2008 US Open Fact Sheet

[Gxgolfer]

2008 U.S. OPEN FACT SHEET

June 12-15, 2008

at Torrey Pines Golf Course (South Course)

San Diego, Calif. 

PAR AND YARDAGE – The course at Torrey Pines Golf Course will be set up at 7,643 yards and will play to a par of 35-36--71.   

TORREY PINES GOLF COURSE (SOUTH COURSE) – William F. Bell and his son, William Bell, designed the golf course at Torrey Pines, which opened in 1957. Prior to being shaped for a golf course, the land was part of Camp Callan, a naval training center. Bell’s son finished much of the initial layout after his father’s death. Rees Jones completed a re-design of the course in 2002. 

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 – 7,643 yards, par 35-36--71; 

Hole	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Out
Par	4	4	3	4	4	4	4	3	5	35
Yards	448	389	195	488	453	515	461	177	612	3,738

 

Hole	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	In
Par	4	3	4	5	4	4	3	4	5	36
Yards	414	221	504	614	435	478	225	441	573	3,905

 

DISTANCE – This layout is 379 yards longer than any previous U.S. Open course layout, but it is playing to a par 71, not a par 70 as has been the case in all but a few years over the past several decades. The third, 11^th and 16^th holes, all par 3s, will vary daily in length by 17 to 53 yards. The shortest yardages bring the total yardage to 7,541 yards. The USGA may also shorten hole 14 one of the days. 

PAR 71 – Prior to 2008, the last time the U.S. Open was a par-71 layout was in 2000 at Pebble Beach Golf Links (6,846 yards). 

COURSE LAYOUT – The fairways will range in width from roughly 24 to 33 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 15-foot band of primary rough will be grown to approximately 2¼ inches. The second cut of deepest rough left and right of the landing areas will be 3½ inches. Some spectator ropes again will be moved back to allow for this plan, where the “penalty fits the crime.” The further off line a drive is, the tougher the recovery shot will be. (This is the third year of this USGA setup). 

The greens will be set to run at 13 to 13½ feet on the Stimpmeter for the duration of the championship. The primary rough for 12 feet around the putting greens will be maintained at 3 inches. Outside of that, the rough will be grown to 4 inches (in contrast to the 2¼ -inch rough running alongside the fairways). 

COURSE RATING AND SLOPE – Based on the course setup for the championship, the Torrey Pines Course Rating is 79.7. Its Slope Rating is 153. 

2007 CHAMPION – After five different players held or shared the lead on the first nine holes of the final round of the 2007 U.S. Open, Angel Cabrera pulled into the lead with a birdie from close range on the par-4 11^th hole. He made another birdie on the 15^th before bogeying the next two holes. The Argentinean made par on the final hole and then waited 40 minutes while those in contention behind him completed play. He held the lead or shared the lead for much of the afternoon. 

Jim Furyk, who like Cabrera began the final day tied for seventh place, made three consecutive birdies to tie for the lead after his 15^th hole, but fell back after making bogey on the short par-4 17^th. Tiger Woods was the last with a chance, but he stayed a stroke behind Cabrera as well when he made par on each of the final seven holes. 

Cabrera finished with a 1-under-par 69 for a 72-hole total of 5-over-par 285. Cabrera’s previous best finish at a U.S. Open had been seventh in 2001. His previous best at a major championship had been a fourth-place finish at the 1999 British Open. 

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 6, four days after sectional qualifying is completed. They will be posted on the USGA Web 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 22^nd consecutive year, the U.S. Open is a sellout, with roughly 42,500 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 eight past champions – Michael Campbell (2005), Angel Cabrera (2007), 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 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. Angel Cabrera will be grouped with British Open winner Padraig Harrington for Thursday and Friday, but the third member of the group is undetermined at this time. Last year’s Amateur champion Colt Knost turned professional in late 2007 and as a result is not fully exempt for the championship.

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 (2009) U.S. Open [*]The top eight finishers (and ties) are invited to next year’s (2009) Masters Tournament [*]The winner qualifies for this year’s (2008) British Open [*]The winner qualifies for this year’s (2008) PGA Championship

 

TELEVISION COVERAGE – The U.S. Open will enjoy at least 30 hours of live network coverage, with 16 of those hours on NBC. Dan Hicks is scheduled to be at the helm of the NBC broadcast team. ESPN will air at least 14 hours over the first two days of play. 

Eastern Daylight Times: Thursday and Friday (June 12-13) – 1-3 p.m. on ESPN, 3-5 p.m. on NBC, and 5-10 p.m. on ESPN. Saturday (June 14) – 4-10 p.m. on NBC and Sunday (June 15) – 3-9 p.m. If an 18-hole playoff is necessary on Monday, ESPN will begin coverage at noon, with NBC picking up play at 2 p.m. 

This is the first scheduled prime time (ET) broadcast in U.S. Open history.

Date Network Broadcast Hours

June 12 ESPN 1-3 p.m. 

NBC 3-5 p.m.

ESPN 5-10 p.m.

June 13 ESPN 1-3 p.m. 

NBC 3-5 p.m.

ESPN 5-10 p.m.

June 14 NBC 4-10 p.m.

June 15 NBC 3-9 p.m. 

If needed, an 18-hole playoff for the 2008 U.S. Open championship would be played Monday, June 16, starting at 12 noon local time (3 p.m. EDT). ESPN would broadcast the first two hours of the playoff. NBC would begin coverage at 2 p.m. locally (5 p.m. EDT). 

HISTORY – This is the 108^th U.S. Open Championship. The Open, which was first played in 1895, 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. (21) won in 1923. Since then, Jack Nicklaus was 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 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 23. 

