woods at his best. Even with a triple bogey in the third round, he set the major championship record with a 15-shot victory. It started with a 65, the lowest score ever in a U.S. Open at Pebble Beach. He led by six shots after two rounds, 10 shots going into the final round. Woods played the final 26 holes without a bogey and finished at 12-under par, the first player to finish in double digits under par at U.S. Open. The signature moment was his 7-iron out of deep rough on the par-5 sixth hole, up the hill and onto the green. That promoted Roger Maltbie to famously say, “It’s not a fair fight.” It really wasn’t.
Year: 2008
Course: Torrey Pines
Winner: Tiger Woods
Runner-up: Rocco Mediate
Winning score: 283 (Both shot shot 71 in the playoff, Woods won on the first extra hole with a par)
Winner’s check: $1,350,000
Summary: If his U.S. Open at Pebble Beach was about perfect, Tiger Woods at Torrey Pines was about grit. He had shredded ligaments in his left knee and a double stress fracture in his left leg. He had not played since the Masters. Grimacing at times through the pain, Woods made a 12-foot birdie putt on the last hole to force a playoff. Both shot 71 in the playoff, and Woods won with a par at No. 7 on the first extra hole. Woods had season-ending surgery on his left knee a week later.
Year: 2010
Course: Pebble Beach
Winner: Graeme McDowell
Runner-up: Gregory Havret
Winning score: 284
Winner’s check: $1,350,000
Summary: Graeme McDowell had the highest winning score by a U.S. Open champion in 25 years by surviving another wind-blown final round at Pebble Beach. He closed with a 74 to win by one shot over Gregory Havret of France. But this was as much about Dustin Johnson, who lost his three-shot lead in one hole with a triple bogey on the third hole. He lost his next tee shot and made double bogey and tumbled to an 82, the highest score by a 54-hole leader in nearly 100 years.
Year: 2012
Course: The Olympic Club
Winner: Webb Simpson
Runner-up: Michael Thompson Graeme McDowell
Winning score: 281
Winner’s check: $1,440,000
Summary: Webb Simpson won his only major and put two more names into the “Graveyard of Champions” at Olympic Club. Simpson made four birdies around the turn and saved par on the 18th for a 2-under 68. Former U.S. Open champions Jim Furyk and Graeme McDowell had their chances after sharing the 54-hole lead. Furyk bogeyed two of his last three holes. He shot 74 without making a birdie. McDowell made four bogeys on the front nine, rallied to give himself a chance but missed a 25-foot birdie putt on the 18th that would have forced a playoff.
Year: 2019
Course: Pebble Beach
Winner: Gary Woodland
Runner-up: Brooks Koepka
Winning score: 271
Winner’s check: $2,225,000
Summary: Gary Woodland won his only major and posted the lowest score in six U.S. Opens at Pebble Beach with a final birdie for a 69. He also denied Brooks Koepka a chance to make it three in a row at the U.S. Open. Woodland had a one-shot lead when he boldly hit 3-wood to the par-5 14th green, with out-of-bounds to the right. It set up birdie. Just as memorable was being on the wrong side of the green on the par-3 17th. He used lob wedge to chip on the putting surface and saved par. Koepka became the first player with four rounds in the 60s at the U.S. Open without winning.
Year: 2021
Course: Torrey Pines (South)
Winner: Jon Rahm
Runner-up: Louis Oosthuizen
Winning score: 278
Winner’s check: $2,225,000
Summary: On the course where Jon Rahm won his first PGA Tour title, he captured his first U.S. Open with clutch birdie putts on the final two holes and some help from Louis Oosthuizen. Rahm made a bending 25-footer on the 17th hole to catch Oosthuizen. He buried a curling 18-foot birdie putt on the 18th for a 67. Oosthuizen fell back with a drive into the canyon on the 17th. The victory came two weeks after Rahm had to withdraw with a six-shot lead in the final round at the Memorial because of a positive COVID-19 test.
