Overall Rating:	No Ratings
Quality Of This Article:	No Ratings

The US Open Golf Tournament

12:51 pm January 8, 2010

The US Open golf tournament is the second oldest of the modern golf majors, having started in 1895, 30 years after the first British Open. The golf majors initially consisted of The (British) Open, The Amateur Championship (British), The US Open, and The US Amateur Championship. Even though The PGA started in 1916 and The Masters in 1934, it wasn’t until about 1960 that the modern day golf majors were known as The Masters, The US Open, The Open, and The PGA.

The first US Open had to take second stage to the US Amateur as it was played at the same course and on the same week. The place where this historic event took place was at the 9-hole Newport Golf and Country Club, Rhode Island. As was normal in the late 1800’s, the championship was played over 4 rounds of the 9-holes all on the same day. The field was only 10 professionals and one amateur and the event was won by an Englishman – Horace Rawlins who took home a prize of $150.

The format of the U.S. Open has changed a number of times over the years. The USGA extended the championship to 72 holes in 1898, with 36 holes played each of two days. In 1926, the format was 18 holes played each of two days, followed by 36 holes on the third day. In 1965, the present format of four 18-hole daily rounds was implemented for the first time.

In 1922, spectator tickets were sold for the very first time which helped increase the popularity of The US Open. Bobby Jones, an amateur golfer from Georgia who won the event in 1923, 1926, 1929, and 1930, also contributed to the popularity of the event and the sport in general. In 1954, the event was televised and broadcast on national television which helped increase the popularity even more. Surprisingly, it wasn’t until 1977 that there was live coverage of all 18 holes from the final two days, and 1982 when the first two days had live coverage.

The British dominated The US Open from its beginnings up to 1910, with Scotsmen winning 12 times in the first 15 years. One of those Scotsmen was Willie Anderson who won the US Open four times at the beginning of the Century. Only three other players have won the event four times: Bobby Jones in the 20’s with his last win in 1930, the year he won the Grand Slam; Ben Hogan in the late 40’s, early 50’s; and Jack Nicklaus between 1962 and 1980.

With Tiger Woods third victory at the 2008 US Open, it can only be a matter of time before he joins the illustrious golfers with four wins, and who knows, maybe he will go into the golfing history books with 5 wins or more. Did you know that a European has not won the event since 1970, when Tony Jacklin from England won? Another Englishman, Lee Westwood, had a chance in the 2008 US Open but missed a 15 foot birdie putt on the last hole.

Surprisingly, only 5 players have managed to win The US Open as well as The Open, The Masters, and The PGA. None of them have won all 4 majors in one single year though – Bobby Jones did his Grand Slam with The Open, The (British) Amateur Championship, The US Open, and The US Amateur. The five players to win the four golf majors were Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus, and Tiger Woods.

Americans have dominated the event since 1911 having won a total of 78 times. Since the end of the British dominance, South Africa have the second best record with 5 wins. The only other nations that have won the event once or twice each is Australia, New Zealand, Scotland, Argentina, and England. It is sad that Scotland, being the home of golf, have not produced many great golfers since 1910. Willie MacFarlane in 1925, was the last Scotsman to win the US Open and the last Scotsman to win a golf major on American soil was Sandy Lyle at The Masters in 1988.

Mick Euan Tait has been playing golf and golf fan for many years. Visit his website for golf-online-tips.com/pages/home">Beginners Golf Tips and free golf tips to improve your game. You can also visit his blog for golf-online-tips.com/golfreviews/">Golf Reviews and golf swing tips.

“Wait! We Need Your Opinion About This Article – That’s What Makes This Site Different Than The Other Golf Blogs Online…”

What do you think about this article?

Do you agree with any of the points made?

Rate & review it right now in the space below:

Post Footer automatically generated by Add Post Footer Plugin for wordpress.

Bookmark This Page Now:

Hide Sites

Tags: golf, golf tournaments, outdoors, professionals, recreation and sports, sports, sports and recreation, the masters, the open, the pga, the us open golf tournament

Overall Rating:	No Ratings
Quality Of This Article:	No Ratings

0 Reviews

One-Armed Swings For Faster Improvement

3:50 pm May 28, 2009

A great practice technique that can be a remarkable way to help
develop a better swing is to try one-handed swings.

Here is what to do:

1. Stand over the ball with your normal stance and grip a wedge or
9-iron.

2. Let go of the club with your dominant hand. Keep it at your side.
(Remember, this drill requires only one arm).

3. Start by taking one armed chip shots. These small chip shots help
you develop a better feel for getting the clubhead on the ball. This
will also let you see how the ball moves when it comes off the
clubface.

4. Continue this drill & work your way up to taking ¾ swing pitch
shots, still using just your non-dominant hand.

If you keep practicing, you will find your confidence in one arm
swings improving. Therefore, when you go back to making normal
swings, they will seem stronger & the ball will fly farther. Also,
normal swings will seem MUCH easier too!

B. Hit The Wall

One of the most common swing errors occur when golfers take their
clubs too far inside of the target on the backswing.

This move is typically caused by having a backswing that is
controlled more by the hips and the dipping of shoulders away from
the golf ball.

This move leads to many bad shots like duck hooks, topped shots, &
slices. Stuff you definitely don’t want.

A. The Simple Solution

To fix this problem, there is a simple practice technique that you can
use: try balancing yourself against a wall. Simply situate your body
with a wall behind you & pretend to address the ball while your
backside touches the wall.

Now simulate your backswing (in slow motion).

If you find that your club is touching the wall, this means that you
are moving too far inside.

By practicing the above drill with a wall, you will correct your
backswing path as well as be alerted to any other problems that you
might have.

For instance…you may be “laying off.” This term describes when a
golfer’s hands have moved the club under the plane on the
backswing (sometimes due to having weak wrists).

Adjust as necessary.