2020 US Open Preview

2020 U.S. Open Preview

Dates: September 14-20, 2020
Where: Mamaroneck, New York
Course: Winged Foot Golf Club (35-35—70/7,477)
Field size: 144
Defending champion: Gary Woodland
FedExCup: 600 points (winner)
Format: 72-hole stroke play

Things to Know

• Originally scheduled for June 15-21 and postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. Open will be played in September for the first time since 1913
• The 2020 U.S. Open is the second event of the 2020-21 PGA TOUR Season; six major championships, including two editions each of the U.S. Open and the Masters Tournament, will be played during the season
• 82-time PGA TOUR winner and 15-time major champion Tiger Woods looks to pass Sam Snead for the most TOUR wins all-time and move within two of Jack Nicklaus’ major championship record
• Defending champion Gary Woodland tries to become eighth player to successfully defend U.S. Open title
• 2016 U.S. Open winner and reigning FedExCup champion Dustin Johnson seeks second major championship title; enters the week with two wins and two runner-up finishes in his last four starts
• PGA Championship winner Collin Morikawa tries to become the first player to win back-to-back majors since Jordan Spieth in 2015
• Phil Mickelson can become the sixth player to compete the career Grand Slam
• 2017 and 2018 U.S. Open champion Brooks Koepka is unable to compete due to injury

Notes on the field

• 29 of the 30 players that qualified for the 2020 TOUR Championship (all but Scottie Scheffler)
• 48 of the top 50 in OWGR (all but No. 8 Brooks Koepka and No. 28 Scottie Scheffler)
• 25 major champions, including 10 winners of the U.S. Open: Tiger Woods (2000, 2002, 2008), Lucas Glover (2009), Graeme McDowell (2010), Rory McIlroy (2011), Webb Simpson (2012), Justin Rose (2013), Martin Kaymer (2014), Jordan Spieth (2015), Dustin Johnson (2016), Gary Woodland (2019)
• Nine FedExCup champions: Tiger Woods (2007, 2009), Brandt Snedeker (2012), Henrik Stenson (2013), Billy Horschel (2014), Jordan Spieth (2015), Justin Thomas (2017), Justin Rose (2018), Rory McIlroy (2016, 2019), Dustin Johnson (2020)

FedExCup and the U.S. Open

• Second event of the 2020-21 PGA TOUR Season; first of seven 600-point FedExCup events in the season
• The winner of the U.S. Open has qualified for the TOUR Championship in nine of the 13 seasons it has been played since the inception of the FedExCup, including each of the last seven
• Jordan Spieth (2015) is the only player to win the U.S. Open and go on to win the FedExCup in the same season

A look back at the 2019 U.S. Open (Pebble Beach)

Pos.	Name	R1	R2	R3	R4	Total
1	Gary Woodland	68	65	69	69	271 (-13)
2	Brooks Koepka	69	69	68	68	274 (-10)
T3	Jon Rahm	69	70	70	68	277 (-7)
T3	Chez Reavie	68	70	68	71	277 (-7)
T3	Justin Rose	65	70	68	74	277 (-7)
T3	Xander Schauffele	66	73	71	67	277 (-7)

• Gary Woodland won his fourth PGA TOUR title and first major championship
• Woodland became the seventh first-time major champion at the U.S. Open since 2010
• Brooks Koepka, who entered the week as the winner of the last two U.S. Opens, finished second and became the first player in U.S. Open history to post five consecutive rounds in the 60s (R4/2018-R4/2019)

• Viktor Hovland (T12) recorded the lowest 72-hole score by an amateur in U.S. Open history (280) and became the first player to earn low amateur honors at the Masters Tournament and the U.S. Open in the same year since Matt Kuchar in 1998

Player Notes

Dustin Johnson

• Winner of the 2016 U.S. Open, his lone major title
• 2019-20 season: FedExCup champion, PGA TOUR Player of the Year; three wins, two runner-up finishes in 14 starts
• Last four starts: T2/PGA Championship, Won/THE NORTHERN TRUST, P2/BMW Championship, Won/TOUR Championship; became the first player since Tiger Woods in 1999 to hold the 54-hole lead/co-lead in four consecutive starts on TOUR
• Ranks 27^th all-time with 23 PGA TOUR wins; would move into a tie for 25^th with Gary Player and Macdonald Smith with a victory
• With a win, would extend streak of consecutive seasons with a win to start a career to 14, tied with Tiger Woods for third-most
• Holds the No. 1 position in the Official World Golf Ranking for the 95^th week in his career, fifth-most in the OWGR era (est. 1986) and two behind No. 4 Nick Faldo
• Last major won by World No. 1: 2014 PGA Championship (Rory McIlroy)

Rory McIlroy

• Four-time major champion (2011 U.S. Open, 2012 PGA Championship, 2014 The Open Championship, 2014 PGA Championship)
• With a win, would tie Phil Mickelson for the second-most major championship titles among active players
• T9 at 2019 U.S. Open was first made cut in the event since 2015
• Finished T8 at the TOUR Championship in his most recent start, his first top-10 since the season resumed in June
• Holds U.S. Open scoring records for 54 holes (199/2011) and 72 holes (268/2011)

