BETHESDA, Md. — Facts and figures
for the 111th U.S. Open golf championship:
Dates: June 16-
19.
Site:
Congressional Country Club
(Blue Course).
The course:
Devereux Emmet designed the
original course, which opened in 1924. The
club was used for training by the Office of
Strategic Services during World War II. After
the war, the club hired Robert Trent Jones to
revamp the course and make it worthy of a
U.S. Open. His son, Rees Jones, has since
remodeled the course. It has hosted the U.S.
Open in 1964, 1997 and 2011, along with the
1976 PGA Championship. The PGA Tour has
held 10 tournaments at Congressional —
the Kemper Open, Booz Allen Classic and
AT&T National.
Length: 7,574
yards.
Par: 36-35_71.
Format: 72 holes
of stroke play.
Cut: Top 60 and
ties, and anyone within 10 strokes of the lead
after 36 holes.
Playoff, if necessary: 18
holes of stroke play on June 20.
Field: 156 players.
Purse: TBA ($7.5
million in 2010).
Winner's share:
TBA ($1.35 million in 2010)
Defending champion:
Graeme McDowell.
Last year: Graeme
McDowell of Northern Ireland became the first
European in 40 years to win the U.S. Open. He
made only one birdie in a final round of 3-over
74 for a one-shot victory over Gregory Havret. Dustin
Johnson began the final round with
a three-shot lead, only to make triple bogey on
the second hole on his way to an 82, opening
the way for Ernie Els, Phil
Mickelson and Tiger Woods to take
advantage. Woods bogeyed five of his opening
10 holes. Els and Mickelson stayed in the game
through the back nine. No one could catch
McDowell, who finished at even-par 284.
Last time at Congressional:
Ernie Els won his second U.S.
Open by closing with a 1-under 69. He hit 5-
iron into the dangerous 17th for par, then
made a 5-foot par putt on the 18th. Tom
Lehman hit into the water on the 17th, while
Colin Montgomerie missed a par putt on the
17th to miss another chance in a major.
U.S. Open champions at
Congressional: Ken Venturi
(1964), Ernie Els (1997).
Tiger Tales: Tiger
Woods will not play the U.S. Open (leg injuries)
for the first time since 1994.
Noteworthy:
Americans have not finished
among the top three in three of the last four
majors.
Quoteworthy: "I
hear so many guys say that his golf course
doesn't suit them. It's not supposed to. The
whole idea of why they move to different
places is so that you can adjust your golf
game to suit the venue. And that's the secret
to the game." — Jack Nicklaus
Amateurs in the Field:
Key statistic: Ten
players have won the last 10 majors.
Television (all times EDT):
Thursday and Friday, 10 a.m.
to 3 p.m., ESPN. 3-5 p.m., NBC Sports, 5-7
p.m. ESPN. Saturday, 2-8 p.m., NBC Sports.
Sunday, 1:30-7:30 p.m., NBC Sports.