The 2019 United States Open Championship was the 119th U.S. Open, played from June 13–16 at Pebble Beach Golf Links in Pebble Beach, California. It was the seventh major and sixth U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, which last hosted U.S. Opens in 2000 and 2010, won by Tiger Woods and Graeme McDowell, respectively.[2]

2019 U.S. Open
Tournament information
DatesJune 13–16, 2019
LocationPebble Beach, California
36°34′05″N 121°57′00″W / 36.568°N 121.950°W / 36.568; -121.950
Course(s)Pebble Beach Golf Links
Organized byUSGA
Tour(s)PGA Tour
European Tour
Japan Golf Tour
Statistics
Par71
Length7,075 yards (6,469 m)
Field156, 79 after cut
Cut144 (+2)
Prize fund$12,500,000[1]
Winner's share$2,250,000
Champion
United States Gary Woodland
271 (−13)
Location map
Pebble Beach is located in the United States
Pebble Beach
Pebble Beach
Location in the United States
Pebble Beach is located in California
Pebble Beach
Pebble Beach
Location in California
← 2018
2020 →

Gary Woodland won his first major title by three strokes over world number one Brooks Koepka. Ranked 25th coming into the tournament, and having never finished in the top 20 in the U.S. Open previously, he was generally seen as a surprise victor. Koepka had won four of the last nine majors, and was attempting to become the first player to win three straight U.S. Opens since 1905.[3]

Woodland shot 68 in the first round, and 65 in the second, to lead by two strokes after 36 holes. He shot 69 in the third round, to have a single-stroke lead over Justin Rose going into the final day. After shooting a 69 in the final round, he converted a 54-hole lead into a victory for the first time in eight attempts in stroke-play events. His 72-hole winning score, a 13-under-par 271, was the lowest relative to par since 2011 and included a stretch of 34 holes without a bogey. Woodland led the field in scrambling, having begun the week ranked 169th in that category.[3]

The previous winner of the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, Graeme McDowell, finished tied for 16th with a 3-under-par 281. Tiger Woods was tied 58th after the first round, and began his final round by bogeying four of his first six holes, but rallied on the back nine to finish tied for 21st with a 2-under-par 282. Justin Rose entered the final round one shot back of Woodland but made three bogeys on his final seven holes to finish tied for 3rd. On his 49th birthday, six-time U.S. Open runner-up, Phil Mickelson finished with a 4-over-par 288, having won the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am earlier in the year at Pebble Beach.[3]

79 players made the cut, including four amateurs. The leading amateur was Norwegian Viktor Hovland, who had qualified by winning the 2018 U.S. Amateur, which was also held at Pebble Beach. He finished tied for 12th at 4-under-par, to become first low amateur at the Masters and U.S. Open in the same season since Matt Kuchar in 1998.[3]

The U.S. Open traditionally has a winning score around par, but a joint record 31 players finished under par for the tournament. This was partly attributed by the media to the soft conditions resulting from a marine layer, and relatively low wind speeds for a links-style course.[4]

Venue

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Course layout

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Pebble Beach hosted the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am in February of the same year. The changes made to the course since that event include reducing par from 72 to 71, cutting the greens from .125" to .110", and growing the rough from 2" to between 3-5".[3]

Hole Yards Par    Hole Yards Par
1 380 4 10 495 4
2 516 4 11 390 4
3 404 4 12 202 3
4 331 4 13 445 4
5 195 3 14 580 5
6 523 5 15 397 4
7 109 3 16 403 4
8 428 4 17 208 3
9 526 4 18 543 5
Out 3,412 35 In 3,663 36
Source: Total 7,075 71

Previous course lengths for major championships

Prior to 2000, the 2nd hole was played as a par 5.
2019 yardages by round
Round Hole 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Out 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 In Total
Par 4 4 4 4 3 5 3 4 4 35 4 4 3 4 5 4 4 3 5 36 71
1 Yards 381 502 412 334 188 518 108 433 502 3,378 493 387 202 447 592 399 402 218 552 3,692 7,070
2 Yards 382 516 394 334 186 529 116 432 526 3,415 497 389 185 452 583 399 407 210 535 3,657 7,072
3 Yards 376 515 410 315 184 524 98 428 525 3,375 499 388 209 440 589 399 395 203 544 3,666 7,041
4 Yards 386 523 407 324 204 520 102 433 533 3,432 492 390 198 448 582 394 409 220 539 3,672 7,104
  • Scoring average: 72.352
    • by round: 72.685, 72.571, 72.430, 71.190
  • Most difficult holes in relation to par: 10, 8 and 9, 9, 9

Source:[5]

Field

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About half the field consisted of players who are exempt from qualifying for the U.S. Open.[6] Each player is classified according to the first category in which he qualified, and other categories are shown in parentheses.

