June 16–19 U.S. Open
THE YEAR AHEAD 2011
T
om Watson may be best known for his five British Open triumphs, but the 1982 U.S. Open champion delights in telling the story about how,
when he was a kid, his father would quiz him about which player won the National Open in any given year. His father had the champions memorized and that was one reason winning the Open at Pebble Beach was so special for Watson. Its history is so deeply engrained in him. It is a staple of golf journalism that every so often
players are asked which of the four major championships they consider the most important. The Masters always gets its fair share of votes
because it is so closely connected with tournament co-founder Bobby Jones and because it has produced such a marvelous collection of champions. But in truth, as six-time winner Jack Nicklaus points out, for all its considerable charms, the Masters isn’t the championship of anything. Checking the field at the British Open provides ample
evidence that golf is truly the most international of sports and, when it comes to history, no other tournament can touch the game’s oldest championship, which dates to 1860. It is safe to say that the Open Championship, as it is generally known outside the United States, is the unofficial world championship of golf and, if you asked most international players, it is the title they most cherish. The PGA Championship is no slouch in the history
department either. It was first played in 1916 and part of its charm was that, until 1958, it was a match-play competition. Unlike the Masters and the British and U.S. Opens, it is closed to amateurs but open to a small group of club professionals, which added to the charm. And it is the last major of the year.
A BIT OF U.S. OPEN HISTORY All of which brings us to the U.S. Open which most Americans regard as the most prestigious of the four. It is, after all, our national championship.
2010 FEDEXCUP STANDINGS RANK +/- NAME
1 2 3
4 5
www.pgatour.com - ERNIE ELS
POINTS 1,751.00
+1 PHIL MICKELSON 1,521.00 -1 JIM FURYK
1,445.00
- ANTHONY KIM 1,215.00 - BEN CRANE
1,200.00 PGA TOUR OFFICIAL ANNUAL 2011 129
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