Wikipedia

U.S. Senior Open

The U.S. Senior Open is one of the five major championships in senior golf, introduced 45 years ago in 1980.[1] It is administered by the United States Golf Association (USGA) and is recognized as a major championship by both the PGA Tour Champions and the European Senior Tour. The lower age limit was 55 in 1980, but it was lowered to 50 for the second edition in 1981,[2] which is the standard limit for men's senior professional golf tournaments. By definition, the event is open to amateurs, but has been dominated by professionals; through 2022, all editions have been won by pros. Like other USGA championships, it has been played on many courses throughout the United States.

U.S. Senior Open
Tournament information
Established1980
Organized byUSGA
Tour(s)PGA Tour Champions
European Senior Tour
FormatStroke play
Prize fundUS$4,000,000
Month playedJune/July
Tournament record score
Aggregate261 Steve Stricker (2019)
To par−20 Fred Funk (2009)
Current champion
England Richard Bland

Bernhard Langer became the oldest U.S. Senior Open Champion in 2023, winning at the age of 65 years 10 months.[3]

The total purse was the highest of any senior tour event until the Posco E&C Songdo Championship in South Korea, a Champions Tour event in 2010 and 2011 with a $3 million purse, but had a lower winner's share ($450,000). The U.S. Senior Open is again the highest purse on the PGA Tour Champions; in 2016 it was $3.75 million, and champion Gene Sauers earned $675,000. The purse in 2017 is anticipated to be $4 million, yielding a winner's share of $720,000.

Like other senior majors, players must walk the course unless they receive a medical exemption to use a cart. Winners gain entry into the following year's U.S. Open.

The playoff format was modified for 2018, reduced from three to two aggregate holes, followed by sudden death.[4] The three-hole aggregate playoff was used in 2002 and 2014; the final 18-hole playoff at the U.S. Senior Open was in 1991, won by Jack Nicklaus.[5]

Eligibility

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The following players are exempt from qualifying for the U.S. Senior Open, provided they are 50 years old as of the opening day of the tournament. Amateur categories require that the player is still an amateur on the opening day of the tournament, except for the one-time exemption for former champions of the U.S. Amateur or The Amateur Championship.[6]

  • Any past winner of the U.S. Senior Open
  • Winners of any of the major championships in the last 10 years
  • Winners of any of the U.S. Amateur in the last 10 years and runner-up in previous year
  • Winners of the Senior PGA Championship in the last 10 years
  • Winner of the Senior Open Championship in the last five years
  • Top 15 finishers from the previous year's U.S. Senior Open
  • Any amateur completing 72 holes in last U.S. Open
  • Low amateur in last U.S. Senior Open
  • Winner and runner-up of the U.S. Senior Amateur in the previous year
  • Members of the Walker Cup and Eisenhower Trophy teams for the last two competitions
  • Members of both Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup teams for the last five competitions
  • Top 30 from the previous year's PGA Tour Champions money list, top 20 from current list
  • Top 50 leaders from the PGA Tour Champions career money list
  • Winners of PGA Tour Champions events in the previous three years
  • Top six from previous year's European Senior Tour money list
  • Top two from previous year's Japan Seniors Tour money list
  • Winners of PGA Tour events in the previous five years
  • Winners of the U.S. Open in first ten years of age eligibility
  • One-time exemption for any winner of a major championship, U.S. Amateur, or British Amateur.
    • Winners of amateur championships who have since turned professional are able to use this exemption.

Special exemptions are given occasionally, and like other USGA events, many qualify through the local and sectional ranks.