1. Winners of the U.S. Open Championship during the last ten years

Lucas Glover, Dustin Johnson (9,11,12,13,14), Martin Kaymer, Brooks Koepka (7,9,11,12,13,14), Graeme McDowell, Rory McIlroy (6,7,8,9,12,13,14), Justin Rose (11,12,13,14), Webb Simpson (8,11,12,13,14), Jordan Spieth (5,6,13,14)

2. Winners of the 2018 U.S. Amateur, U.S. Junior Amateur, and U.S. Mid-Amateur, and runner-up of the 2018 U.S. Amateur

Devon Bling (a), Viktor Hovland (a), Kevin O'Connell (a), Michael Thorbjornsen (a)

3. Winner of the 2018 Amateur Championship

Jovan Rebula (a)

4. Winner of the 2018 Mark H. McCormack Medal (men's World Amateur Golf Ranking)
5. Winners of the Masters Tournament during the last five years

Sergio García (13,14), Patrick Reed (11,12,13,14), Danny Willett, Tiger Woods (9,12,13,14)

6. Winners of The Open Championship during the last five years

Zach Johnson, Francesco Molinari (9,12,13,14), Henrik Stenson (11,13,14)

7. Winners of the PGA Championship during the last five years

Jason Day (12,13,14), Justin Thomas (12,13,14), Jimmy Walker

8. Winners of The Players Championship during the last three years

Kim Si-woo (13,14)

9. Winners of multiple PGA Tour events that award a full-point allocation for the FedEx Cup, between the 2018 U.S. Open and the 2019 U.S. Open

Bryson DeChambeau (12,13,14), Matt Kuchar (13,14), Kevin Na (12,13,14), Xander Schauffele (11,12,13,14)

10. Winner of the 2018 U.S. Senior Open Championship

David Toms

11. The 10 lowest scorers and anyone tying for 10th place at the 2018 U.S. Open Championship

Daniel Berger, Tony Finau (12,13,14), Tommy Fleetwood (12,13,14), Tyrrell Hatton (13,14)

12. Players who qualified for the season-ending 2018 Tour Championship

Keegan Bradley (13,14), Patrick Cantlay (13,14), Paul Casey (13,14), Rickie Fowler (13,14), Billy Horschel (13,14), Patton Kizzire, Marc Leishman (13,14), Hideki Matsuyama (13,14), Phil Mickelson (13,14), Jon Rahm (13,14), Cameron Smith (13,14), Kyle Stanley (13,14), Bubba Watson (13,14), Aaron Wise, Gary Woodland (13,14)

13. The top 60 point leaders and ties as of May 20, 2019 in the Official World Golf Ranking

An Byeong-hun (14), Abraham Ancer, Kiradech Aphibarnrat (14), Lucas Bjerregaard (14), Rafa Cabrera-Bello (14), Matt Fitzpatrick (14), Jim Furyk (14), Branden Grace (14), Justin Harding (14), J. B. Holmes (14), Charles Howell III (14), Kevin Kisner (14), Li Haotong (14), Luke List, Shane Lowry (14), Keith Mitchell (14), Alex Norén (14), Thorbjørn Olesen (14), Louis Oosthuizen (14), Pan Cheng-tsung (14), Ian Poulter (14), Chez Reavie, Adam Scott (14), Brandt Snedeker (14), Matt Wallace (14)

14. The top 60 point leaders and ties as of June 10, 2019 in the Official World Golf Ranking

Emiliano Grillo, Scott Piercy, Andrew Putnam

15. Special exemptions given by the USGA

Ernie Els[8]

The remaining contestants earned their places through sectional qualifiers. Each site has n spots allocated amongst m players denoted (n/m).

