The 2015 United States Open Championship was the 115th U.S. Open, played June 18–21, 2015 at Chambers Bay in University Place, Washington, southwest of Tacoma on the shore of Puget Sound.[2] Jordan Spieth won his first U.S. Open and consecutive major titles, one stroke ahead of runners-up Dustin Johnson and Louis Oosthuizen. This was the first U.S. Open televised by Fox Sports 1 and Fox Sports, launching a 12-year contract with the United States Golf Association.

2015 U.S. Open
Tournament information
DatesJune 18–21, 2015
LocationUniversity Place, Washington
Course(s)Chambers Bay
Organized byUSGA
Tour(s)PGA Tour
European Tour
Japan Golf Tour
Statistics
Par70
Length7,384 yards (6,752 m) to
7,695 yards (7,036 m)
Field156 players, 75 after cut
Cut145 (+5)
Prize fund$10,000,000
8,944,383
Winner's share$1,800,000
€1,609,989[1]
Champion
United States Jordan Spieth
275 (−5)
← 2014
2016 →

Spieth, age 21, became the youngest U.S. Open champion in 92 years, since Bobby Jones in 1923. The reigning Masters champion, Spieth became the youngest to win the Masters and U.S. Open in the same year, passing Tiger Woods, who won both in 2002 at age 26. Others to win the first two majors of the year were Craig Wood (1941), Ben Hogan (1951, 1953), Arnold Palmer (1960), and Jack Nicklaus (1972).

This was the first U.S. Open played in the Pacific Northwest and the third major played in the state of Washington, which hosted the PGA Championship in 1944 and 1998.

Venue

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Owned by Pierce County, the Chambers Bay course opened for play only eight years earlier in June 2007. It was constructed a former quarry that faces Puget Sound and an active freight railroad.[3] A Sounder commuter train platform at Chambers Bay with service from Seattle was planned by Sound Transit for the tournament, but was later cancelled due to logistical and financial challenges.[4]

Course layout

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Chambers
Bay
 
 
Chambers
Bay

The course was laid out differently each day, with course totals ranging from 7,384 yards (6,752 m) on Sunday, to 7,695 yards (7,036 m) on Friday. Holes 1 and 18 were played as either par-4 or par-5: the first was a par-4 and the 18th was a par-5 for three of the rounds, switching only for the second round on Friday, and the course was par 70 for each round.[5]

Hole Name Yards Par Hole Name Yards Par
1 Puget Sound 598/496 5/4 10 High Dunes 436/468 4
2 Foxy 399 4 11 Shadows 500/537 4
3 Blown Out 163–198 3 12 The Narrows 311 4
4 Hazard's Ascent 495 4 13 Eagle Eye 534 4
5 Free Fall 488 4 14 Cape Fear 521/546 4
6 Deception Point 495 4 15 Lone Fir 123–246 3
7 Humpback 508 4 16 Beached 423 4
8 High Road Low Road 614 5 17 Derailed 172–218 3
9 Olympus 224/217 3 18 Tahoma 525/604 4/5
Out 36/35 In 34/35
 Championship tees: Rating=78.1,  Slope=146[6][7] Total 7,384–7,695 70


Round Hole 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Out 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 In Total
Par 4 4 3 4 4 4 4 5 3 35 4 4 4 4 4 3 4 3 5 35 70
1 Yards 501 387 148 475 503 494 515 602 203 3,828 427 541 317 512 528 169 385 173 617 3,669 7,497
2 Yards 593^ 403 207 494 486 512 506 582 237 4,020 483 544 284 551 513 144 416 226 514^ 3,675 7,695
3 Yards 499 399 166 509 498 515 519 603 225 3,933 473 530 311 533 534 252 372 122 577 3,704 7,637
4 Yards 443 412 188 479 462 493 477 593 203 3,750 460 541 270 529 519 158 337 219 601 3,634 7,384

In Round 2 on Friday, Hole #1 was played as a par 5 and #18 as a par 4; par was 36 out and 34 in.
Source:[8][9][10][11]

Criticism of the course

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Chambers Bay was subject to criticism for its bumpy greens, unfair course design, and poor accessibility for spectators.[12][13] Former U.S. Open champion Gary Player called it "the worst golf course I might've ever seen in the 63 years as a professional golfer", and Henrik Stenson said that the greens were like "putting on broccoli".[14]

Field

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About half the field consisted of players who are exempt from qualifying for the U.S. Open. Each player is classified according to the first category in which he qualified, and other categories are shown in parentheses.