Winners

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Year Winner Score To par Margin of
victory		 Runner(s)-up Purse
($)		 Winner's
share ($)		 Venue Location
2024   Richard Bland 267 −13 Playoff   Hiroyuki Fujita 4,000,000 720,000 Newport Newport, Rhode Island
2023   Bernhard Langer (2) 277 −7 2 strokes   Steve Stricker 4,000,000 720,000 SentryWorld Stevens Point, Wisconsin
2022   Pádraig Harrington 274 −10 1 stroke   Steve Stricker 4,000,000 720,000 Saucon Valley
(Old Course)		 Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
2021   Jim Furyk 273 −7 3 strokes   Retief Goosen
  Mike Weir		 4,000,000 720,000 Omaha Omaha, Nebraska
2020 Canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic[7][8]
2019   Steve Stricker 261 −19 6 strokes   Jerry Kelly
  David Toms		 4,000,000 720,000 Warren Golf Course
U of Notre Dame		 South Bend, Indiana
2018   David Toms 277 −3 1 stroke   Miguel Ángel Jiménez
  Jerry Kelly
  Tim Petrovic		 4,000,000 720,000 Broadmoor Colorado Springs, Colorado
2017   Kenny Perry (2) 264 −16 2 strokes   Kirk Triplett 4,000,000 720,000 Salem Peabody, Massachusetts
2016   Gene Sauers 277 −3 1 stroke   Miguel Ángel Jiménez
  Billy Mayfair		 3,750,000 675,000 Scioto Upper Arlington, Ohio
2015   Jeff Maggert 270 −10 2 strokes   Colin Montgomerie 3,750,000 675,000 Del Paso Sacramento, California
2014   Colin Montgomerie 279 −5 Playoff   Gene Sauers 3,500,000 630,000 Oak Tree National Edmond, Oklahoma
2013   Kenny Perry 267 −13 5 strokes   Fred Funk 2,750,000 500,000 Omaha Omaha, Nebraska
2012   Roger Chapman 270 −10 2 strokes   Fred Funk
  Bernhard Langer
  Tom Lehman
  Corey Pavin		 2,750,000 500,000 Indianwood Lake Orion, Michigan
2011   Olin Browne 269 −15 3 strokes   Mark O'Meara 2,750,000 500,000 Inverness Club Toledo, Ohio
2010   Bernhard Langer 272 −8 3 strokes   Fred Couples 2,600,000 470,000 Sahalee Sammamish, Washington
2009   Fred Funk 268 −20 6 strokes   Joey Sindelar 2,600,000 470,000 Crooked Stick Carmel, Indiana
2008   Eduardo Romero 274 −6 4 strokes   Fred Funk 2,600,000 470,000 Broadmoor Colorado Springs, Colorado
2007   Brad Bryant 282 −6 3 strokes   Ben Crenshaw 2,600,000 470,000 Whistling Straits
(Straits Course)		 Haven, Wisconsin
2006   Allen Doyle (2) 272 −8 2 strokes   Tom Watson 2,600,000 470,000 Prairie Dunes Hutchinson, Kansas
2005   Allen Doyle 274 −10 1 stroke   Loren Roberts
  D. A. Weibring		 2,600,000 470,000 NCR
(South Course)		 Kettering, Ohio
2004   Peter Jacobsen 272 −12 1 stroke   Hale Irwin 2,600,000 470,000 Bellerive St. Louis, Missouri
2003   Bruce Lietzke 277 −7 2 strokes   Tom Watson 2,600,000 470,000 Inverness Club Toledo, Ohio
2002   Don Pooley 274 −10 Playoff   Tom Watson 2,500,000 450,000 Caves Valley Owings Mills, Maryland
2001   Bruce Fleisher 280 E 1 stroke   Isao Aoki
  Gil Morgan		 2,400,000 430,000 Salem Peabody, Massachusetts
2000   Hale Irwin (2) 267 −17 3 strokes   Bruce Fleisher 2,250,000 400,000 Saucon Valley
(Old Course)		 Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
1999   Dave Eichelberger 281 −7 3 strokes   Ed Dougherty 1,750,000 315,000 Des Moines West Des Moines, Iowa
1998   Hale Irwin 285 +1 1 stroke   Vicente Fernández 1,500,000 267,500 Riviera Pacific Palisades, California
1997   Graham Marsh 280 E 1 stroke   John Bland 1,300,000 232,500 Olympia Fields
(North Course)		 Olympia Fields, Illinois
1996   Dave Stockton 277 −11 2 strokes   Hale Irwin 1,200,000 212,500 Canterbury Beachwood, Ohio
1995   Tom Weiskopf 275 −13 4 strokes   Jack Nicklaus 1,000,000 175,000 Congressional
(Blue Course)		 Bethesda, Maryland
1994   Simon Hobday 274 −10 1 stroke   Jim Albus
  Graham Marsh		 800,000 145,000 Pinehurst Resort
(No. 2 Course)		 Pinehurst, North Carolina
1993   Jack Nicklaus (2) 278 −6 1 stroke   Tom Weiskopf 700,000 135,330 Cherry Hills Cherry Hills Village, Colorado
1992   Larry Laoretti 275 −9 4 strokes   Jim Colbert 700,000 130,000 Saucon Valley
(Old Course)		 Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
1991   Jack Nicklaus 282 +2 Playoff   Chi-Chi Rodríguez 600,000 110,000 Oakland Hills
(South Course)		 Birmingham, Michigan
1990   Lee Trevino 275 −13 2 strokes   Jack Nicklaus 500,000 90,000 Ridgewood Paramus, New Jersey
1989   Orville Moody 279 −9 2 strokes   Frank Beard 450,000 80,000 Laurel Valley Ligonier, Pennsylvania
1988   Gary Player (2) 288 E Playoff   Bob Charles 400,000 65,000 Medinah
(Course No. 3)		 Medinah, Illinois
1987   Gary Player 270 −14 6 strokes   Doug Sanders 300,000 47,000 Brooklawn Fairfield, Connecticut
1986   Dale Douglass 279 −5 1 stroke   Gary Player 275,000 42,500 Scioto Columbus, Ohio
1985   Miller Barber (3) 285 −3 4 strokes   Roberto De Vicenzo 225,000 40,199 Edgewood Tahoe Stateline, Nevada
1984   Miller Barber (2) 286 +6 2 strokes   Arnold Palmer 200,000 36,448 Oak Hill
(East Course)		 Pittsford, New York
1983   Billy Casper 288 +4 Playoff   Rod Funseth 175,000 30,566 Hazeltine National Chaska, Minnesota
1982   Miller Barber 282 −2 4 strokes   Gene Littler
  Dan Sikes		 150,000 28,648 Portland Portland, Oregon
1981   Arnold Palmer 289 +9 Playoff   Billy Casper
  Bob Stone		 149,000 26,000 Oakland Hills
(South Course)		 Birmingham, Michigan
1980   Roberto De Vicenzo 285 +1 4 strokes   William C. Campbell (a) 100,000 20,000 Winged Foot
East Course		 Mamaroneck, New York

