2007 U.S. OPEN FACT SHEET

June 14-17, 2007

at Oakmont Country Club

Oakmont, Pa.

PAR AND YARDAGE – The course at Oakmont Country Club will be set up at 7,230 yards and will play to a par of 35-35--70. 

OAKMONT COUNTRY CLUB – H.C. Fownes designed the golf course at Oakmont Country Club, which opened in 1903. The club celebrated its Centennial in conjunction with hosting the 2003 U.S. Amateur.

USGA CHAMPIONSHIPS AT OAKMONT COUNTRY CLUB – Oakmont has hosted 13 USGA championships, with the most recent being the 2003 U.S. Amateur. This will be the eighth Open at Oakmont. No other club has hosted more than seven.

U.S. OPEN PHILOSOPHY – The USGA intends to make the U.S. Open the most rigorous, yet fair, examination of golf skills, testing all forms of shot-making. The USGA prepares the course after careful consideration of 14 different factors. The complete philosophy statement can be found on www.usopen.com.

HOLE BY HOLE – 7,230 yards, par 35-35--70;

DISTANCE – This layout is 59 yards longer than the 2003 U.S. Amateur at Oakmont (7,171 yards) and 284 yards longer than the 1994 U.S. Open (6,946 yards).  Holes 8, 10 and 12 will vary in distance, but the yardage listed above is the longest total yardage. The varied distances are: hole 8 at 252/288 yards; hole 10 at 462/435 yards; and hole 12 at 632/667 yards.

COURSE LAYOUT – The fairways will range in width from roughly 22 to 28 yards. On either side of the fairways, a 6-foot wide swath of intermediate rough running the length of each hole will be set to 1¾ inches. Next, a 12-foot band of first cut of primary rough will be grown to approximately 2¾ inches, and the second cut of deepest rough left and right of the landing areas will be 5 inches. Some spectator ropes will be moved back to allow for this plan, where the “penalty now fits the crime.” The further off line a drive is, the tougher the recovery shot will be. (This is the second year of this USGA set-up approach).

The greens will be set to run at 13 to 13½ feet on the Stimpmeter for the duration of the Championship. The primary rough around the putting greens will be maintained at 3½  inches (instead of 2¾ inches as alongside the fairways).

COURSE RATING AND SLOPE – Based on the course set-up, the Oakmont Course Rating is 78.3. Its Slope Rating is 150.

2006 CHAMPION – Geoff Ogilvy scrambled to make par on the final two holes – chipping in on the 17^th and one-putting from 8 feet on the final hole – and then tried to grasp what was happening around him as player after player fell by the wayside.

His final score of 5-over-par 285 would leave him one stroke ahead of Colin Montgomerie, Jim Furyk and Phil Mickelson in the end. But, the finish was hard to believe, even for Ogilvy.

Furyk missed a 5-footer for par on the last green. And incredibly, Montgomerie and Mickelson each took a double-bogey 6 on the final hole. Montgomerie drove to the middle of the fairway, but failed to par the hole with just a 7-iron left. Mickelson drove poorly into the left rough and tried for a miraculous recovery shot that never came to fruition.

That left Ogilvy as the second Australian to win the U.S. Open, following in the footsteps of David Graham, the 1981 winner.

WWW.USGA.ORG/CHAMPIONSHIPS – Log on to the USGA Internet site (www.usga.org/championships or www.usopen.com) for the latest U.S. Open information during the Championship.

GROUPINGS AND STARTING TIMES – Groupings and starting times will be available Friday, June 8, three days after sectional qualifying is completed. They will be posted on the USGA Internet site at www.usga.org/championships.  Starting times for Thursday and Friday will begin at 7 a.m., off the first and 10^th tees.

OPEN A SELLOUT – For the 21^st consecutive year, the U.S. Open is a sellout, with roughly 35,000 tickets sold for each day of the Championship. Ticket-buyers include residents of more than 25 countries.  

EXEMPT PLAYERS – Seventy-two players are fully exempt into the 156-player Open field, including seven past champions – Michael Campbell (2005), Ernie Els (1994,1997), Jim Furyk (2003), Retief Goosen (2001,2004), Lee Janzen (1993,1998), Geoff Ogilvy (2006) and Tiger Woods (2000, 2002). A champion receives a full exemption into the field for 10 years.

DEFENDING THE CROWN – Since 1991, only Tiger Woods and Retief Goosen have finished better than 40^th in trying to defend their Open crowns. Goosen finished tied for 11^th in 2005 after holding a three-stroke lead after 54 holes. Tiger Woods finished 12^th in 2001 after winning in 2000.  He was tied for 20^th in 2003 after winning in 2002. 

TRADITIONAL GROUPING – The reigning U.S. Open, British Open and U.S. Amateur champions are traditionally grouped together for the first two rounds of the U.S. Open. Geoff Ogilvy will be paired with British Open winner Tiger Woods and U.S. Amateur champion Richie Ramsey of Scotland for Thursday and Friday play at Oakmont.

