A capsule look at the five previous U.S. Open golf championships held at Shinnecock Hills:
Winner: James Foulis.
Score: 152.
Margin: 3 shots.
Runner-up: Horace Rawlins.
Prize: $150.
Summary: Foulis of Scotland won the second U.S. Open as golf was just starting in America. He shot 74 in the final round to break out of a six-way tie for the lead on a Shinnecock Hills course that was only 4,423 yards. There were 35 players in the field, and only 28 finished
the 36-hole championship. Most memorable about this U.S. Open was a petition several players signed in support of John Shippen, an African-American, and Oscar Bunn, a Native American. Shippen, a caddie at Shinnecock, was tied for the lead after the first round and still in the mix until taking 11 on the 13th hole. He tied for sixth. Rawlins won the inaugural U.S. Open a year earlier at Newport.
Notable: Shinnecock Hills, one of the five founding golf clubs of the USGA, would wait 90 years before hosting another U.S. Open.
Quotable: “We stood up almost 125 years ago and did the right thing and made sure we were welcoming.” — Mike Davis, CEO of the USGA, on Shippen and Bunn being allowed to play.
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Winner: Raymond Floyd.
Score: 279.
Margin: 2 shots.
Runner-up: Chip Beck and Lanny Wadkins.
Prize: $115,000.
Summary: Two months after 46-year-old Jack Nicklaus became the oldest Masters champion, Floyd became the oldest U.S. Open champion at age 43. It was his first U.S. Open title, and he closed with a 4-under 66 to overcome a three-shot deficit against Greg Norman, who faded to a 75. Ten players had at least a share of the lead in the final round. Floyd took the lead with a birdie on the 14th, and he pulled away with another birdie on No. 16. For Norman, it was the second leg of the illustrious “Saturday Slam” when he had the 54-hole lead in all four majors in 1986 and only one the British Open.
Notable: Floyd had only two top 10s in 21 attempts at the U.S. Open until he won at Shinnecock Hills.
Quotable: “The old guys are doing pretty good. Who needs the Senior Tour?” — Nicklaus, on he and Floyd become the oldest champions of the Masters and U.S. Open.
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Winner: Corey Pavin.
Score: 280.
Margin: 2 shots.
Runner-up: Greg Norman.
Prize: $350,000.
Summary: Pavin overcame a three-shot deficit in the final round by closing with a 68 to win his first major championship. As usual, it came at the expense of Norman, runner-up in a major for the sixth time. Norman and Tom Lehman shared the lead going into Sunday. Pavin made bogey on the third hole to fall four shots back, but that was his last bogey of the day. He saved par with a 5-foot putt on No. 17, and Norman fell two shots behind when he bogeyed the 17th. Pavin wrapped it up with a 4-wood from 228 yards onto the green to 6 feet. He missed the putt, but Norman, who shot 73, couldn’t catch him. Lehman shot 74 and finished third. It was the first of four straight years that Lehman played in the final group at the U.S. Open.
Notable: Phil Mickelson played the par-5 16th in 6-over par for the week and finished four shots behind.
Quotable: “I got tired of hearing the question. It wears on you.” — Pavin on no longer being asked about the best to have never won a major.
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Winner: Retief Goosen.
Score: 276.
Margin: 2 shots.
Runner-up: Phil Mickelson.
Prize: $1,125,000.
Summary: Goosen won his second U.S. Open in three years and sent Mickelson to more heartache. The course began to bake out on the weekend and Goosen had one of three rounds under par on Saturday to take the lead. It got out of control on Sunday, and 28 players couldn’t break 80. It came down to Goosen and Mickelson over the back nine. Mickelson briefly took the lead with a birdie on the 16th, only for Goosen in the final group to match him. It turned on the par-3 17th when Mickelson hit into a bunker, blasted out to 5 feet and three-putted for a double bogey. It was the third runner-up finish for Lefty in the U.S. Open. Three more would follow.
Notable: The average score Sunday was 78.7, the highest for a final round in the U.S. Open since windswept Pebble Beach in 1972.
Quotable: “I played some of the best golf of my life and still couldn’t shoot par. So you tell me.” — Phil Mickelson, on whether the course was unfair.
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Winner: Brooks Koepka.
Score: 281.
Margin: 1 shot.
Runner-up: Tommy Fleetwood.
Prize: $2,160,000
Summary: Koepka became the first repeat winner of the U.S. Open when he closed with a 68 to hold off Tommy Fleetwood, whose 63 was largely a product of the USGA softening the course to atone for conditions that were borderline unplayable Saturday afternoon. Koepka had three birdies on a five-hole stretch to pull away early from a four-way tie for the lead. It was the second straight time at Shinnecock Hills the USGA was criticized for letting the golf course get too extreme. Phil Mickelson purposely swatted a moving ball on the 13th green Saturday to avoid it rolling off the green again.
Notable: Curtis Strange was the last back-to-back U.S. Open champion. He spent most of Sunday walking with Koepka as the ground reporter for Fox Sports. “Hell of a job,” Strange told him on the 18th green.
Quotable: “You were seeing shots that were well played and not rewarded. It was a very tough test, but probably too tough this afternoon.” — USGA executive director Mike Davis on the Saturday setup where the greens were so baked players were hitting putts off the green.
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