Wikipedia

2023 U.S. Open (golf)

The 2023 United States Open Championship was the 123rd U.S. Open, the national open golf championship of the United States. It was a 72-hole stroke play played from June 15–18 on the North Course of Los Angeles Country Club in Los Angeles, California. It was the first U.S. Open to be played in Los Angeles since Riviera Country Club hosted the tournament in 1948.[1]

2023 U.S. Open
Tournament information
DatesJune 15–18, 2023
LocationLos Angeles, California
34°4′8″N 118°25′23″W / 34.06889°N 118.42306°W / 34.06889; -118.42306
Course(s)Los Angeles Country Club
North Course
Organized byUSGA
Tour(s)PGA Tour
European Tour
Japan Golf Tour
Statistics
Par70
Length7,423 yards (6,788 m)
Field156 players, 65 after cut
Cut142 (+2)
Prize fund$20,000,000
Winner's share$3,600,000
Champion
United States Wyndham Clark
270 (−10)
Location map
Los Angeles CC is located in the United States
Los Angeles CC
Los Angeles CC
Location in the United States
Los Angeles CC is located in California
Los Angeles CC
Los Angeles CC
Location in California
← 2022
2024 →

Wyndham Clark, who had never finished better than 75th in a major championship and had missed the cut in his previous two U.S. Opens, shot a final-round 70 to finish at 10-under-par for the tournament and hold off four-time major champion Rory McIlroy by one shot for his first career U.S. Open and major championship.[2]

Rickie Fowler and Xander Schauffele both broke the U.S. Open scoring record by shooting 62 (−8) in the first round. Fowler, who was tied with Clark for the lead at the start of the final round, ended up tied for fifth place, while Schauffele finished 10th.[3]

Course

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Main article: Los Angeles Country Club

On July 22, 2015, the United States Golf Association (USGA) announced that Los Angeles Country Club was selected to host the 123rd U.S. Open in June 2023. The USGA had made overtures to the club for at least 26 years. Los Angeles Country Club resisted the advances because its leaders valued the privacy of the club. A new group of leaders took over and wanted to show off a renovation of the club's courses done by Gil Hanse that made the courses resemble earlier versions of the courses. More than 90% of the club's members voted to approve the deal that brought the U.S. Open to Los Angeles Country Club.[4]

The layout of the Los Angeles Country Club was criticized by 2017 and 2018 U.S. Open champion Brooks Koepka, stating he did not believe the course had any "great" holes, and a few "bad" holes.[5] U.S. Open champion Matt Fitzpatrick also criticized the course layout, lamenting the blind tee shots, too much slope and fairways that did not hold the ball. He further elaborated that the slick fairways punished good tee shots which would end up rolling into the rough.[5]

The layout of the Los Angeles Country Club limited the number of tickets and grandstand placement for spectators of the U.S. Open. The USGA allotted 22,000 total tickets for the event, with an estimated 8,000 available to the general public and the remainder going to corporate sponsors and club members. The proximity of the ninth green to the eighteenth green limited the placement of grandstands for the final green.[6] The 22,000 tickets per day was below the 2022 total of 30,000 at The Country Club and well below the 50,000 per day at Oakmont Country Club in 2016.[7] Fitzpatrick also criticized the USGA for the limited number of spectators stating he wished the tournament was louder.[5]

Hole 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Out 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 In Total
Yards 590 497 419 228 480 330 284 537 171 3,536 409 290 380 507 623 124 542 520 492 3,887 7,423
Par 5 4 4 3 4 4 3 5 3 35 4 3 4 4 5 3 4 4 4 35 70

Field

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Main article: 2023 U.S. Open field

The field for the U.S. Open is made up of players who gain entry through qualifying events and those who are exempt from qualifying. The exemption criteria include provisions for recent major champions, winners of major amateur events, and leading players in the world rankings. Qualifying is in two stages, local and final, with some players being exempted through to final qualifying.[8]

There were a record 10,187 entries received. There were 109 local qualifying events from which the leading players progressed to the 13 final qualifying events,[9] nine of which were held in the United States on June 5.[10]

