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PGA Golf | The US Open

The 2005 U.S. Open Fact Sheet

June 16-19, 2005 at Pinehurst Resort (No. 2 Course) Village of Pinehurst, N.C.

PAR AND YARDAGE – Pinehurst’s No. 2 Course is set up at 7,214 yards and plays to a par of 35-35—70.

ARCHITECT – All 18 holes of this Donald Ross masterpiece were opened in 1907 at 5,870 yards. The first nine holes were completed in 1901. Ross would fine-tune the layout several times through 1946. More recently, Rees Jones did renovations prior to the 1999 U.S. Open there. In 2004, bunkering was repaired and the course was lengthened by about 100 yards.

U.S. OPEN PHILOSOPHY– The USGA intends to make the U.S. Open the most rigorous, yet fair, examination of golf skills, testing all forms of shot-making. The USGA prepares the course after careful consideration of 14 different factors. The complete philosophy statement can be found on www.usopen.com.

Hole	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Out
Par	4	4	4	5	4	3	4	4	3	35
Yards	401	469	336	565	472	220	404	467	175	3,509

Hole	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	In
Par	5	4	4	4	4	3	4	3	4	35
Yards	607	476	449	378	468	203	492	190	442	3,705

DISTANCE – This layout is 92 yards more than was laid out for the 1999 U.S. Open at Pinehurst (7,122 yards in 1999).

HARDEST HOLES FROM 1999 – The hardest holes of the 1999 Championship proved to be numbers 5, 8 and 16, all par 4s. Hole 5, a 482-yarder, played to an average of 4.54 followed by the 16th, a 489-yarder, at 4.50. The easiest hole was the fourth, a 566-yard par 5, which averaged 4.92 strokes. For 2005, the fifth hole will play 10 yards shorter while three yards have been added to the 16th hole.

HOLES THREE AND 13 – Short par 4s by today’s professional standards, holes 3 and 13 measure 336 and 378, respectively. They were 335 and 383 for the 1999 Open, but each played to a slightly over-par average (4.04 and 4.10).

COURSE LAYOUT – The fairways of Tifway II Bermudagrass will range in width from roughly 20 (hole 7) to 28 yards (several). The deepest rough will be 3-3½ inches. A 4½-foot wide swatch of intermediate rough running the length of each hole will be set to 1¼ inches. Around the greens, the swatch of intermediate rough will be the same width. The rough area grasses are also Tifway Bermudagrass. The greens, composed of Penn G-2 bentgrass, will be set to run at 11 feet on the Stimpmeter as of Monday (June 13) and will be monitored the rest of the week. (Note: This is a half-foot faster than the green speeds were in 1999).

LET IT GROW – Target areas on six holes may have rough a bit higher than 3½”. Those areas being considered for taller rough are along both sides of holes 1, 4, 10 and 13, and along the player’s left sides of holes 3 and 12.

COURSE INFORMATION – The No. 2 Course at Pinehurst has 52 fairway bunkers, 57 greenside bunkers and one water hazard (on hole 16). The average size of the greens is 6,000 square feet, about what the players see weekly on the PGA Tour.

2004 CHAMPION – Retief Goosen used just 11 putts over the final nine holes and withstood a challenge from Phil Mickelson to win his second U.S. Open title, by two strokes, with a 4-under-par 276. Goosen began the final round with a two-shot lead over Mickelson and Ernie Els. But, when Els fell off the pace early, it became a two-man race. Goosen led by three after he birdied the 11th and Mickelson bogeyed the 12th just ahead. But Mickelson birdied three of the next four holes to take a momentary one-stroke lead as he headed to the 17th tee. Goosen joined Mickelson at 4 under par when he also birdied the par-5 16th. But, Mickelson three-putted the par-3 17th for double bogey and Goosen safely parred the final two holes for the win. His final round of 1-over-par 71 was the second best score of the day. His 69 on Saturday was the third best of the day.

PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER – No one had fewer putts on the final day of the 2004 U.S. Open than Retief Goosen. He needed only 24 putts for his 18 holes. He one-putted 12 times and used just 11 putts over the final nine holes. Statistically, he one-putted 33 times for the week. “I just kept trying to focus on leaving myself the best possible next putt. I’m happy to have had all these one-putts. You can easily go the wrong way on these greens.”

EXEMPT PLAYERS – Sixty-one players are currently fully exempt into the 156-player Open field, including seven past champions – Ernie Els (1994, 1997); Jim Furyk (2003); Retief Goosen (2001, 2004); Lee Janzen (1993, 1998); Corey Pavin (1995); and Tiger Woods (2000, 2002). A champion receives a full exemption into the field for 10 years.

OTHER PRIZES – Among the benefits enjoyed by the Open winner are:

• 1. an Open exemption for the next 10 years
• 2. an invitation to the next five Masters Tournaments
• 3. an invitation to the next five British Open Championships
• 4. an invitation to the next five Players Championships
• 5. an invitation to the next five PGA Championships
• 6. exempt status on the PGA Tour for five years

QUALIFYING FOR THE OTHER MAJORS –

• The top 15 finishers are exempt for next year’s (2006) U.S. Open
• The top 8 finishers are invited to next year’s (2006) Masters Tournament
• The winner qualifies for this year’s (2005) British Open
• The winner qualifies for this year’s (2005) PGA Championship

HISTORY – This is the 105th U.S. Open Championship. The first was played in 1895. The Open was not held for two years (1917–18) during WWI and for four years (1942–45) during WWII. The youngest winner of the Open was 19-year-old John McDermott, who won in 1911. Eight players age 21 or younger have won the Open, but none that young since Robert T. Jones Jr. won in 1923. Since then, Jerry Pate is the youngest winner at age 22 in 1976. The oldest winner is Hale Irwin, who was 45 when he won in 1990. Only five players have ever won the Masters and U.S. Open titles in the same year – Craig Wood (1941), Ben Hogan (1951 and 1953), Arnold Palmer (1960), Jack Nicklaus (1972) and Tiger Woods (2002). Thirteen players have won both events in their professional careers, the most recent being Tiger Woods.

WOMEN ENTRIES – Fourteen-year-old Carmen Bandea of Duluth, Ga., Isabelle Beisiegel, 26, of Canada and 15-year-old Michelle Wie of Hawaii have filed entries for the 2005 U.S. Open. Wie is the 2003 U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links champion. She has already played in numerous LPGA events. Besiegel is in her second year on the LPGA Tour. The two will face the challenge of both local and sectional qualifying.

SCHEDULE OF PLAY – – Eighteen holes of stroke play is scheduled each day from June 16 (Thursday) through June 19 (Sunday). In the case of a tie after 72 holes, an 18–hole playoff will be held on June 20 (Monday), beginning at noon (EDT). The last playoff was in 2001, won by Retief Goosen over Mark Brooks (70-72). There was a three-way playoff in 1994, which was won by Ernie Els. The other two players in the playoff were Loren Roberts and Colin Montgomerie.

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Visit The US Open Championship Official Website at http://www.usopen.com