2007 U.S. Open Golf Championship

Infobox_Individual_Golf_Tournament
tournament_name = 2007 U.S. Open


dates = June 14 - 17, 2007
location = Oakmont, Pennsylvania
course = Oakmont Country Club
tour = PGA Tour
PGA European Tour
Japan Golf Tour
par = 70
yardage = 7,230
field = 156 players, 63 after cut
cut = 150 (+10)
purse = $7,000,000 (€5,241,402)
winners_share = $1,260,000 (€943,183)
Champion = Ángel Cabrera
Score = 285 (+5)The 2007 United States Open Golf Championship was the 107th U.S. Open, played from June 14 to June 17 2007 at Oakmont Country Club. [ [http://www.usopen.com/ U.S. Open Official Site] ] The U.S. Open returned to Oakmont for the first time since 1994 when Ernie Els captured his first major championship. Ángel Cabrera won the championship after Jim Furyk and Tiger Woods were unable to birdie the 72nd hole to force a playoff. Cabrera's victory marked the first U.S. Open championship won by an Argentine. The event took place in Oakmont, Pennsylvania, located 12 miles northeast of downtown Pittsburgh. The purse was $7.0 million (€5,241,402) and Cabrera earned $1.26 million (€943,182.74).

History of the U.S. Open at Oakmont

The USGA Championship Committee chose Oakmont Country Club as the host on October 2 2001. The USGA had also recently decided to award Oakmont its 13th USGA national championship, the U.S. Amateur, only four years before the 14th national championship to be held at Oakmont. Oakmont's prestige in the golf community was irrefutable as the list of champions includes Tommy Armour (1927), Sam Parks, Jr. (1935), Ben Hogan (1953), Jack Nicklaus (1962), Johnny Miller (1973), Larry Nelson (1983), and Ernie Els (1994). [ [http://www.golfweb.com/u/ce/multi/0,1977,4362580,00.html "2007 U.S. Open Headed to Oakmont" "PGA Tour"] ] Oakmont had already provided the golf world with some of the most exciting championships of golf history including Johnny Miller's record for the lowest score shot in a USGA championship, a 63(-8), and the latest Open's dramatic Monday finish between Ernie Els, Loren Roberts, and Colin Montgomerie.

Preparation for the 2007 U.S. Open

The 107th U.S. Open has been in its preparation stage for many months as the club prepares to host its first USGA event since the U.S. Amateur in 2004. The USGA, American Golf's governing body, has found setting up and preparing for the Open easier than other locations. Rob Zalzneck, the director of the 2007 Open for the USGA commented on the readiness of the course saying, "We're so far ahead with our plans and what we need to get done, Oakmont is just such an ideal situation for us. The club welcomes us with open arms, and we've had such great championships here in the past. What everyone will see, though, is the unbelievable difference in the size of the event from 1994 (when Oakmont last hosted the Open) and this year." [ [http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/s_444184.html Pittsburgh Tribune Review "Oakmont Gearing Up for 2007 U.S. Open] ] The usual Open conditions will still exist including the lightning fast greens and unusually high rough as many of these features are common year round at Oakmont Country Club. In fact, Oakmont's greens are so fast that the USGA directed the club to slow them down for the Open, although they were still much faster than what would be found at a normal tour event.cite news | title = Oakmont: Rock & roll (& roll & roll & roll) nightmare | work = Pittsburgh Post-Gazette | url = http://www.postgazette.com/pg/07161/792746-382.stm | date = 2007-06-10 | accessdate = 2007-06-10] Preparation began in 2002 and 2003 and since then has included minor renovation to the course, most notably the lengthening of the course for the world's best players, small renovations to the clubhouse, and also the deepening of Oakmont's storied bunkers. [ [http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/s_444184.html Pittsburgh Tribune Review "Oakmont Gearing Up for 2007 U.S. Open] ] Other changes to the course since the last Open in 1994 include the addition of a bridge to connect holes 2-8 which posed as a major problem causing player and pedestrian jams over the Pennsylvania Turnpike. The USGA will recruit 5,000 volunteers in order to insure the event will go smoothly. The event is expected to, like the last Open at Oakmont, attract record breaking sell-out crowds. Crowd control was also a major problem for the USGA and its volunteers as huge crowds filled the course during the tournament creating traffic problems. The USGA began selling tickets to the general public on June 15th, 2006. The USGA is expected to sell out all of their tickets for the competitive rounds by their deadline for purchase on August 15th, 2006. After the sale of all tickets for the competitive rounds, all post-deadline purchases will be settled by a lottery. [ [http://www.usga.org/news/2006/June/2006_49.html Ticket Applications Now Being Accepted for the 2007 U.S. Open] ]

Partnership with American Express

For the first time in its history, the United States Golf Association entered into a commercial partnership. It entered into an agreement with American Express for an undisclosed amount, which allowed American Express to set up a special "Trophy Room" area at the 2007 U.S. Open for American Express cardholders. Jud Linville, president of American Express U.S. Consumer Card Services, addressed concern about the arrangement commercializing the USGA Championship, saying, “We’re not going to be slapping logos all over the place, we’re trying to broaden the appeal of the game.” Long-time American Express sponsoree Tiger Woods told the media in response to the deal, “It’s a tremendous opportunity, this is two enormous brands coming together to help golf.” [ [http://www.thegolfchannel.com/core.aspx?page=15100&select=21347 USGA Makes Deal With Amex] ]

Round-by-round summaray

First round (Thursday)

Only two players broke par during the first round.

Final round (Sunday)

Ángel Cabrera shot a 1-under 69 to become the first Argentinian to win the U.S. Open. He entered the final round four shots behind, after shooting a disappointing 76 on Saturday. This gave him a 2:20 pm tee time on Sunday, 40 minutes ahead of the final pairing, which included Tiger Woods. After a birdie on the 15th hole, Cabrera was 3-under for the round, with a three stroke lead over Woods and a surging Jim Furyk. After bogeys on the 16th and 17th holes that reduced his lead to one, Cabrera parred the difficult 18th hole and then had to wait in the clubhouse for Furyk and Woods to finish. Both needed to birdie the 72nd hole to force a Monday playoff but neither did, giving Cabrera the victory by a single stroke. Cabrera and Anthony Kim (67) were the only players to post sub-par scores during the final round. Aaron Baddeley started the round as the leader but opened with a triple bogey seven and shot 80. The field broke par for only eight rounds during the tournament, just two players per day on the difficult Oakmont layout, and Cabrera was the only player to break par twice.

[http://www.golfsurround.com/usopen/2007/scoring/index3.html "Full final leaderboard"]
The top eight finishers at the U.S. Open are automatically invited to the 2008 Masters and the top fifteen are fully exempt from qualifying for the 2008 U.S. Open at Torrey Pines.

ee also

*United States Golf Association
*Oakmont Country Club

References

External links

* [http://www.usopen.com/2007/ 2007 U.S. Open official site]