INFLATION – The last time the U.S. Open was played at Oakmont was 1994, and first-prize money was $320,000 for Ernie Els, who beat Loren Roberts and Colin Montgomerie in an 18-hole playoff after sharing the lead at 5 under par (279) through 72 holes. The 2007 winner will receive at least $1,225,000 ($1,225,000 in 2006) from a purse of at least $6.8 million ($6.8 million in 2006).

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 five 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 (and ties) are exempt for next year’s (2008) U.S. Open

·         The top 8 finishers (and ties) are invited to next year’s (2008) Masters Tournament

·         The winner qualifies for this year’s (2007) British Open

·         The winner qualifies for this year’s (2007) PGA Championship

TELEVISION COVERAGE – The Open will enjoy at least 27 hours of live network coverage, with 15 of those hours on NBC. Dan Hicks is scheduled to be at the helm of the NBC broadcast team. ESPN will air at least 11 hours over the first two days of play.

Eastern Daylight Times: Thursday and Friday (June 14-15) – 10 a.m.-3 p.m. on ESPN, 3-5 p.m. on NBC, and 5-7 p.m. on ESPN. Saturday and Sunday (June 16-17) – 1-7 p.m. on NBC. If an 18–hole playoff is necessary on Monday, ESPN will begin coverage at noon, with NBC picking up play at 2 p.m.

FROM JOHNNY MILLER – “The Open is the hardest major to win,” says NBC lead analyst Johnny Miller, who won the 1973 Open at Oakmont. “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 107^th U.S. Open Championship. The first was played in 1895. The Open was not contested for two years (1917–18) during World War I and for four years (1942–45) during World War II.

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 T. Jones Jr. won in 1923. Since then, Jack Nicklaus is the youngest winner at 22 years and 4 months in 1962 (Jerry Pate was 22 years and 9 months in 1976). The oldest winner is Hale Irwin, who was 45 when he won in 1990.

Only five players have ever won the Masters and U.S. Open titles in the same year – Craig Wood (1941), Ben Hogan (1951 and 1953), Arnold Palmer (1960), Jack Nicklaus (1972) and Tiger Woods (2002). 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 and amateur golfer with a USGA Handicap Index not exceeding 1.4. The deadline for entries was April 25.

ENTRIES – The USGA accepted 8,544 entries for the 2007 Open at Oakmont Country Club.  More than 88 percent of those entries were submitted online.

LOCAL QUALIFYING – Local qualifying played over 18 holes was held at 109 sites in May. From the 8,185 golfers making the attempt at local qualifying, only 550 advanced to sectional qualifying, joining the 301 who were exempt from the local-qualifying stage.

SECTIONAL QUALIFYING – Sectional qualifying played over 36 holes was held at 14 sites on May 28 (1) and June 4 (13). For the third time, sectional qualifiers were held in Japan and England. Golfers advancing from sectional qualifying joined the 72 players who were fully exempt into the Open field. In 2005, Michael Campbell was the first non-exempt winner since Steve Jones in 1996. 

SCHEDULE OF PLAY – Eighteen holes of stroke play are 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 2001, won by Retief Goosen over Mark Brooks (70-72). There was a three-way playoff in 1994 at Oakmont, which was won by Ernie Els. The other two players in the playoff were Loren Roberts and Colin Montgomerie.

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.

USGA CHAMPIONSHIPS AT OAKMONT – Oakmont Country Club has hosted 13 USGA championships. It hosted the U.S. Open in 1927, 1935, 1953, 1962, 1973, 1983 and 1994. The U.S. Amateur was played at Oakmont in 1919, 1925, 1938, 1969 and 2003. The U.S. Women’s Open was held at Oakmont in 1992.

Championship Years and Winners

1919 U.S. Amateur – S. Davidson Herron def. Robert Jones, 5 and 4

1925 U.S. Amateur – Robert Jones def. Watts Gunn, 8 and 7

1927 U.S. Open – Tommy Armour (301-76) in a playoff over Harry Cooper (301-79)

1935 U.S. Open – Sam Parks Jr. by two strokes over Jimmy Thomson, 299-301

1938 U.S. Amateur – William Turnesa def. B. Patrick Abbott, 8 and 7

1953 U.S. Open – Ben Hogan by six strokes over Sam Snead, 283-289

1962 U.S. Open – Jack Nicklaus (283-71) in a playoff over Arnold Palmer (283-74)

1969 U.S. Amateur – Steve Melnyk (286) by five strokes over Marvin Giles (291)

1973 U.S. Open – Johnny Miller by one stroke over John Schlee, 279-280

1983 U.S. Open – Larry Nelson by one stroke over Tom Watson, 280-281

1992 U.S. Women’s Open – Patty Sheehan (280-72) in a playoff over Juli Inkster (280-74)

1994 U.S. Open – Ernie Els (279-74-4-4) in a playoff over Loren Roberts (279-74-4-5) and Colin Montgomerie (279-78)

2003 U.S. Amateur – Nick Flanagan def. Casey Wittenberg, 37 holes

PLAYERS WHO PLAYED IN 1994 U.S. OPEN AT OAKMONT (12) – Here is a list of players who competed in the 1994 Open at Oakmont who are in the 2007 Open field: Olin Browne (T47), Ernie Els (1), Fred Funk (T28), Jim Furyk (T44), Paul Goydos (T44),  Lee Janzen (MC), Davis Love III (T28),  Colin Montgomerie (T2), Phil Mickelson (T47), Jose Maria Olazabal (MC), Jeff Sluman (T9) and Scott Verplank (T18).