1. Winners of the U.S. Open Championship during the last ten years

2. Winner and runner-up of the 2014 U.S. Amateur Championship

3. Winner of the 2014 Amateur Championship

4. Winner of the 2014 Mark H. McCormack Medal (men's World Amateur Golf Ranking)

5. Winners of the Masters Tournament during the last five years

6. Winners of The Open Championship during the last five years

7. Winners of the PGA Championship during the last five years

8. Winners of The Players Championship during the last three years

9. Winner of the 2015 European Tour BMW PGA Championship

10. Winner of the 2014 U.S. Senior Open Championship

11. The 10 lowest scorers and anyone tying for 10th place at the 2014 U.S. Open Championship

12. Players who qualified for the season-ending 2014 Tour Championship

13. The top 60 point leaders and ties as of May 25, 2015 in the Official World Golf Ranking

14. The top 60 point leaders and ties as of June 15, 2015 in the Official World Golf Ranking

15. Special exemptions given by the USGA

  • None

The remaining contestants earned their places through sectional qualifiers.[17]

Alternates who gained entry:

(a) denotes amateur
(L) denotes player advanced through local qualifying

Source:[20]

Round summaries

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First round

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Thursday, June 18, 2015

Dustin Johnson and Henrik Stenson both posted rounds of 65 (−5) to share the lead after the first round. Johnson recorded four birdies on his back-nine and did not make a bogey until the par-3 9th, his 18th hole of the round. Stenson, meanwhile, birdied four of his last five holes to tie Johnson for the lead. Jordan Spieth, the reigning Masters champion, was three strokes back after a 68.[21] Three-time champion Tiger Woods opened with a round of 80 (+10), his worst score ever at the U.S. Open.[22] Brian Campbell, a senior at the University of Illinois, was low amateur after a round of 67 (−3), two behind the lead.

The first hole was set as a par-4 at 501 yards (458 m) and the 18th hole as par-5 at 617 yards (564 m), with the course at 7,497 yards (6,855 m).[8][23] The scoring average for the field was 72.72 (+2.72)[8] and 25 players had under-par rounds.[21][24]

Place Player Score To par
T1   Dustin Johnson 65 −5
  Henrik Stenson
3   Patrick Reed 66 −4
T4   Brian Campbell (a) 67 −3
  Matt Kuchar
  Ben Martin
T7   Jason Day 68 −2
  Jason Dufner
  Cody Gribble
  Joost Luiten
  Francesco Molinari
  Jordan Spieth
  Marc Warren

Second round

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Friday, June 19, 2015

Masters champion Jordan Spieth shot a round of 67 (−3) to tie Patrick Reed for the 36-hole lead. First round co-leader Dustin Johnson got as low as 7-under before bogeys on three of his last five holes dropped him to a stroke behind the leaders.[25] Jason Day was just two shots off the lead playing the 9th hole, his 18th of the round, when he collapsed from vertigo. After being treated by medical personnel for several minutes, Day was able to finish the hole and made bogey, dropping to three behind and a tie for 9th place.[26] Tiger Woods missed the cut with a two-round score of 16-over-par, his worst 36-hole score in a major.

A bogey on the final hole by Nick Hardy, a freshman from the University of Illinois, moved the cut line to +5. Fifteen additional players earned entry into the third round, including Ángel Cabrera, Sergio García, Colin Montgomerie, Webb Simpson, and Jimmy Walker.[27]

The 1st hole was set as a 593-yard par-5 and the 18th hole as 514-yard par-4, with the total yardage at 7,695.[9] The scoring average for the field was 73.48 (+3.48)[9] and 18 players had under-par rounds. J. B. Holmes and Louis Oosthuizen had the low rounds of the day, 66 (−4).[24]