Phil Mickelson

• Five-time major champion and six-time runner-up at the U.S. Open, the most by a player in the event
• Can become the sixth player to complete the career Grand Slam with a victory
• At the 2006 U.S. Open at Winged Foot, made a double bogey at the par-4 18^th in the final round to lose by one stroke to Geoff Ogilvy
• Finished T44 at last week’s season-opening Safeway Open, his first tournament with four sub-par rounds since his win at the 2019 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am
• Won in his PGA TOUR Champions debut in August (Charles Schwab Series at Ozarks National)

Collin Morikawa

• Won his first major championship at the 2020 PGA Championship
• Last player to win back-to-back majors: Jordan Spieth (2015 Masters Tournament, 2015 U.S. Open)
• Making third major appearance and second at the U.S. Open (T35/2019 U.S. Open)
• Won twice during the 2019-20 season (Workday Charity Open, PGA Championship)

Jon Rahm

• Seeks first major championship title in 16^th major appearance and fifth at the U.S. Open
• 2019-20 marked his first multi-win season on the PGA TOUR (the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide, BMW Championship)
• Top-five results in majors: 4^th/2018 Masters Tournament, T4/2018 PGA Championship, T3/2019 U.S. Open
• Enters the week No. 2 in the Official World Golf Ranking
• One of three players in the top 10 of the OWGR without a major championship victory (others: Xander Schauffele, Bryson DeChambeau)

Xander Schauffele

• Seeks first major championship title in 13^th major appearance and fourth at the U.S. Open
• Has finished T6 or better in each of his three starts at the U.S. Open (T5/2017, T6/2018, T3/2019)
• One of three players in the top 10 of the OWGR without a major championship victory (others: Jon Rahm, Bryson DeChambeau)
• Finished tied for second with Justin Thomas in the FedExCup standings in 2019-20, his second consecutive runner- up in the season-long race

Justin Thomas

• Won lone major title at the 2017 PGA Championship
• Has one top-10 in five starts at the U.S. Open (T9/2017) and is coming off a missed cut in 2019
• Shot a 63 in the third round of the 2017 U.S. Open, tying the tournament’s 18-hole scoring record
• Won three times during the 2019-20 season (THE CJ CUP @ NINE BRIDGES, Sentry Tournament of Champions, World Golf Championships-FedEx St. Jude Invitational)

Tiger Woods

• In search of 83^rd PGA TOUR victory; currently tied with Sam Snead for the most all-time
• In search of 16^th major championship title; currently second all-time, three behind Jack Nicklaus
• Three-time U.S. Open winner (2000, 2002, 2008); Willie Anderson, Bobby Jones, Ben Hogan and Jack Nicklaus won four each, tied for the most all-time
• U.S. Open results since 2013: MC/2015, MC/2018, T21/2019
• Results in major championships at Winged Foot: T29/1997 PGA Championship, MC/2006 U.S. Open
• Holds the U.S. Open record for largest margin of victory (15 strokes/2000)

Players in the field that participated in past championships at Winged Foot

2006 U.S. Open (15) (winner: Geoff Ogilvy)	1997 PGA Championship (4) (winner: Davis Love III)	2004 U.S. Amateur (4) (winner: Ryan Moore)
Player	Result	Player	Result	Player	Result
Casey, Paul	15th	Mickelson, Phil	T29	Harman, Brian	1st Rd.
Garcia, Sergio	MC	Stricker, Steve	MC	Kisner, Kevin	2nd Rd.
Glover, Lucas	MC	Westwood, Lee	T29	Simpson, Webb	1st Rd.
Hend, Scott	T32	Woods, Tiger	T29	Thompson, Michael	1st Rd.
Horschel, Billy (a)	MC
Howell III, Charles	T37
Johnson, Zach	MC
Kuchar, Matt	MC
McDowell, Graeme	T48
Mickelson, Phil	T2
Poulter, Ian	T12
Scott, Adam	T21
Stenson, Henrik	T26
Stricker, Steve	T6
Woods, Tiger	MC

Miscellaneous Notes

• The last time four-time major champion Brooks Koepka missed a major was the 2018 Masters Tournament; last three U.S. Open results for Koepka: Won/2017, Won/2018, 2^nd/2019
• The field size of 144 is the lowest since 1932 (140); there have been 156 players in the field every year since 1980
• First U.S. Open not held in June since 1931 (July 2-6); previous years in which the U.S. Open was held in the fall: 1895 (October), 1897 (September), 1899 (September), 1900 (October), 1902 (October), 1905 (September), 1913 (September)

Tournament Records

• Low 18-hole score: 63 (6 times; most recent: Tommy Fleetwood/R4/2018)
• Low 36-hole total: 130 (Martin Kaymer/2014)
• Low 54-hole total: 199 (Rory McIlroy/2011)
• Low 72-hole total: 268 (Rory McIlroy/2011)
• Largest margin of victory: 15 strokes (Tiger Woods/2000)
• Playoffs: 18 (most recent: Tiger Woods def. Rocco Mediate/2008)
• Wire-to-wire winners: 6 (most recent: Martin Kaymer/2014)

This 2020 US Open Preview is via PGA TOUR