DID YOU KNOW - FACTS ABOUT OAKMONT COUNTRY CLUB AND THE U.S. OPEN
• Oakmont Country Club holds a unique place in American golfing history. This will be the ninth time the venue has staged the U.S. Open, the most of any course. The next best is Baltusrol with seven hostings.
• This will be the first time Oakmont Country Club has staged America’s national open since Angel Cabrera won in 2007.
• Here are all the eight years that the course has seen U.S. Open competition. They are: 1927, 1935, 1953, 1962, 1973, 1983, 1994 and 2007. The 2016 U.S Open will be the 19 combined USGA and PGA of America event, more than any other course.
• Major Championship history was made at the 1973 U.S. Open at Oakmont with Johnny Miller becoming the first player to shoot a round of 63. The American’s record-breaking score came in the final round. He began the final day six shots behind the 54 hole leaders and eventually winning by one from John Schlee. Miller’s final round is still the lowest by a winner of a Major. He also became the first of four players to compile a 63 in U.S. Open history.
• Larry Nelson has the honour of recording the lowest final 36 hole total in U.S. Open history of 132. This was on his way to victory in 1983 at Oakmont Country Club.
• In the 1973 U.S Open at Oakmont Country Club, won by Johnny Miller, four players led with 18 holes to play. This is a joint record for the U.S. Open. The players were, Julius Boros, Jerry Heard, Arnold Palmer and John Schlee.
• To highlight the difficulty of Oakmont Country Club, in 1927 only one player shot an under par score in the entire tournament That was the winner, Tommy Armour. To highlight the difficulty of the course, the average winning score in the previous eight U.S Opens’ is 286. (In 1927, 1935, 1953 and 1962 was a par 72, a par 71 in 1973, 1983 and 1994 and a par 70 in 2007).
• In 1953, the year Ben Hogan won the three Majors he competed in, he claimed the U.S. Open at Oakmont Country Club, beating Sam Snead by six. Nine years later in 1962 Jack Nicklaus won his first U.S Open at Oakmont Country Club, which just happened to be his first professional victory.
• Oakmont Country witnessed the last three man play-off in U.S. Open history in 1994. It take place between Ernie Els, Colin Montgomerie and Loren Roberts. Els and Roberts both shot 74 with the Scot recording a 78. Els went onto win at the second extra hole.
• There will 48 European Tour Members competing in the 2016 U.S. Open. Of the 48, 12 European Tour Members played in 2007, the last Oakmont Country Club U.S. Open and are competing here this week. They are: Angel Cabrera, Luke Donald, Ernie Els, Sergio Garcia, Retief Goosen, Peter Hanson, Søren Kjeldsen, Graeme McDowell, Justin Rose, Charl Schwartzel, Jeev Milkha Singh and Lee Westwood.
• Of the 48 European Tour Members playing in 2016, ten will be playing for the first time. They are: Kiradech Aphibarnrat, Thitiphun Chuayprakong, Emiliano Grillo, Andrew Johnston, Mikael Lundberg, Sebastian Soderberg, Gary Stal, Miguel Tabuena, Romain Wattel and Chris Wood.
• European Tour Members will be bidding to win the U.S Open for the fifth time since 2010, following Graeme McDowell (2010), Rory McIlroy (2011), Justin Rose (2013) and Martin Kaymer (2014).
• Should Jordan Spieth make a successful defence he would become the first player to win in back-to-back years since Curtis Strange in 1988-1989.