Round summaries

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First round

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Thursday, June 15, 2023

Rickie Fowler and Xander Schauffele finished tied for the lead after the first round; their rounds of 62 were the lowest rounds in U.S. Open history and matched the lowest round in any major, set by Branden Grace in the 2017 Open Championship.[11][12]

There were several other scoring records. The first round field scoring average of 71.38 was almost a stroke lower than the previous low first round of 72.29 at Baltusrol Golf Club in 1993. The worst score of the day was 79—the first time either of the first two rounds of a U.S. Open had not seen a score in the 80s.[13]

Place Player Score To par
T1   Rickie Fowler 62 −8
  Xander Schauffele
T3   Wyndham Clark 64 −6
  Dustin Johnson
T5   Brian Harman 65 −5
  Rory McIlroy
T7   Paul Barjon 67 −3
  Sam Bennett
  Bryson DeChambeau
  Harris English
  Mackenzie Hughes
  Kim Si-woo
  Scottie Scheffler

Second round

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Friday, June 16, 2023

Rickie Fowler made eight birdies along with six bogeys in a two-under round of 68 to take sole possession of the lead through 36 holes at 10-under for the tournament. Fowler's 18 birdies through the first two rounds was a new U.S. Open record and the most in any two-round stretch of a major championship in 30 years. His total of 130 tied Martin Kaymer in 2014 for the tournament record.[14]

Wyndham Clark, beginning the round two shots off the lead, made three birdies on his first nine after beginning on the 10th, including holing a 44-foot putt on the 16th. At the par-5 14th hole, he hit his second shot into the rough surrounding the lip of a bunker but recovered on his third to 13 feet and made the putt for birdie. He was alone in the lead until a three-putt bogey on the par-3 fourth hole (his 14th) but rebounded with a birdie on the eighth to finish with a 68 (−2) and close within one shot of Fowler's lead.[15]

Rory McIlroy, also teeing off on the 10th to begin his round, was two-over on his first nine before making six birdies on his second nine, including four over his last five holes. He shot 67 (−3) to move up to third place at eight-under, two behind Fowler.[16]

The cut came at 142 (+2), with 65 players surviving to the weekend. Among the notables to miss the cut included 2013 champion Justin Rose, 2015 champion Jordan Spieth, and Phil Mickelson. Two-time major champion Justin Thomas shot an 81 to miss the cut by 12 shots.[17]

Place Player Score To par
1   Rickie Fowler 62-68=130 −10
2   Wyndham Clark 64-67=131 −9
T3   Rory McIlroy 65-67=132 −8
  Xander Schauffele 62-70=132
5   Harris English 67-66=133 −7
T6   Dustin Johnson 64-70=134 −6
  Min Woo Lee 69-65=134
T8   Sam Bennett 67-68=135 −5
  Scottie Scheffler 67-68=135
10   Cameron Smith 69-67=136 −4

Third round

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Saturday, June 17, 2023

The USGA set up the par-3 15th hole to play at 81 yards for this round, making it the shortest hole in modern U.S. Open history. The previous shortest hole was the 7th hole at Pebble Beach, which played at 92 yards in the final round of the 2010 Open.[18]

Rickie Fowler stood atop the leaderboard for the third consecutive round after shooting an even-par 70. Fowler was leading by one shot at 10-under on the 13th hole when he made a 69-foot birdie putt from just off the green to open a two-shot advantage. He then three-putted for bogey at the 18th to drop back into a share of the lead with Wyndham Clark after 54 holes.[19]

Clark birdied two of his first three holes to take the outright lead before a bogey at the 11th dropped him back into a tie. At the 12th, his second shot flew into the rough over the green, where he failed to advance the ball on his third shot and suffered another bogey. Rebounding with a birdie at the 13th, Clark had to take a drop from an unplayable lie on the 17th hole and made another bogey to fall two back of Fowler playing the 18th. He then hit his approach to the 18th green to six feet and made the birdie to finish at 10-under after a one-under round of 69, tying Fowler for the lead.[20]

