NEWS

Notes from the U.S. Senior Open
 
Jul. 4, 2007
Print this page

  • The 28th United States Senior Open Championship will be played on the Straits Course at Whistling Straits in Kohler, WI for the first time. Whistling Straits' first foray into championship golf came in 2004 when the Straits Course hosted the 2004 PGA Championship, won by Vijay Singh in a playoff over Justin Leonard and Chris DiMarco. The 1999 PGA Club Professional Championship was also held there. The course was designed by Pete Dye and opened in 1998. At 7,068 yards, Whistling Straits (Straits Course) will be the second-longest venue for a Senior Open, trailing only 7,117-yard Bellerive Country Club in St. Louis, site of the 2004 championship.

  • Whistling Straits is part of the American Club Resort that was founded by bathroom-fixture magnate Herb Kohler. Blackwolf Run, which features two courses (Meadow Valleys and River), was the site of the 1998 U.S. Women's Open.

  • This year's U.S. Senior Open will be the ninth USGA event to be held in Wisconsin. The first was the 1951 U.S. Amateur Public Links at Brown Deer Park in Milwaukee, the site of the U.S. Bank Championship on the PGA TOUR.

  • Allen Doyle's second consecutive victory last year at Prairie Dunes made him the first player to repeat as U.S. Senior Open champion since Gary Player in 1987-88. Miller Barber also won back-to-back Senior Open titles in 1984-85. In addition to trying to become the first player to three-peat at the U.S. Senior Open, Doyle and Hale Irwin (1998, 2000) are bidding to join Miller Barber as the only other three-time winner of the prestigious event. Jack Nicklaus (1991, 1993) is the only other multiple winner.

  • Last year at Prairie Dunes, Doyle became the oldest winner of the U.S. Senior Open at 57 years, 11 months and 17 days. Roberto DeVicenzo previously held that distinction when he won the 1980 U.S. Senior Open at Winged Foot when he was 57 years, 2 months and 15 days.

  • Seven players have won this tournament in their first appearance. They include Roberto De Vicenzo (1980), Arnold Palmer (1981), Dale Douglass (1986), Lee Trevino (1990), Larry Laoretti (1992), Don Pooley (2002) and Peter Jacobsen (2004).

  • Hale Irwin owns seven major championship titles (two U.S. Senior Opens/1998, 2000; four Senior PGA Championships/1996, '97, '98, 2004; one Ford Senior Players Championship) and a win at this year's U.S. Senior Open would enable him to match Jack Nicklaus with eight major titles on the Champions Tour.

  • Hale Irwin comes into this year's U.S. Senior Open having made the cut in 24 consecutive major championships on the Champions Tour, including 11 consecutive U.S. Senior Opens, one shy of the all-time record of 12 straight in this event (Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus, Chi Chi Rodriguez). In fact, Irwin has never missed a cut in a senior major since joining the circuit in 1995.

  • The U.S. Senior Open will be the second of five major championships on the Champions Tour in 2007. Following the U.S. Senior Open, the Senior British Open Championship will be contested at Muirfield (July 23-29) in Scotland. The JELD-WEN Tradition will then be held at The Crosswater Club at Sunriver in Bend, OR (Aug. 13-19) followed by the Constellation Energy Senior Players Championship at Baltimore Country Club in Maryland (Oct. 1-7).

  • Top-10 finishers at this year's U.S. Senior Open will earn double points in the season-long Charles Schwab Cup race. Schwab Cup points are awarded throughout the year based on top-10 finishes and dollar amounts won in events on a per-thousand basis (i.e. $100,000 equals 100 Charles Schwab Cup points). In addition to double points in all five major championships on the Champions Tour this year, the season-ending Charles Schwab Cup Championship offers double points to those players earning a top-10 finish at Sonoma Golf Club. At the end of the official season, the player earning the most points will receive a $1 million annuity from Charles Schwab. Annuities will also be offered to players finishing second thru fifth.

  • With Denis Watson's victory at the Senior PGA Championship at Kiawah Island, SC earlier this year, seven of the last 15 senior majors have been claimed by first-time winners. Starting with Mark James' victory at the 2004 Ford Senior Players Championship, the other five are: Pete Oakley (2004 Senior British Open), Peter Jacobsen (2004 U.S. Senior Open), Mike Reid (2005 Senior PGA Championship, Loren Roberts (2005 JELD-WEN Tradition) and Eduardo Romero (2006 JELD-WEN Tradition).

  • Eduardo Romero comes into this year's U.S. Senior Open having finished first or second in each of the last three major championships. Romero lost a playoff to Loren Roberts at last year's Senior British Open and then in the fall of 2006, defeated Lonnie Nielsen in overtime for the JELD-WEN Tradition title. He finished second at this year's Senior PGA Championship, two strokes back of Denis Watson.