(a) denotes amateur
(L) denotes player advanced through local qualifying

Alternates who gained entry:

  • Cody Gribble (Texas) – spot reallocated from England qualifier[9]
  • Chan Kim (Japan) – spot reallocated from England qualifier[9]
  • Joel Dahmen (Columbus) – claimed spot held for category 9 or 14
  • Harris English (Ontario) – claimed spot held for category 9 or 14
  • Bernd Wiesberger (England) – claimed spot held for category 9 or 14

Weather

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  • Thursday: Partly cloudy, with a high of 67 °F/19 °C. Wind W 11 mph.
  • Friday: Mostly overcast, with a high of 61 °F/16 °C. Wind W 6-12 mph.
  • Saturday: Overcast, with a high of 59 °F/15 °C. WNW wind 5-10 mph, with gusts to 15 mph.
  • Sunday: Partly cloudy. High of 61 °F/16 °C. Wind W 7-14 mph.[3]

Round summaries

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First round

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Thursday, June 13, 2019

2013 champion Justin Rose birdied his final three holes to shoot 65 (−6), equaling the record for lowest round shot in a U.S. Open at Pebble Beach,[10] and taking a one-shot lead. Xander Schauffele eagled the 18th hole to join Rickie Fowler, Louis Oosthuizen and Aaron Wise in a tie for second.[11] Two-time defending champion Brooks Koepka birdied four of his first six holes before falling back to two-under and a tie for 16th. Seventeen eagles were made during the round, a new U.S. Open record.[12][13]

Place Player Score To par
1   Justin Rose 65 −6
T2   Rickie Fowler 66 −5
  Louis Oosthuizen
  Xander Schauffele
  Aaron Wise
T6   Nate Lashley 67 −4
  Scott Piercy
T8   Emiliano Grillo 68 −3
  Chesson Hadley
  Rory McIlroy
  Francesco Molinari
  Chez Reavie
  Henrik Stenson
  Sepp Straka
  Gary Woodland
Source:[14]

Second round

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Friday, June 14, 2019

Gary Woodland holed a 50-foot birdie putt on the 9th hole, the last of his round, to post a bogey-free round of 65 (−6) and take a two-shot lead. His 36-hole score of nine-under ties Gil Morgan in 1992 for lowest in a U.S. Open at Pebble Beach. First-round leader Justin Rose was in second place after a round of 70 (−1). Louis Oosthuizen was tied for the lead but had just one par on his back-nine, making four birdies and four bogeys to finish three shots behind. Rory McIlroy got to within a shot of the lead before a bogey at the 13th and double bogey at the par-5 14th, falling into a tie for fourth place and four behind. Brooks Koepka became the first defending champion since 1988 to begin his title defense with two sub-70 rounds and was part of a group tied for sixth, five behind.[15][16]

Place Player Score To par
1   Gary Woodland 68-65=133 −9
2   Justin Rose 65-70=135 −7
3   Louis Oosthuizen 66-70=136 −6
T4   Rory McIlroy 68-69=137 −5
  Aaron Wise 66-71=137
T6   Chesson Hadley 68-70=138 −4
  Brooks Koepka 69-69=138
  Matt Kuchar 69-69=138
  Chez Reavie 68-70=138
  Matt Wallace 70-68=138

Amateurs: Wu (−2), Eaton (E), Hovland (E), Thorbjornsen (+2), Tibbits (+3), Rebula (+4), Eckroat (+5), Yu (+5), Hagestad (+7), Hillier (+7), O'Connell (+8), Parziale (+9), Young (+9), Norton (+13), Bling (+20)

Source:[14]

Third round

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Saturday, June 15, 2019

Gary Woodland, the 36-hole leader, was two-under par through 11 holes before finding trouble on the par-3 12th, hitting his tee shot into the rough. Still, off the green after his second shot, he made a 33-foot chip shot to save par. At the par-5 14th, his fourth shot almost rolled back down off the green but managed to stop just short. He then made a 42-foot putt to save par yet again. He parred the last four holes to shoot 69 (−2) and take a one-shot lead into the final round. Justin Rose got up-and-down from a greenside bunker for birdie at the par-5 18th to get to 10-under, a shot behind Woodland.[17]

Louis Oosthuizen birdied three holes in a row from the 15th to the 17th to get into a tie for third with Chez Reavie and two-time defending champion Brooks Koepka, four shots behind. Koepka didn't make a bogey in a round of 68 (−3).[18]

Place Player Score To par
1   Gary Woodland 68-65-69=202 −11
2   Justin Rose 65-70-68=203 −10
T3   Brooks Koepka 69-69-68=206 −7
  Louis Oosthuizen 66-70-70=206
  Chez Reavie 68-70-68=206
6   Rory McIlroy 68-69-70=207 −6
T7   Chesson Hadley 68-70-70=208 −5
  Matt Kuchar 69-69-70=208
T9   Graeme McDowell 69-70-70=209 −4
  Jon Rahm 69-70-70=209
  Henrik Stenson 68-71-70=209
  Matt Wallace 70-68-71=209
  Danny Willett 71-71-67=209