PLAYERS WHO PLAYED IN 2003 U.S. AMATEUR AT OAKMONT (7) – Jason Kokrak, Trip Kuehne, Ryan Moore, Brandt Snedeker, Martin Ureta, Camilo Villegas and Lee Williams are also in the 2007 Open field.

HARD STUFF AT THE 2003 AMATEUR – During the 312 rounds (two days) of stroke play at Oakmont during the 2003 U.S. Amateur, only one player managed an under par score – Steve Conway, 21, of Irvine, Calif., who had a 1-under-par 69. The stroke average for those two days of stroke play was an incredible 79. Oakmont did not let up in match play either. In the 37 holes of the final match, only three birdies were made.

UNDER PAR AT OAKMONT – In seven U.S. Opens at Oakmont, the best winning score was 5 under par, a score reached by Ben Hogan in his 1953 win, by Johnny Miller in his 1973 win and by Ernie Els (also Loren Roberts and Colin Montgomerie) in his 1994 playoff win.

The low, raw score from seven Opens at Oakmont is 279 (-5), the winning score of Ernie Els in the 1994 championship. That score was matched by Colin Montgomerie and Loren Roberts, who lost to Els in a Monday playoff. And the low single-round score is the memorable 63 by Johnny Miller in the final round of the 1973 championship.

In seven previous Opens, only 23 golfers have finished 72 holes under par.

THE NEW CHURCH PEWS – On the left-hand side of holes three and four lay the famous church pews of Oakmont Country Club. They have been lengthened, widened and deepened for this U.S. Open to catch errant drives. Here’s a tale of the tape, before and after:

                                    Then                Now

Number of pews         8                      12

Total size                    15,000 sq. ft.   26,000 sq. ft.

Yardage covered         25x70              30 x100

Depth                          3 feet deep      3½ to 4 feet deep       

BUNKERS IN GENERAL – Oakmont has 210 bunkers, including some of the most penal fairway bunkers anywhere.

“When you get in one of them, you are not going to get to the green,” said Mike Davis, senior director of Rules and Competitions, who is charged with course setup. “It will be worse than being in the rough. And we haven’t had that in some years.”

THE FAMOUS OAKMONT GREENS – Tellingly, Arnold Palmer suffered 11 three-putts when he lost to Jack Nicklaus at the 1962 U.S. Open at Oakmont in a playoff.

TREE TRIMMING – The landscape is quite different from when the Open was last played here in 1994. Since then, more than 4,000 trees have been removed.

COMPARISONS OVER THE YEARS – Here is the way Oakmont has been set up for past U.S. Opens and the 2003 Amateur:

1927 Open – 6,929 yards, par 72

1935 Open – 6,981 yards, par 72

1953 Open – 6,916 yards, par 72

1962 Open – 6,893 yards, par 71

1973 Open – 6,921 yards, par 71

1983 Open – 6,972 yards, par 71

1994 Open – 6,946 yards, par 71

2003 Amateur – 7,171 yards, par 70

LONGEST HOLES IN U.S OPEN HISTORY

667 yards – 12^th at Oakmont, 2007

642 yards – 5^th at Southern Hills, 2001

640 yards – 12^th at Winged Foot, 2006

630 yards – 16^th at Olympic Club, 1955

630 yards – 17^th at Baltusrol, 1980

623 yards – 17^th at Baltusrol, 1967

LONGEST PAR 4s IN U.S. OPEN HISTORY

514 yards – 9^th at Winged Foot, 2006

500 yards – 15^th at Oakmont, 2007

499 yards – 12^th at Bethpage, 2002

496 yards – 9^th at Olympia Fields, 2003

492 yards – 10^th at Bethpage, 2002

492 yards – 16^th at Pinehurst No. 2, 2005

LONGEST PAR 3 IN U.S. OPEN HISTORY

288 yards – 8^th at Oakmont, 2007

253 yards – 8^th at Oakmont, 1927, 1935 and 1962

249 yards – 8^th at Oakmont, 1994

244 yards – 8^th at Oakmont, 1973

240 yards – 8^th at Oakmont, 1994

235 yards – 2^nd at Congressional, 1997

PHOTO MEDIA SERVICE – The USGA will offer daily complimentary hi-resolution photographs during the U.S. Open (Monday-Sunday). They are for news use only. For more information and to register, contact Ellie Kaiser of the USGA at ekaiser@usga.org. Her office phone number is (908) 234-2300, ext. 1294.

IMPORTANT PHONE NUMBERS

USGA Communications Department – (908) 234–2300

U.S. Open Media Center (as of June 9) – (412) 820-6800

U.S. Media Center Fax (as of June 9) – (412) 820-6810

FOR MORE INFORMATION – Please contact Craig Smith, USGA director of media relations, at (908) 216-3229 (cell).

THE 72 PLAYERS WHO ARE FULLY EXEMPT FOR THE 2007 U.S. OPEN