U.S. Open (golf)
The U.S. Open, officially known as the United States Open Championship, is one of the four major championships in professional golf, held annually by the United States Golf Association (USGA) in mid- to late June. This prestigious tournament takes place at a different major American golf course each year, chosen for its ability to challenge players with long and accurate drives. The inaugural U.S. Open was played in 1895 at Newport Country Club, featuring ten professionals and one amateur, and has since evolved into a major sporting event with a significant prize purse, set at $21.5 million for 2024.
Over the years, the tournament has garnered widespread attention and participation, with over ten thousand golfers competing for a place in the event annually. While initially dominated by British players, the U.S. Open saw a shift in 1913 when American amateur Francis Ouimet famously triumphed over top British professionals. The tournament has since welcomed a diverse array of international winners, reflecting its growing global appeal. With a large audience both on-site and through national broadcasts, the U.S. Open stands as a key highlight in the golf calendar, drawing significant corporate sponsorships and passionate fans from around the world.
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U.S. Open (golf)
The United States Open Championship (the US Open) is one of the four major championship tournaments in professional golf. The US Open is hosted annually by the United States Golf Association (USGA) at a major American golf course in mid- to late June. The course, selected by the USGA, is typically one that favors long but highly accurate drives.
The US Open is found on the calendars of the Professional Golfers Association (PGA) Tour, the DP World Tour, and LIV Golf. Attracting some of professional golf’s most prominent figures, the US Open is one of the biggest commercial sporting events, drawing enormous corporate sponsorships and generating a purse of $21.5 million in 2024.
Overview
Newport Country Club in Rhode Island was home to the first US Open, played on October 4, 1895, on a nine-hole course. That tournament featured ten professional golfers and one amateur, all of whom played four rounds in one day. The winner, Horace Rawlins (who was also an assistant at the same golf club), received a gold medal, custody of the US Open Trophy, and $150 in prize winnings. Three years later, the event was enlarged from thirty-six to seventy-two holes.
The US Open continued to gain popularity as a spectator event. Although it was held at US venues, the event was typically dominated by British professional golfers. This trend came to an end, however, in 1913, when American amateur Francis Ouimet defeated Harry Vardon and Ted Ray, two famous English professionals, in a playoff. (American-born John McDermott had won in 1911 and again in 1912, but at the time, he was living in England). Ouimet grew up across from the seventeenth hole at the Brookline Country Club in Massachusetts—it was at this hole that he defeated Vardon and Ray, who were considered the best in the world, at the US Open.
Over the course of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, Americans continued to dominate at the Open, and audiences were captivated. Starting in 1922, the USGA sold tickets for the event, and in 1954, the Open was first televised nationally. The event was consistently popular among viewers, and in 1977—by which time the event consisted of four days of eighteen holes each—ABC Sports expanded coverage so that the last two days could be broadcast live. By 1982, all four days were broadcast live.
The size and face of the US Open also changed during this period. The number of players in the tournament grew from 10 in 1895 to 156 in 2013, which held steady into the 2020s. A record number of golfers, more than ten thousand, seek to qualify for the event every year. The US Open is no longer dominated by American and British golfers, either. Since 1965, there have been winners hailing from Argentina, Australia, South Africa, England, Spain, and New Zealand. Germany’s Martin Kaymer won the tournament in 2014. In 2021, Jon Rahm was the first ever winner from Spain, and in 2022, Matt Fitzpatrick, from England, won the tournament.
The US Open is one of the four “majors” in professional golf (alongside the British Open, the Masters, and the PGA Championship). With a purse of $21.5 million in 2024, the event is one of the top prizes in professional golf. It draws hundreds of thousands of spectators to the venues and millions of viewers to their televisions to watch the top golfers in the world compete over the course of the Open’s four days of play.
Bibliography
DeNunzio, David. “Moments in Time.” Golf Magazine, vol. 66, no. 5, June 2024, p. 13. EBSCOhost, research.ebsco.com/linkprocessor/plink?id=d1fc7fc7-60d3-3793-afa5-7e4c3ae6f553.
Fields, Bill. “McDermott's Sad Tale after Open Win.” ESPN, 17 June 2004, www.espn.com/golf/usopen04/news/story?id=1823757. Accessed 23 Oct. 2024.
Ostlere, Lawrence. “The Open Championship Prize Money: How Much Does the Winner Take Home?” Yahoo Sports, 21 July 2024, sports.yahoo.com/open-championship-prize-money-much-205720228.html. Accessed 23 Oct. 2024.
“The U.S. Open Championship: Over 100 Years of National Champions.” Professional Golfers Career College, 6 June 2017, golfcollege.edu/u-s-open-championship-100-years-national-champions/. Accessed 23 Oct. 2024.