Multiple winners

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Seven men have multiple victories in the U.S. Senior Open:

3 wins

2 wins

Successful defenders of the title were Barber (1985), Player (1988), and Doyle (2006).

Winners of both U.S. Open and U.S. Senior Open

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The following men have won both the U.S. Open and the U.S. Senior Open, the majors run by the USGA:

Player U.S. Open U.S. Senior Open
Arnold Palmer 1960 1981
Billy Casper 1959, 1966 1983
Gary Player 1965 1987, 1988
Orville Moody 1969 1989
Lee Trevino 1968, 1971 1990
Jack Nicklaus 1962, 1967, 1972, 1980 1991, 1993
Hale Irwin 1974, 1979, 1990 1998, 2000
Jim Furyk 2003 2021

Palmer (1954) and Nicklaus (1959, 1961) also won the U.S. Amateur, previously considered a major.

Future sites

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Year Edition Venue Location Dates
2025 45th Broadmoor Golf Club Colorado Springs, Colorado June 26–29
2026 46th Scioto Country Club Columbus, Ohio TBD
2027 47th Oak Tree National Edmond, Oklahoma
2028 48th Crooked Stick Golf Club Carmel, Indiana
2029 49th Prairie Dunes Country Club Hutchinson, Kansas
2030 50th Spyglass Hill Golf Course Pebble Beach, California
2032 52nd Saucon Valley Country Club (Old Course) Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
2033 53rd Charlotte Country Club Charlotte, North Carolina
2038 58th Plainfield Country Club Edison, New Jersey
2042 62nd Saucon Valley Country Club (Old Course) Bethlehem, Pennsylvania

Source:[9]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "De Vicenzo cops Senior Open". Wilmington Morning Star. North Carolina. Associated Press. June 30, 1980. p. 7B.
  2. ^ "Seniors tee it up in the US Senior Open". Nashua Telegraph. New Hampshire. Associated Press. July 8, 1981. p. 24.
  3. ^ "65-year-old Bernhard Langer wins the US Senior Open to break the Champions' victory record". Washington Post. Associated Press. July 2, 2023. Retrieved July 2, 2023.
  4. ^ "U.S. Open abandons 18 holes for 2-hole playoff". ESPN. Associated Press. February 26, 2018. Retrieved June 7, 2018.
  5. ^ "Nicklaus' 65 beats Rodriguez". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Associated Press. July 30, 1991. p. 23.
  6. ^ "2014 U.S. Senior Open Entry Form" (PDF). USGA. Archived from the original (PDF) on August 8, 2014. Retrieved July 8, 2014.
  7. ^ Barrett, Scott (April 6, 2020). "U.S. Senior Open at Newport County Club canceled". The Newport Daily News. Retrieved April 6, 2020.
  8. ^ Altstadter, Jeff (April 6, 2020). "2020 U.S. Senior Open, U.S. Senior Women's Open Canceled". USGA.
  9. ^ "U.S. Senior Open: Future Sites". USGA.
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