ENTRIES – The USGA accepted 8,390 entries for the 2008 U.S. Open at Torrey Pines Golf Course. The record of 9,048 entries was set in 2005. 

LOCAL QUALIFYING – Local qualifying played over 18 holes was held at 111 sites in May. From the more than 8,000 golfers making the attempt at local qualifying, only 550 advanced to sectional qualifying, joining approximately 300 who were exempt from the local-qualifying stage. 

SECTIONAL QUALIFYING – Sectional qualifying played over 36 holes was held at 15 sites on May 26 (1) and June 2 (14). For the fourth time, sectional qualifiers were held in Japan and England. Eighty-four golfers advanced from sectional qualifying to join players who were fully exempt into the Open field. In 2005, Michael Campbell became the first non- fully exempt U.S. Open winner since Steve Jones in 1996.   

SCHEDULE OF PLAY – Eighteen holes of stroke play are scheduled each day from June 12 (Thursday) through June 15 (Sunday). In the case of a tie after 72 holes, an 18-hole playoff will be held on June 16 (Monday), beginning at noon (EDT). The last playoff to determine an Open winner was in 2001, when Retief Goosen defeated Mark Brooks (70-72). There was a three-way playoff in 1994 at Oakmont, which was won by Ernie Els over 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 TORREY PINES – The 1998 U.S. Amateur Public Links championship was conducted over the South Course at Torrey Pines. Trevor Immelman, 18, of Cape Town, South Africa, won the title, defeating Jason Dufner in the 36-hole match-play final, 3 and 2. The course was set up at 7,010 yards and played to a par 72. Bubba Watson, another fully exempt player for the 2008 U.S. Open, played in that APL championship. Watson lost in the first round of match play. 

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

515 yards – 6^th at Torrey Pines, 2008

514 yards – 9^th at Winged Foot, 2006

504 yards – 12^th at Torrey Pines, 2008

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 3s 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 

 

May 27, 2008 

THE 72 PLAYERS WHO ARE FULLY EXEMPT FOR THE 2008 U.S. OPEN 
 
 
 
 

Robert Allenby 9,10,17

Stuart Appleby 17

Stephen Ames 8,17

Woody Austin  9,10,17

Aaron Baddeley 8,9,10,17

Brad Bryant  7

Jonathan Byrd  10

Angel Cabrera  1,8,11,17

Mark Calcavecchia 9,10

Michael Campbell 1

Paul Casey  8,11,17

K.J. Choi  9,10,13,17

Daniel Chopra  13

Stewart Cink  9,10,12,17

Tim Clark  9,10,17

Ben Curtis  4

Luke Donald  9,17

Nick Dougherty 8,11

Ernie Els  9,10,11,17

Niclas Fasth  8,11,17

Steve Flesch  9,13

Jim Furyk  1,8,9,10,17

Sergio Garcia 6,9,10,11,12,17

Retief Goosen  1,11,17

Todd Hamilton  4

Soren Hansen  11,17

Padraig Harrington 4,9,10,11,17

J.B. Holmes  17

Charles Howell III 9,10

Ryuji Imada  12

Trevor Immelman 3,17

Lee Janzen  1,8

Miguel Jimenez 14,17

Zach Johnson  3,9,10,17

Robert Karlsson 17

Martin Kaymer  17 
 
 

* = amateur 
 
 
 
 
 

Shingo Katayama 15,17

Jerry Kelly  8

Anthony Kim  12,17

Justin Leonard 17

Hunter Mahan  8,9,10,17

Shaun Micheel 5

Phil Mickelson 3,5,9,10,12,13,17

Colin Montgomerie 11

Sean O’Hair  17

Geoff Ogilvy  1,9,10,12,17

Rod Pampling  17

Ian Poulter  17

Jeff Quinney  12,17

John Rollins  9,10

Andres Romero 11,17

Justin Rose  8,9,10,11,17

Rory Sabbatini 9,10,17

Adam Scott  9,10,17

Vijay Singh  5,9,10,12,17

Heath Slocum  9,10

Brandt Snedeker 9,10,17

Henrik Stenson 11,17

Richard Sterne 11,17

Steve Stricker  8,9,10,17

Toru Taniguchi 15,17

*Michael Thompson 2

David Toms  8

Scott Verplank  8,9,10,17

Camilo Villegas 10

Bubba Watson 8

Boo Weekley  9,10,12,17

Mike Weir  17

Lee Westwood 11,17

Brett Wetterich 9,10

Oliver Wilson  14,17

Tiger Woods  1,3,4,5,8, 9,10,12,13,17

 

 

Key to Player Exemptions – 

1) Winners of the U.S. Open Championship for the last 10 years.

2) Winner and runner-up of the 2007 U.S. Amateur Championship.

3) Winners of the Masters Tournament for the last five years.

4) Winners of the British Open Championship for the last five years.

5) Winners of the PGA of America Championship for the last five years.

6) Winner of the 2008 Players Championship.

7) Winner of the 2007 U.S. Senior Open Championship.

8) From the 2007 U.S. Open Championship, the 15 lowest scorers and anyone tying for 15^th place.

9) From the 2007 final official PGA Tour money list, the top 30 money leaders.

10)  Those 30 players qualifying for the 2007 season-ending Tour Championship.

11) From the 2007 final official PGA European Tour, the top 15 money leaders.

12) From the 2008 official PGA Tour money list, the top 10 money leaders through May 26.

13) Any multiple winners of PGA Tour co-sponsored events whose victories are considered official from April 25, 2007, through June 1, 2008.

14) From the 2008 PGA European Tour, the top two money leaders through May 26.

15) From the 2007 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 2007 final 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 World Rankings list, the top 50 point leaders as of May 26, 2008

18) Special exemptions selected by the USGA.