Historical Notes

On Oct. 4, 1895, the first U.S. Open Championship was conducted by the United States Golf Association on the nine-hole course of Newport (R.I.) Golf and Country Club.

The first U.S. Open was considered something of a sideshow to the first U.S. Amateur, which was played on the same course and during the same week. Both championships had been scheduled for September but were postponed because of a conflict with a more established Newport sports spectacle, the America's Cup yacht races.

Ten professionals and one amateur started in the 36-hole competition, which was four trips around the Newport course in one day. The surprise winner was Horace Rawlins, 21, an English professional who was the assistant at the host course. Rawlins scored 91-82-173 with the gutta percha ball.

Prize money totalled $335, of which Rawlins won the $150 first prize. He also received a gold medal and custody of the Open Championship Cup for his club for one year.

In its first decade the U.S. Open was conducted for amateurs and the largely British wave of immigrant golf professionals coming to the United States.

As American players began to dominate the game, the U.S. Open evolved into an important world golf championship. Young John J. McDermott became the first native-born American winner in 1911 and repeated as champion in 1912.

In 1913, the U.S. Open really took off when Francis Ouimet, a 20-year-old American amateur, stunned the golf world by defeating the famous English professionals, Harry Vardon and Ted Ray, in a playoff.

Another surge in the championship's popularity coincided with the amazing career of Georgia amateur Bobby Jones, who won the U.S. Open four times (1923, 1926, 1929, 1930). Spectator tickets were sold for the first time in 1922 and a boom in entries caused the USGA to introduce sectional qualifying in 1924.

In 1933, John Goodman became the fifth and last amateur to win the U.S. Open. The others were Ouimet (1913), Jerome D. Travers (1915), Charles Evans Jr., (1916), and Jones.

In each era, the world's greatest players have been identified by surviving the rigorous examination provided by the U.S. Open. Ben Hogan's steely determination boosted him to four victories (1948, 1950, 1951, 1953). Arnold Palmer's record comeback win in 1960, when he fired a final round of 65 to come from seven strokes off the lead, cemented his dashing image. Jack Nicklaus's historic assault on the professional record book began when he won the first of his four U.S. Open Championships in 1962, his rookie season as a professional.

Nicklaus, who also won in 1967, 1972, and 1980, is one of only four golfers to capture four U.S. Opens. The others are Willie Anderson (1901, 1903, 1904, 1905), Jones, and Hogan.

In 1954, the U.S. Open course was roped from tee to green for the first time. That year also marked the first national television coverage. Coverage was expanded by ABC Sports in 1977 so that all 18 holes of the final two rounds were broadcast live. In 1982, on the ESPN cable network, the first two rounds were broadcast live for the first time. NBC began televising the U.S. Open in 1995.

The format of the U.S. Open has changed several times. The USGA extended the championship to 72 holes in 1898, with 36 holes played on each of two days. In 1926, the format was changed to 18 holes played each of two days, then 36 holes on the third day. In 1965, the present format of four 18-hole daily rounds was implemented for the first time.

In a landmark court case in 1998, Casey Martin won the right to use a golf cart for PGA Tour and Nike Tour events. The USGA abided by this ruling for the Open. Born with circulation problems that have kept his right leg from developing fully, Martin finished tied for 23rd place.