Rory McIlroy, the 2011 champion, began the round two shots off the lead but made up the deficit with two birdies on the first three holes to tie. He then bogeyed the fourth hole and three-putted for bogey on the 13th before making birdie on the 14th to get to nine-under and a shot off the lead going into the final round.[21]

Scottie Scheffler was one-over on his round before holing out from 196 yards on the 17th for an eagle. He then finished his round by making a 22-foot putt for birdie on the 18th to get to seven-under for the tournament and end up alone in fourth place.[22]

Place Player Score To par
T1   Wyndham Clark 64-67-69=200 −10
  Rickie Fowler 62-68-70=200
3   Rory McIlroy 65-67-69=201 −9
4   Scottie Scheffler 67-68-68=203 −7
5   Harris English 67-66-71=204 −6
T6   Dustin Johnson 64-70-71=205 −5
  Xander Schauffele 62-70-73=205
8   Ryutaro Nagano 71-67-68=206 −4
T9   Bryson DeChambeau 67-72-68=207 −3
  Tom Kim 73-68-66=207
  Cameron Smith 69-67-71=207

Final round

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Sunday, June 18, 2023

Summary

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Wyndham Clark won his first U.S. Open title.

Wyndham Clark shot an even-par 70 to win his first career U.S. Open and major championship.[23] Beginning the round tied with Rickie Fowler for the lead, he hit his approach shot on the par-3 fourth hole to five feet for a birdie to get to 11-under and take sole possession of the lead. He also birdied the par-4 sixth hole from the rough just short of the green, but at the eighth hole hit his second shot into the rough to the left of the green. He failed to advance the ball on his third shot and ended up with a bogey on the par-five.[24]

With a two-shot lead playing the par-5 14th hole, Clark found the green in two shots and two-putted from 20 feet for a birdie to get to 12-under and open up a three-shot lead with four holes to play. He hit his tee shot on the par-3 15th over the green and failed to get up and down, settling for a bogey, then drove into a bunker on the 16th and had to chip back into the fairway. He missed a seven-footer for par to fall back to 10-under, but saved par from left of the green on the 17th. Now with a one-shot lead playing the 18th, Clark two-putted from 60 feet to win the tournament.[25]

Rory McIlroy began the round a shot off the lead and opened with a birdie on the first hole to tie for the lead. This was his last birdie—he did not make another the rest of the round, and bogeyed the 14th after hitting his third shot into the ridge of a bunker and taking a drop for an embedded lie. He finished with 70 to end up at nine-under, a shot back of Clark.[26]

Fowler, tied with Clark at the start of the round, made three bogeys over his first seven holes and did not make a birdie until the eighth, his first since the 13th hole in the third round. His birdie on the 14th was his 23rd of the tournament, establishing a new U.S. Open record. He shot a five-over 75 to fall back into a tie for fifth place with Tommy Fleetwood and Min Woo Lee.[27]

Fleetwood, who began the round in 38th place, made two eagles and was eight-under through 14 holes before a bogey at the 16th. He missed a five-footer for birdie at the 18th for a 62 and settled for a seven-under 63, becoming the first player in U.S. Open history with two rounds of 63 or better (he also posted a seven-under 63 round at the 2018 U.S. Open).[28]

Final leaderboard

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Champion
Silver Cup winner (leading amateur)
(a) = amateur
(c) = past champion
Top 10[29]
Place Player Score To par Money (US$)
1   Wyndham Clark 64-67-69-70=270 −10 3,600,000
2   Rory McIlroy (c) 65-67-69-70=271 −9 2,160,000
3   Scottie Scheffler 67-68-68-70=273 −7 1,413,430
4   Cameron Smith 69-67-71-67=274 −6 990,867
T5   Tommy Fleetwood 73-69-70-63=275 −5 738,934
  Rickie Fowler 62-68-70-75=275
  Min Woo Lee 69-65-74-67=275
T8   Harris English 67-66-71-72=276 −4 562,808
  Tom Kim 73-68-66-69=276
T10   Austin Eckroat 71-68-73-65=277 −3 435,018
  Dustin Johnson (c) 64-70-71-72=277
  Jon Rahm (c) 69-73-70-65=277
  Xander Schauffele 62-70-73-72=277

