2012 US Open of Golf

The 2012 US Open of golf teed off yesterday from The Olympic Club in San Francisco, California.  There was a group of golf stars playing together in Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, and Bubba Watson.  There was a group of the top three players in the world playing together in Luke Donald, Rory McIlroy, and Lee Westwood.  There was even a 14 year old boy in the field in Andy Zhang.  Teenage girls followed the group of Rickie Fowler, Dustin Johnson, and Ryo Ishikawa.

14 year old US Open qualifier Andy Zhang

Last time the US Open was held at The Olympic Club it was 1998.  Lee Janzen beat Payne Stewart by one stroke after being down by six going into the final round.  Historically, The Olympic Club may be most well known for Arnold Palmer's epic collapse in 1966.  Going for his first career major, Arnie blew a seven shot lead with nine holes to go. 

It's OK. He washed down the defeat with one of these.

The US Open is consistently one of the toughest tournaments each and every year.  Last year Rory McIlroy won with an unheard of score of 16-under.  Under normal US Open circumstances, like one that doesn’t feature a super-powered Northern Irishman running away from the field, second place finisher Jason Day thought his 8-under would be good enough to win. 

No other tournament on the PGA Tour schedule tests golfers the way that the US Open does.  The Open Championship, better known as the British Open, is unique and tough, but it is a different style of play than your typical American golf.  The Masters is tough but it is played at Augusta National every year.  The PGA Championship switches courses, but the courses are just not as difficult as the US Open courses. 

Attendance at the US Open has been perfect over the past quarter of a century.  Going into the 2012 Open, there had been 25 consecutive sellouts.  This year’s US Open is no different, giving the PGA Tour its 26 straight sellout at one of the biggest tournaments in the United States.  The US Open may not have the prestige of allure that The Masters has, but it sure runs like a well-oiled machine.

Tickets for the each day of competition were capped at 33,500 per day.  The price of a daily ticket to walk the grounds, general admission more or less, was $110 for either the Thursday or Friday round and $125 for either the Saturday or championship Sunday round.  There were daily passes to the practice rounds for $50 per day. 

For the higher end of you 95ers, there are two different clubs at the US Open.  There is the Trophy Club which is the US Open’s hospitality pavilion that features the US Open television coverage.  There is also the famous 1895 Club that is the US Open’s trademark high end club that is an all-inclusive ticket to the festivities.  Your pockets must be deep to afford these tickets.  The Trophy Club will run you $185 to $200 for one championship round and the 1895 Club will run you $370 to $385 for one championship round.

The Olympic Club clubhouse

Despite the high ticket prices, people will buy up the tickets.  The ticket prices are specifically tailored to the higher end crowd that the PGA Tour targets and attracts.  The PGA Tour is exclusive in nature, so the ticket prices are doing what they set out to do.  Would you attend a US Open?  For you 95ers who live near Philadelphia, PA you may be answering that question yourself next year when the US Open comes to The Merion Club in Ardmore, PA.

Tiger Woods is the favorite to win among most fans.  Many may go with Rory McIlroy but there has not been a back-to-back winner since 1988-89 when Curtis Strange pulled of the accomplishment.  The field is full of strong contenders with everyone ranked in the top 50 of the World Golf Rankings competing this Father’s Day weekend. 

Curtis Strange

My two picks for the US Open are Lee Westwood and Matt Kuchar.  For the $1.26 million that will be going to the winner on Sunday, who ya got?


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