Rugged, Record Closing Trio of Holes Looms

The closing triumvirate of par-4 holes on the North Course in this U.S. Open have drawn a lot of pre-championship attention. In fact, the holes make up the longest combined yardage for the three closing holes in championship history – their scorecard yardages of 542, 520 and 492 total 1,554 yards. For Round 1 on Thursday, the trio is playing slightly shorter than that. But it’s not just the length: No. 17 features the barranca running along the right side, and though No. 18 is the shortest of the three, the tee shot plays significantly uphill. When asked to name a “scoreable” stretch of holes on the North Course, 2022 U.S. Open co-runner-up Scottie Scheffler quipped, “If I was to choose a non-scoreable stretch, it would be 16 through 18.” On Thursday morning, 2013 champion Justin Rose played them in bogey-bogey-double bogey. The previous longest trios of finishing holes were 1,539 yards at Congressional in 2011 and 1,536 yards at The Olympic Club in 2012, but both of those stretches included par 5s, two of them at Olympic. The next-longest three closing par 4s were at Winged Foot’s West Course in 2020, but its collection of holes were a combined 65 yards shorter than this year’s.