Scorecard

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Hole  1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9  10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18
Par 5 4 4 3 4 4 3 5 3 4 3 4 4 5 3 4 4 4
  Clark −11 −10 −10 −11 −11 −12 −12 −11 −11 −11 −11 −11 −11 −12 −11 −10 −10 −10
  McIlroy −10 −10 −10 −10 −10 −10 −10 −10 −10 −10 −10 −10 −10 −9 −9 −9 −9 −9
  Scheffler −7 −7 −7 −7 −7 −7 −6 −7 −7 −7 −6 −5 −6 −6 −6 −7 −7 −7
  Smith −3 −3 −3 −3 −3 −4 −3 −4 −3 −3 −4 −5 −5 −5 −6 −6 −6 −6
  Fleetwood +2 +1 +1 +1 +1 −1 −1 −2 −3 −3 −4 −4 −4 −6 −6 −5 −5 −5
  Fowler −10 −9 −9 −9 −8 −8 −7 −8 −8 −8 −7 −6 −6 −7 −7 −6 −6 −5
  Lee −2 −2 −3 −3 −3 −4 −4 −4 −4 −4 −4 −4 −4 −4 −5 −5 −5 −5
  English −6 −4 −4 −4 −3 −3 −3 −4 −4 −5 −5 −4 −4 −4 −4 −5 −4 −4
  Kim −4 −3 −3 −3 −3 −4 −3 −4 −4 −4 −5 −5 −5 −5 −5 −5 −3 −4

Cumulative tournament scores, relative to par

Eagle Birdie Bogey Double bogey

Source:[29]

Notes

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  1. ^ The USGA paid $10,000 in unofficial money to all professionals who qualified for the tournament. Travel expenses, including food, lodging and complimentary vehicles, were paid to amateur golfers.