Amateurs: Wu (−2), Hovland (E), Eaton (+2), Thorbjornsen (+15)

Source:[14]

Final round

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Sunday, June 16, 2019

Summary

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Gary Woodland, who came into the final round with a one-shot lead, birdied two of his first three holes and, despite a bogey at the 9th, still led by two making the turn. Brooks Koepka was four-under through five holes but failed to birdie the par-5 6th from a greenside bunker and missed a six-foot putt for birdie at the 7th to trail by two going to the back-nine. At the par-5 14th hole, Woodland went for the green from 264 yards out, his 3-wood just clearing the bunker in front of the green and settling on the hill to the left of the green where he was able to make birdie. Koepka, meanwhile, failed to birdie the same hole after driving into the rough and hitting his third shot onto the same hill.[19]

Woodland sinking the winning putt followed by the trophy presentation

Still leading by two heading to the par-3 17th, Woodland's tee shot finished on the fringe, 90 feet away from the hole. Forced to chip because of the mound dividing the green, he got his second shot to within 3 feet to save par. Koepka's approach at the par-5 18th went over the green where he failed to get up-and-down for birdie, missing a 9-foot putt to finish at 10-under. Now needing only a bogey at the last to win, Woodland hit an iron off the tee and laid up with his second shot. His third found the green 30 feet to the right of the flag, and he made the putt to shoot a final-round 69 (−2) and finish three shots ahead of Koepka at 13-under.[20][21]

Justin Rose, one back at the start of the round, played his final 11 holes in 4-over and fell back to a tie for third place with Jon Rahm, Chez Reavie, and Xander Schauffele. Amateur Viktor Hovland finished at 4-under 280, breaking Jack Nicklaus's record for lowest score by an amateur in the U.S. Open; he finished tied for 12th, which was the best by an amateur since Jim Simons tied for 5th in 1971.[22]

Final leaderboard

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Champion
Silver Cup winner (leading amateur)
(a) = amateur
(c) = past champion
Place Player Score To par Money ($)
1   Gary Woodland 68-65-69-69=271 −13 2,250,000
2   Brooks Koepka (c) 69-69-68-68=274 −10 1,350,000
T3   Jon Rahm 69-70-70-68=277 −7 581,872
  Chez Reavie 68-70-68-71=277
  Justin Rose (c) 65-70-68-74=277
  Xander Schauffele 66-73-71-67=277
T7   Louis Oosthuizen 66-70-70-72=278 −6 367,387
  Adam Scott 70-69-71-68=278
T9   Chesson Hadley 68-70-70-71=279 −5 288,715
  Rory McIlroy (c) 68-69-70-72=279
  Henrik Stenson 68-71-70-70=279
Source:[14]

Scorecard

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Final round

Hole 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18
Par 4 4 4 4 3 5 3 4 4 4 4 3 4 5 4 4 3 5
  Woodland −11 −12 −13 −13 −13 −13 −13 −13 −12 −12 −12 −11 −11 −12 −12 −12 −12 −13
  Koepka −8 −8 −9 −10 −11 −11 −11 −10 −10 −10 −11 −10 −10 −10 −10 −10 −10 −10
  Rahm −5 −4 −4 −5 −6 −6 −7 −7 −7 −7 −7 −7 −7 −7 −6 −6 −6 −7
  Reavie −7 −6 −6 −6 −6 −6 −7 −7 −7 −7 −7 −7 −7 −7 −7 −7 −7 −7
  Rose −11 −10 −10 −10 −10 −11 −11 −10 −10 −10 −10 −9 −8 −8 −7 −7 −7 −7
  Schauffele −4 −4 −4 −5 −6 −7 −7 −6 −7 −8 −8 −8 −7 −8 −8 −8 −7 −7
  Oosthuizen −8 −8 −8 −9 −9 −9 −9 −9 −9 −7 −7 −6 −6 −5 −5 −5 −6 −6
  Scott −3 −3 −4 −4 −4 −6 −6 −6 −7 −8 −8 −9 −7 −8 −8 −7 −6 −6
  Hadley −5 −4 −4 −4 −4 −5 −5 −5 −5 −5 −5 −4 −4 −5 −3 −4 −5 −5
  McIlroy −6 −4 −4 −5 −4 −5 −6 −5 −5 −5 −6 −5 −6 −6 −6 −4 −4 −5
  Stenson −5 −4 −4 −5 −5 −6 −7 −7 −6 −6 −7 −7 −7 −7 −6 −5 −5 −5