Place Player Score To par
T1   Patrick Reed 66-69=135 −5
  Jordan Spieth 68-67=135
T3   Branden Grace 69-67=136 −4
  Dustin Johnson 65-71=136
T5   Tony Finau 69-68=137 −3
  Joost Luiten 68-69=137
  Ben Martin 67-70=137
  Daniel Summerhays 70-67=137
T9   Jason Day 68-70=138 −2
  J. B. Holmes 72-66=138
  Jamie Lovemark 70-68=138

Amateurs: Campbell (−1), Maguire (+1), Schniederjans (+2), Hossler (+3), McCarthy (+4), Hardy (+5),
McCoy (+8), DeChambeau (+9), Neil (+9), NeSmith (+9), Jones (+10), Knapp (+10), Yang (+10), Horsfield (+11), Riley (+13), Hammer (+21)

Third round

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Saturday, June 20, 2015

Louis Oosthuizen again had the low round of the day, 66 (−4), moving him into a tie for 5th place. Despite suffering from vertigo, Jason Day scored 68 (−2), the second lowest round of the day.[28]

The 1st hole was set as a 499-yard par-4 and the 18th hole as 577-yard par-5, with the total yardage at 7,637.[10] The scoring average for the field was 73.13 (+3.13)[10] and only 6 players had under-par rounds.[24]

Place Player Score To par
T1   Jason Day 68-70-68=206 −4
  Branden Grace 69-67-70=206
  Dustin Johnson 65-71-70=206
  Jordan Spieth 68-67-71=206
T5   J. B. Holmes 72-66-71=209 −1
  Shane Lowry 69-70-70=209
  Louis Oosthuizen 77-66-66=209
  Cameron Smith 70-70-69=209
T9   Tony Finau 69-68-74=211 +1
  Joost Luiten 68-69-74=211
  Patrick Reed 66-69-76=211
  Andrés Romero 71-69-71=211
  Brandt Snedeker 69-72-70=211
  Henrik Stenson 65-74-72=211

Final round

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Sunday, June 21, 2015

Four players began the final round tied for the lead for the first time at the U.S. Open since 1973. In the final pairing with Jason Day at 3 pm PDT, Dustin Johnson recorded two birdies on the front nine to take sole possession of the lead, then lost it with bogeys on three out of four holes to begin the back nine.[29] In the penultimate pairing, Jordan Spieth and Branden Grace both birdied the par-4 12th to tie, but Grace fell from contention on the 16th after his drive went out of bounds and he made double bogey. Spieth holed a 25-foot (8 m) birdie putt at the 16th to open up a three-stroke lead, but then three-putted for double bogey on the par-3 17th to fall into a tie with Louis Oosthuizen. Oosthuizen began the round three shots off the lead and quickly dropped further behind with three consecutive bogeys on the front-nine. Beginning at the 12th, however, Oosthuizen birdied six out of his last seven holes to tie Spieth. At the par-5 18th, Spieth hit the green in two and proceeded to two-putt for birdie. Johnson recovered from his bogey streak with a birdie at the 17th, then also found the 18th green in two.[30] Faced with a 12-foot (3.7 m) eagle putt to win the championship, Johnson's attempt rolled three feet (0.9 m) past the hole, then missed his birdie putt to tie. Expecting a Monday playoff, Spieth suddenly gained a one-stroke victory for his second consecutive major title.[31][32][33]

With the win, Spieth became the sixth to win both the Masters and U.S. Open in the same year and the first since Tiger Woods in 2002. He also became the first to win two majors before the age of 22 since Gene Sarazen in 1922, and the youngest U.S. Open champion since Bobby Jones in 1923.[34] After opening with a round of 77 (+7), Oosthuizen shot 199 over his last three rounds, tying the U.S. Open record for lowest 54-hole score. His score of 29 on the back-nine also tied a tournament record.[35]

The first hole was set as a par-4 at 443 yards (405 m) and the 18th hole as a par-5 at 601 yards (550 m), with the total at 7,384 yards (6,752 m).[11] The scoring average for the field was 71.29 (+1.29)[11] and 22 players had under-par rounds. Adam Scott had the low round of the championship, a 6-under-par 64 to tie for fourth.[24]

