The U.S. Open trophy photographed at The Los Angeles Country Club (North Course) in Los Angeles, Calif. on Monday, Sept. 26, 2022. (Copyright USGA/J.D. Cuban)
CHAMPIONSHIP HISTORY
This is the 123rd U.S. Open Championship. The U.S. Open, which was first played in 1895, was not contested for two years (1917-1918) during World War I and for four years (1942-1945) during World War II. The youngest winner of the U.S. Open is 19-year-old John McDermott, who won in 1911; he is among nine players age 21 or younger who have won the U.S. Open. The oldest winner is Hale Irwin, who was 45 and playing on a special exemption when he won his third U.S. Open title in 1990. Irwin also won in 1974 and 1979.
There are four four-time U.S. Open winners: Willie Anderson (1901, 1903, 1904, 1905), amateur Bob Jones (1923, 1926, 1929, 1930), Ben Hogan (1948, 1950, 1951, 1953), and Jack Nicklaus (1962, 1967, 1972, 1980).
Only six players have won the Masters and U.S. Open titles in the same year: Craig Wood (1941), Ben Hogan (1951, 1953), Arnold Palmer (1960), Jack Nicklaus (1972), Tiger Woods (2002) and Jordan Spieth (2015).
PAR AND YARDAGE
The Los Angeles Country Club’s North Course will be set up at 7,423 yards and will play to a par of 35-35–70. The yardage for each round of the championship will vary due to course setup and conditions.
SCORECARD
| The Los Angeles Country Club (North Course) Hole By Hole | ||||||||||
| Hole | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Total |
| Par | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 35 |
| Yardage | 590 | 497 | 419 | 228 | 480 | 330 | 284 | 537 | 171 | 3,536 |
| Hole | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | Total |
| Par | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 35 |
| Yardage | 409 | 290 | 380 | 507 | 623 | 124 | 542 | 520 | 492 | 3,887 |
ARCHITECTS
George C. Thomas Jr. designed The Los Angeles Country Club’s current North Course, which opened for play in 1928. W. Herbert Fowler designed the club’s original North Course and South Course, which opened in 1921. Gil Hanse, along with Jim Wagner and Geoff Shackelford, restored the Thomas design of the North Course in 2010 while Hanse also did work on the South Course, which was completed in 2016.
COURSE RATING AND SLOPE
Based on the course setup for the championship, the Course Rating™ for the North Course at The Los Angeles Country Club is 76.9 and its Slope Rating® is 148.
WHO CAN ENTER
The championship is open to any professional golfer and any amateur golfer with a Handicap Index® not exceeding 1.4.
ENTRIES
The USGA accepted a record 10,187 entries for the 2023 U.S. Open, which surpasses the previous mark of 10,127 established in 2014 at Pinehurst Resort & Country Club. It is the 11th consecutive time and the 14th time overall that entries have topped the 9,000 mark, and just the second time entries have exceeded 10,000. (The 2020 championship field was all-exempt due to COVID-19.)
LOCAL QUALIFYING
Local qualifying, played over 18 holes, was conducted at 109 sites in 44 U.S. states and Canada between April 17-May 22. There were 14 local qualifying sites in California, the most of any state. Florida hosted 13 local qualifiers.
FINAL QUALIFYING
Final qualifying, played over 36 holes, was held at 10 sites in the United States and three international sites. The U.S. sites were in Texas on May 22 and in California, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio (Columbus & Springfield) and Washington on June 5. England (May 16), Japan (May 22) and Canada (June 5) hosted international qualifying.
CHAMPIONSHIP FIELD
The starting field of 156 golfers will be cut after 36 holes to the low 60 scorers and ties.
SCHEDULE OF PLAY
Eighteen holes of stroke play are scheduled each day from June 15 (Thursday) through June 18 (Sunday). In the event of a tie after 72 holes, a two-hole aggregate playoff (holes 1 and 18) will take place following the completion of Sunday’s final round.
THE 2022 CHAMPION
Matt Fitzpatrick, a 27-year-old Englishman, became the 13th man and the first non-American to add the U.S. Open Championship to a victory in the U.S. Amateur. In winning the 122nd edition of the U.S. Open last June by one stroke over Will Zalatoris and Scottie Scheffler at The Country Club in Brookline, Mass., Fitzpatrick also joined World Golf Hall of Famer and 18-time major champion Jack Nicklaus as the only golfers to have won the USGA’s two oldest championships at the same venue. Nicklaus accomplished his feat at Pebble Beach Golf Links in 1961 and 1972, while Fitzpatrick prevailed in the 2013 U.S. Amateur at Brookline. Fitzpatrick hit 17 of 18 greens in carding a final-round 68 for a 6-under total of 274. Trailing Zalatoris by one, Fitzpatrick’s fortunes changed at the par-4 13th when he converted a 49-foot birdie putt. When Fitzpatrick won the 2013 U.S. Amateur title over Oliver Goss of Australia, he closed out the final match on the par-4 15th hole, and he essentially won the U.S. Open on the same hole, making a 19-footer for birdie after reaching the green with a 220-yard 5-iron from the right rough. Zalatoris made bogey on No. 15 to fall two behind and Fitzpatrick would finish with three consecutive pars, including reaching the putting surface on the 18th from 160 yards out of a fairway bunker. Zalatoris, who lost in a playoff to Justin Thomas in the PGA Championship in May, had one last chance to force a playoff, but his 15-foot putt on the final hole skirted the left edge. Scheffler, who won the Masters two months earlier, birdied three of his first four holes in the final round but was derailed by a double bogey on the par-3 11th.
WHAT THE WINNER RECEIVES
Among the benefits enjoyed by the U.S. Open winner are:
►A U.S. Open exemption for the next 10 years
►An invitation to the next five Masters Tournaments
►An invitation to the next five Open Championships, conducted by The R&A
►An invitation to the next five PGA Championships
►An invitation to the next five Players Championships
►Exempt status on the PGA Tour for five years
►Custody of U.S. Open Trophy for one year, Jack Nicklaus Medal and a replica trophy
QUALIFYING FOR THE OTHER MAJORS
The top 10 finishers (and ties) are exempt into the following year’s U.S. Open. The top four finishers (and ties) are invited to the following year’s Masters Tournament.
PURSE
The 2022 purse was $17.5 million, the highest among golf’s major championships; the winner earned $3.15 million. The 2023 purse is to be announced.
