The United States Open Championship, commonly known as the U.S. Open, is the second of the four major championships and is an officially scheduled event on both the PGA and European Tours. Staged by the USGA in mid-June, the U.S. Open is always scheduled with the final round to be played on Father's Day, as long as there are no weather delays. For the fifth time in 38 years, the next U.S. Open Championship will be played at Pebble Beach Golf Links in Pebble Beach, California, June 17-20, 2010. Pebble Beach is a classic U.S. Open venue, and always amongst the most in-demand tickets on the PGA Tour.
The inaugural U.S. Open Championship was played in 1895 on a nine-hole course in Newport, Rhode Island, and was a 36-hole competition played in a single day. The field was comprised of ten professionals and one amateur. The winner was 21-year-old Englishman Horace Rawlins, who had arrived in the United States that January to take a job at the host club. Rawlins received $150 cash out of the $335 purse, plus a $50 gold medal, while his club was presented the Open Championship Cup trophy by the USGA. The tournament was dominated by experienced British (1895, 1897, 1900, 1909) and Scottish (1896, 1898-99, 1901-08, 1910) players until 1911 when John J. McDermott became the first American-born winner, and American golfers soon began winning regularly as the Open evolved into one of the four PGA Tour majors.
Since 1950, players from only five nations other than the United States have won the Open, most notably South Africa, winning five times since 1965. For the first time since 1910, a streak of four consecutive non-American winners occurred from 2004 to 2007; South African Retief Goosen, New Zealander Michael Campbell, Australian Geoff Ogilvy, and Argentine Ángel Cabrera, are all from countries south of the equator. There have not been any European winners since England's Tony Jacklin in 1970.
The U.S. Open Championship is played at a variety of different courses, all usually set up to make low scoring difficult and with great emphasis placed on accurate tee shots. Normally the courses are very long and include a high cut of primary, or "Open", rough, hilly greens, and narrow fairways. U.S. Open courses are seldom conquered easily, leading to numerous above-par wins.
Setting itself apart from the other majors, the U.S. Open does not immediately go to a playoff if there is a tie at the end of four rounds. Instead, a fifth 18-hole round is played the following day, and if a tie still exists after that, a sudden death playoff is held. The U.S. Open has gone to sudden death after the playoff round only three times – most recently in 2008 when Tiger Woods defeated Rocco Mediate on the first playoff hole, additionally, making Woods the sixth player to win three or more U.S. Opens.