Cumulative tournament scores, relative to par

Eagle Birdie Bogey Double bogey

Media

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This was the fifth U.S. Open televised by Fox and FS1. During Fox's primetime window in the first round, FS1 offered coverage hosted by Justin Kutcher following the group of Justin Rose, Jordan Spieth and Tiger Woods, and the group of Viktor Hovland, 2018 champion Brooks Koepka, and Francesco Molinari. Due to commitments to baseball and the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup, there were no plans for similar coverage on FS1 during the remainder of the tournament.[23]

References

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  1. ^ Gray, Will (May 28, 2019). "USGA increases purses for U.S. Open, U.S. Women's Open". Golf Channel.
  2. ^ "U.S. Open History at Pebble Beach". Pebble Beach Golf Club. Retrieved June 17, 2019.
  3. ^ a b c d e f "PGA Tour Media". PGA Tour Media. Archived from the original on November 11, 2019. Retrieved May 26, 2019.
  4. ^ Beall, Joel (June 16, 2019). "U.S. Open 2019: The biggest story at Pebble Beach was what didn't happen". Golf Digest. Retrieved June 17, 2019.
  5. ^ "119th U.S. Open Championship – Course Statistics". USGA.
  6. ^ "119th U.S. Open Championship – Entry Form" (PDF). USGA. Retrieved March 8, 2019.
  7. ^ Martin, Sean (December 14, 2018). "Thornberry decides to turn pro". PGA Tour.
  8. ^ "Ernie Els gets another U.S. Open exemption". ESPN. Associated Press. April 25, 2019.
  9. ^ a b Gray, Will [@WillGrayGC] (June 3, 2019). "Per @USGA's Jeff Hall, today's England sectional field was weaker than expected. Received 14 spots based on strength instead of anticipated 16, meaning the first alternates from already-completed sectionals in Dallas (Cody Gribble) and Japan (Chan Kim) are heading to Pebble" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  10. ^ "Justin Rose leads US Open after record six-under-par in opening round". Evening Standard. June 14, 2019. Retrieved June 14, 2019.
  11. ^ Murray, Scott (June 14, 2019). "US Open 2019: first round – as it happened". The Guardian. Retrieved June 14, 2019.
  12. ^ Speros, Bill (June 13, 2019). "U.S. Open Round 1 Recap: Justin Rose steals lead with 65 at Pebble Beach". Golfweek. Retrieved June 13, 2019.
  13. ^ Lott, Thomas (June 13, 2019). "U.S. Open 2019: Justin Rose closes round with 3 straight birdies to take solo lead". Sporting News. Retrieved June 13, 2019.
  14. ^ a b c d "U.S. Open: Leaderboard". ESPN. June 13, 2019.
  15. ^ Murray, Ewan (June 14, 2019). "Gary Woodland moves into lead at US Open as sturdy Rory McIlroy looms". The Guardian. Retrieved June 14, 2019.
  16. ^ Powers, Christopher (June 14, 2019). "U.S. Open 2019 live blog: Gary Woodland drains long putt on final hole to post 65, leads by two". Golf Digest. Retrieved June 14, 2019.
  17. ^ Powers, Christopher (June 15, 2019). "2019 U.S. Open live blog: Gary Woodland leads by one over Justin Rose after action-packed Moving Day at Pebble Beach". Golf Digest. Retrieved June 15, 2019.
  18. ^ Culpepper, Chuck (June 15, 2019). "Gary Woodland leads U.S. Open by a stroke, with some hard-charging stars looming". Washington Post. Retrieved June 15, 2019.
  19. ^ Murray, Scott (June 16, 2019). "US Open 2019: final round - as it happened". The Guardian. Retrieved June 16, 2019.
  20. ^ Nesbitt, Andy (June 16, 2019). "Gary Woodland secured his U.S. Open win with a gutsy shot that left everyone in awe". USA Today. Retrieved June 16, 2019.
  21. ^ Berhow, Josh (June 16, 2019). "U.S. Open 2019: Gary Woodland holds off Brooks Koepka to win U.S. Open at Pebble Beach". Golf.com. Retrieved June 16, 2019.
  22. ^ Patterson, Chip (June 16, 2019). "2019 U.S. Open: Viktor Holand breaks Jack Nicklaus' 59-year-old amateur scoring record". CBS Sports. Retrieved June 16, 2019.
  23. ^ "SBJ Media: Primetime Plans For Pebble Beach". Sports Business Daily. Retrieved June 11, 2019.
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