Final leaderboard

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Champion
Silver Cup winner (leading amateur)
(a) = amateur
(c) = past champion
Place Player Score To par Money ($)
1   Jordan Spieth 68-67-71-69=275 −5 1,800,000
T2   Dustin Johnson 65-71-70-70=276 −4 877,144
  Louis Oosthuizen 77-66-66-67=276
T4   Branden Grace 69-67-70-71=277 −3 407,037
  Adam Scott 70-71-72-64=277
  Cameron Smith 70-70-69-68=277
7   Charl Schwartzel 73-70-69-66=278 −2 311,835
8   Brandt Snedeker 69-72-70-68=279 −1 280,482
T9   Jason Day 68-70-68-74=280 E 235,316
  Shane Lowry 69-70-70-71=280
  Rory McIlroy (c) 72-72-70-66=280

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 4 4 3 4 4 4 4 5 3 4 4 4 4 4 3 4 3 5
  Spieth −3 −3 −3 −3 −3 −3 −3 −4 −4 −4 −4 −5 −5 −5 −5 −6 −4 −5
  Johnson −4 −4 −4 −5 −5 −5 −5 −6 −6 −5 −4 −4 −3 −3 −3 −3 −4 −4
  Oosthuizen −1 E +1 +2 +2 +2 +2 +2 +2 +2 +2 +1 E −1 −2 −3 −3 −4
  Grace −4 −4 −4 −3 −3 −3 −3 −3 −4 −4 −4 −5 −5 −5 −5 −3 −3 −3
  Scott +3 +2 +2 +2 +2 +2 +1 E E E −1 −1 −1 −1 −1 −2 −2 −3
  Smith E −1 −1 E E E E −1 −1 −1 E −1 −1 −1 E −1 −1 −3
  Schwartzel +2 +2 +3 +4 +3 +3 +2 +2 +2 +2 +1 E E −1 −1 −1 −1 −2
  Snedeker +1 +2 +2 +2 +2 +1 E −1 −2 −2 −1 −1 −1 +1 +1 E E −1
  Day −4 −4 −4 −3 −4 −3 −2 −3 −3 −2 −2 −2 E E E −1 E E
  Lowry −1 −1 E E +1 E +1 E +1 E E −1 E E E −1 −1 E
  McIlroy +4 +3 +3 +3 +3 +3 +2 +1 +1 E E −1 −2 −2 −1 −1 E E

Cumulative tournament scores, relative to par

Eagle Birdie Bogey Double bogey

Source:[36]

Media

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This was the first U.S. Open televised by Fox Sports, which began a 12-year contract to televise the championship and other USGA events. The previous 20 years (19952014) had been by NBC Sports, preceded by 29 years (19661994) on ABC Sports.