References

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  1. ^ Duncan, Derek (June 6, 2023). "The U.S. Open returns to L.A. after 75 years. It took that long for a reason". Golf Digest. Retrieved June 18, 2023.
  2. ^ Schlabach, Mark (June 18, 2023). "Wyndham Clark (-10) wins U.S. Open by 1 shot for his 1st career major". ESPN. Archived from the original on June 19, 2023. Retrieved June 18, 2023.
  3. ^ Schwarb, John (June 15, 2023). "62! Rickie Fowler and Xander Schauffele Make Major Championship History in Round 1 of U.S. Open". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved June 18, 2023.
  4. ^ Wharton, David (July 22, 2015). "L.A. Country Club to host 2023 U.S. Open". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on June 19, 2023. Retrieved June 20, 2023.
  5. ^ a b c Fuller, Jackson (June 18, 2023). "'Disappointing on the USGA side': Matt Fitzpatrick criticizes 2023 U.S. Open atmosphere, course". Golf Channel. Archived from the original on June 22, 2023. Retrieved June 22, 2023.
  6. ^ Ferguson, Doug (June 17, 2023). "US Open in LA turns into a quiet major with limited crowds and tough walk". Associated Press News. Archived from the original on June 22, 2023. Retrieved June 22, 2023.
  7. ^ Hoggard, Rex (June 19, 2023). "From quirkiness to too quiet, LACC received criticism, but there are reasons the USGA will return". Golf Channel. Archived from the original on June 22, 2023. Retrieved June 22, 2023.
  8. ^ "123rd U.S. Open Championship Qualifying Sites Sneak Peek". USGA. Archived from the original on February 9, 2023. Retrieved February 9, 2023.
  9. ^ Zak, Sean (April 13, 2023). "This year's U.S. Open has received a record number of entries". Golf Magazine. Retrieved April 17, 2023.
  10. ^ "123rd U.S. Open: Final Qualifying". USGA. Archived from the original on April 17, 2023. Retrieved April 17, 2023.
  11. ^ Higham, Paul (June 15, 2023). "Rickie Fowler and Xander Schauffele hit record 62s as Rory McIlroy charges". BBC Sport. Archived from the original on June 15, 2023. Retrieved June 16, 2023.
  12. ^ Murray, Ewan (June 15, 2023). "Fowler and Schauffele hit 62s at US Open to etch names into golfing folklore". The Guardian. Archived from the original on June 15, 2023. Retrieved June 16, 2023.
  13. ^ Schlabach, Mark (June 15, 2023). "U.S. Open 2023: Lookahead to the second round". ESPN. Archived from the original on June 16, 2023. Retrieved June 16, 2023.
  14. ^ Uggetti, Paolo (June 16, 2023). "Rickie Fowler stays atop U.S. Open after chaotic second round". ESPN. Archived from the original on June 19, 2023. Retrieved June 19, 2023.
  15. ^ Romine, Brentley (June 16, 2023). "Why Wyndham Clark is a cocky man so far at this U.S. Open". Golf Channel. Archived from the original on June 19, 2023. Retrieved June 19, 2023.
  16. ^ Murray, Ewan (June 16, 2023). "Rory McIlroy finds his groove on front nine to stay firmly in the mix at US Open". The Guardian. Archived from the original on June 19, 2023. Retrieved June 19, 2023.
  17. ^ Schupak, Adam (June 16, 2023). "Big names like Justin Thomas, Jordan Spieth, Phil Mickelson missed the cut at 2023 U.S. Open". Golfweek. Retrieved June 19, 2023.
  18. ^ Wright, Andrew (June 17, 2023). "LACC's Par-3 15th To Become Shortest Hole In US Open History". Golf Monthly. Retrieved June 19, 2023.
  19. ^ McDonald, Patrick (June 17, 2023). "2023 U.S. Open leaderboard: Rickie Fowler, Wyndham Clark co-lead as Rory McIlroy, Scottie Scheffler chase". CBS Sports. Archived from the original on June 18, 2023. Retrieved June 17, 2023.
  20. ^ Myers, Alex (June 17, 2023). "U.S. Open 2023: Wyndham Clark unleashes all-time savage club twirl on 18, bumps Rory McIlroy from final group on Sunday". Golf Digest. Retrieved June 17, 2023.
  21. ^ Young, Ryan (June 17, 2023). "U.S. Open: Rory McIlroy, eyeing first major win in almost a decade, one shot back headed into Sunday". Yahoo Sports. Archived from the original on June 18, 2023. Retrieved June 17, 2023.
  22. ^ Hirsh, Jack (June 17, 2023). "How Scottie Scheffler played 1,006 yards at the U.S. Open in only 5 strokes". Golf Magazine. Retrieved June 17, 2023.
  23. ^ Murray, Ewan (June 19, 2023). "Rory McIlroy falls short as Wyndham Clark holds nerve to win 2023 US Open". The Guardian. Archived from the original on June 19, 2023. Retrieved June 20, 2023.
  24. ^ Coffin, Jay (June 18, 2023). "U.S. Open 2023: Wyndham Clark outlasts star-studded leaderboard, collects first major in seventh major start". Golf Digest. Retrieved June 18, 2023.
  25. ^ Melton, Zephyr (June 18, 2023). "Wyndham Clark holds off McIlroy and Scheffler, wins U.S. Open at LACC". Golf Magazine. Retrieved June 18, 2023.
  26. ^ Young, Ryan (June 18, 2023). "U.S. Open: Rory McIlroy missed another golden opportunity to finally end major championship drought". Yahoo Sports. Archived from the original on June 19, 2023. Retrieved June 18, 2023.
  27. ^ Hoggard, Rex (June 18, 2023). "Rickie Fowler doesn't get fairytale ending at USO, but finds something more important". Golf Channel. Archived from the original on June 19, 2023. Retrieved June 18, 2023.
  28. ^ McDonald, Patrick (June 18, 2023). "Tommy Fleetwood cards second final-round 63 at U.S. Open, becoming fourth ever to go that low twice at majors". CBS Sports. Archived from the original on June 19, 2023. Retrieved June 18, 2023.
  29. ^ a b "U.S. Open: Leaderboard". ESPN. June 18, 2023. Archived from the original on June 19, 2023. Retrieved June 19, 2023.
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