Far Hills, NJ (Sports Network) - The United States Golf Association made it
official on Monday, as Winged Foot was named the host course for the 2020 U.S.
Open Championship.
This will be the sixth time Winged Foot's West Course will have hosted the
U.S. Open. Only Oakmont and Baltusrol have hosted more Opens. Oakland Hills
has also been the host six times, while Pebble Beach will host its sixth U.S.
Open in 2019.
"We're thrilled to bring the U.S. Open back to this outstanding club," said
Thomas J. O'Toole Jr., USGA vice president and championship committee
chairman. "Winged Foot offers a spectacular setting in a dynamic market, and
has justifiably earned its reputation as one of the premier U.S. Open venues
in the nation. And it joins an impressive lineup of future U.S. Open
Championship locations that players and fans alike can eagerly anticipate."
The last U.S. Open at Winged Foot was in 2006. Geoff Ogilvy finished with
back-to-back 72's to win by one stroke over Jim Furyk, Phil Mickelson and
Colin Montgomerie.
Despite Ogilvy's strong play down the stretch, that Open will long be
remembered for Mickelson's collapse on the final hole. Going for his third
straight major championship, Mickelson needed to par the last for the title.
Mickelson hit his drive way left off the tee, and it caromed off a tent and
into the rough. He tried to play a big cut, but hit a tree. He dumped his
third shot into a bunker and walked off with a double-bogey to lose by one.
That led to this famous Mickelson quote, "I still am in shock that I did that.
I just can't believe that I did that. I'm such an idiot."
In the five previous Opens at Winged Foot, the average winning score is 5-over
par. Only at the 1984 Open did the winner finish in red figures, when Fuzzy
Zoeller won at 4-under-par 276.
The 1974 U.S. Open is known as the "Massacre at Winged Foot" in large part
because of Hale Irwin's 7-over par winning score.
"Winged Foot is a quintessential U.S. Open golf course, and we're thrilled to
have the opportunity to bring our national championship back to a site that
boasts such a long tradition of world-class competition," said Mike Davis,
USGA executive director. "With its wonderfully challenging green complexes and
dogleg holes that emphasize proper placement off the tee, Winged Foot offers
the best players in the world a spectacular test of golf and delivers to
spirited New York golf fans one of the most exciting venues in the game."
The 2013 U.S. Open will be contested on the East Course at Merion Golf Club
from June 13-16.
The Sports Network