  • Loren Roberts' 8-under-par 62 on Saturday at last year's U.S. Senior Open is the lowest round

  • In the history of any USGA men's championship. Roberts' score broke the record of 63 previously held by both Don Pooley and Allen Doyle. Pooley carded an 8-under 63 in the third round of the 2002 U.S. Senior Open at Caves Valley and then Doyle matched that score in the final round of the 2005 U.S. Senior Open in Dayton.

  • Loren Roberts and Jay Haas both finished among the top-40 in the 2004 PGA Championship at Whistling Straits. Both Roberts and Haas were just five strokes off the lead after 36 holes. Roberts eventually was T17 while Haas ended up in a T37.

  • Allen Doyle holds the distinction of shooting the lowest-final-round score in both the U.S. Senior Open as well as the Senior PGA Championship. Doyle's 8-under 63 at NCR Country Club in the summer of 2005 is the lowest final-round score in U.S. Senior Open history and his 8-under-par 64 at PGA National in 1999 remains the lowest Sunday score in Senior PGA Championship history. Both rounds helped vault Doyle to the titles. Of his 11 wins on the Champions Tour, four have come in major championships. He also won the 2001 Ford Senior Players Championship near Detroit.

  • Hale Irwin set a U.S. Senior Open scoring record with his 17-under-par 267 total at Saucon Valley Country Club in 2000. Irwin's 17-under score also surpassed Juli Inkster's 16-under total at the 1999 U.S. Women's Open as the lowest USGA Open score ever. Arnold Palmer's 9-over 289 total at Oakland Hills Country Club in 1981 is the highest winning score in U.S. Senior Open history.

  • There have been five playoffs in U.S. Senior Open history. Don Pooley and Tom Watson staged the first aggregate-hole playoff in 2002 after the format was installed in 1999. Pooley eventually won with a birdie on the fifth extra hole after the duo was still deadlocked after three holes. The last 18-hole playoff in Senior Open history came in 1991 when Jack Nicklaus defeated Chi Chi Rodriguez by four strokes. The others came in 1988 (Gary Player def. Bob Charles), 1983 (Billy Casper def. Rod Funseth) and 1981 (Arnold Palmer def. Bob Stone and Billy Casper).

  • With his closing-round 2-under-par 68 last year, Allen Doyle became just the third U.S. Senior Open champion to post four straight rounds in the 60s (69-68-67-68). Gary Player was the first to do it in 1987 at Brooklawn Country Club, followed by Tom Weiskopf in 1995 at Congressional Country Club.

  • International players have captured the U.S. Senior Open a total of five times. South African Gary Player was a two-time winner (1987-88), while Argentina's Roberto De Vicenzo (1980), South Africa's Simon Hobday (1994) and Australia's Graham Marsh (1997) each won it once.

  • Since 1990 player(s) leading or co-leading the U.S. Senior Open after the third round, have gone on to win the championship eight times. Allen Doyle's comeback from nine strokes in 2005 is the best come-from-behind win in championship history. It is also the second- greatest comeback in any major championship. Paul Lawrie came from 10 strokes back to claim the 1999 British Open.

  • Hale Irwin, Allen Doyle and Tom Watson are the only players in U.S. Senior Open history to have earned more than $1 million in the event. Irwin, a two-time winner with seven top-10 finishes, has earned $1,374,975. Allen Doyle, another two-time winner with six top-10s, is second with $1,323,767. 853,767. Tom Watson, a runner-up in the U.S. Senior Open in 2002, '03 and '06, is third in Senior Open earnings with $1,026,999.

  • Gary Player's six-stroke victory over Doug Sanders at Brooklawn Country Club (Fairfield, CT) in 1987 remains the largest winning margin in U.S. Senior Open history.

  • Gary Player (1987), Jack Nicklaus (1991) and Bruce Fleisher (2001) hold the distinction of rebounding from a runner-up finish the previous year to win a U.S. Senior Open title the next year.

  • This year's field is expected to include several former U.S. Open winners. That group includes Hale Irwin (1974, 1979, 1990), Curtis Strange (1988-89), Gary Player (1965), Larry Nelson (1983), Fuzzy Zoeller (1984), Tom Watson (1982), Tom Kite (1992), Scott Simpson (1987), Hubert Green (1977), Ray Floyd (1986) and Jerry Pate (1976).

  • The 2008 U.S. Senior Open is scheduled for the Broadmoor Golf Club's East Course in Colorado Springs, CO, from July 31-August 3. In 2009, the event will be held at Crooked Stick Golf Club in Carmel, IN.