References

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  1. ^ "U.S. Open Championship: leaderboard". European Tour. June 21, 2015. Retrieved June 22, 2015.
  2. ^ "USGA Championships". USGA: 2015 U.S. Open. Retrieved July 13, 2014.
  3. ^ Pennington, Bill (June 16, 2015). "Is this the strangest golf course ever to host a US Open?". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved June 4, 2024.
  4. ^ Baker, Geoff (November 24, 2014). "USGA working hard to ensure smooth transportation for U.S. Open at Chambers Bay in June". The Seattle Times. Retrieved June 4, 2024.
  5. ^ Ross, Helen (June 17, 2015). "Chambers Bay a 'dream' U.S. Open venue for Davis". PGA Tour.
  6. ^ "Chambers Bay Yardage Guide with US Open Tees Sold at Club".
  7. ^ "Course Map". USGA: 2015 U.S. Open. Archived from the original on June 21, 2015. Retrieved June 16, 2015.
  8. ^ a b c "Course Statistics – Round 1". USGA: 2015 U.S. Open. Archived from the original on June 18, 2015. Retrieved June 18, 2015.
  9. ^ a b c "Course Statistics – Round 2". USGA: 2015 U.S. Open. Archived from the original on June 19, 2015. Retrieved June 18, 2015.
  10. ^ a b c "Course Statistics – Round 3". USGA: 2015 U.S. Open. Archived from the original on June 19, 2015. Retrieved June 18, 2015.
  11. ^ a b c "Course Statistics – Round 4". USGA: 2015 U.S. Open. Archived from the original on July 16, 2014. Retrieved June 23, 2015.
  12. ^ DiMeglio, Steve (June 20, 2015). "Players: U.S. Open deserves better than setup at Chambers Bay". USA Today.
  13. ^ Cannizzaro, Mark (June 23, 2015). "US Open will return to Chambers Bay, whether players like it or not". New York Post.
  14. ^ Campbell, Paul (June 22, 2015). "Was the 'unplayable' Chambers Bay golf course fit to host the US Open?". The Guardian.
  15. ^ "Campbell announces retirement from golf". PGA European Tour. May 5, 2015. Retrieved May 16, 2015.
  16. ^ "Corey Conners turns pro, signs with Ping". Golfweek. April 16, 2015. Retrieved April 17, 2015.
  17. ^ "2015 U.S. Open Sectional Qualifying". USGA: 2015 U.S. Open. Archived from the original on May 30, 2016. Retrieved May 25, 2015.
  18. ^ "Oliver Farr profile". USGA: 2015 U.S. Open. Archived from the original on June 10, 2015. Retrieved June 10, 2015.
  19. ^ "Shunsuke Sonoda profile". USGA: 2015 U.S. Open. Archived from the original on June 10, 2015. Retrieved June 10, 2015.
  20. ^ "Players". USGA: 2015 U.S. Open. Archived from the original on June 21, 2015. Retrieved June 15, 2015.
  21. ^ a b "Henrik Stenson, Dustin Johnson each shoot 65 in Round 1". ESPN. June 18, 2015. Retrieved June 18, 2015.
  22. ^ Corrigan, James (June 18, 2015). "US Open 2015: Tiger Woods implodes at Chambers Bay". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved June 19, 2015.
  23. ^ Murray, Scott (June 18, 2015). "US Open 2015: first round – as it happened". The Guardian. Retrieved June 19, 2015.
  24. ^ a b c d "Full Leader Board". USGA: 2015 U.S. Open. Archived from the original on June 22, 2015. Retrieved June 23, 2015.
  25. ^ "Jordan Spieth, Patrick Reed (5 under) tied atop U.S. Open leaderboard". ESPN. Associated Press. June 19, 2015. Retrieved June 19, 2015.
  26. ^ Harig, Bob. "Jason Day diagnosed with vertigo, aims to play weekend at U.S. Open". ESPN. Retrieved June 19, 2015.
  27. ^ Murray, Scott (June 20, 2015). "US Open 2015: second round – as it happened". The Guardian. Retrieved June 22, 2015.
  28. ^ Murray, Scott (June 21, 2015). "US Open 2015: third round – as it happened". The Guardian. Retrieved June 22, 2015.
  29. ^ Crouse, Karen (June 22, 2015). "U.S. Open 2015: Jordan Spieth, Not Yet 22, Is 2 for 2 in This Year's Majors". The New York Times. Retrieved June 22, 2015.
  30. ^ Murray, Scott (June 22, 2015). "US Open 2015: Jordan Spieth wins in thrilling finish – as it happened". The Guardian. Retrieved June 22, 2015.
  31. ^ "Jordan Spieth wins stunner at Chambers Bay for U.S. Open title". ESPN. Associated Press. June 21, 2015. Retrieved June 21, 2015.
  32. ^ Busbee, Jay (June 20, 2015). "Jordan Spieth wins U.S. Open as Dustin Johnson chokes on final green". Yahoo Sports. Retrieved June 21, 2015.
  33. ^ "Jordan Spieth wins historic title for second major". BBC Sport. June 22, 2015. Retrieved June 22, 2015.
  34. ^ Auclair, T.J. (June 20, 2015). "Spieth wins 2015 U.S. Open at Chambers Bay". PGA of America. Associated Press. Retrieved June 21, 2015.
  35. ^ Harig, Bob. "Louis Oosthuizen fights back to second-place U.S. Open finish". ESPN. Retrieved June 22, 2015.
  36. ^ "2015 U.S. Open Leaderboard". Yahoo! Sports. June 21, 2015. Retrieved June 24, 2015.
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47°12′N 122°34′W / 47.20°N 122.57°W / 47.20; -122.57