2007 U.S. Open (golf)

2007 U.S. Open

Tournament information
Dates	June 14 - 17, 2007
Location	Oakmont, Pennsylvania
Course(s)	Oakmont Country Club
Tour(s)	PGA Tour PGA European Tour Japan Golf Tour
Statistics
Par	70
Length	7,230
Field	156 players, 63 after cut
Cut	150 (+10)
Prize fund	$7,000,000 (€5,241,402)
Winner's share	$1,260,000 (€943,183)
Champion
Ángel Cabrera
285 (+5)

The 2007 United States Open Championship was the 107th U.S. Open, played from June 14 to June 17 at Oakmont Country Club. The U.S. Open returned to Oakmont for the first time since 1994 when Ernie Els captured his first major championship. Ángel Cabrera won the championship after Jim Furyk and Tiger Woods were unable to birdie the 72nd hole to force a playoff. Cabrera's victory marked the first U.S. Open championship won by an Argentine or a South American. The event took place in Oakmont, Pennsylvania, located 12 miles northeast of downtown Pittsburgh. The purse was $7.0 million (€5,241,402) and Cabrera earned $1.26 million (€943,182.74).

History of the U.S. Open at Oakmont

The USGA Championship Committee chose Oakmont Country Club as the host on October 2, 2001. The USGA had also recently decided to award Oakmont its 13th USGA national championship, the U.S. Amateur, only four years before the 14th national championship to be held at Oakmont. Oakmont's prestige in the golf community was irrefutable as the list of champions includes Tommy Armour (1927), Sam Parks, Jr. (1935), Ben Hogan (1953), Jack Nicklaus (1962), Johnny Miller (1973), Larry Nelson (1983), and Ernie Els (1994). Oakmont had already provided the golf world with some of the most exciting championships of golf history including Johnny Miller's record for the lowest score shot in a USGA championship, a 63(-8), and the latest Open's dramatic Monday finish between Ernie Els, Loren Roberts, and Colin Montgomerie.

Preparation for the 2007 U.S. Open

The 107th U.S. Open has been in its preparation stage for many months as the club prepares to host its first USGA event since the U.S. Amateur in 2004. The USGA, American Golf's governing body, has found setting up and preparing for the Open easier than other locations. Rob Zalzneck, the director of the 2007 Open for the USGA commented on the readiness of the course saying, "We're so far ahead with our plans and what we need to get done, Oakmont is just such an ideal situation for us. The club welcomes us with open arms, and we've had such great championships here in the past. What everyone will see, though, is the unbelievable difference in the size of the event from 1994 (when Oakmont last hosted the Open) and this year." The usual Open conditions will still exist including the lightning fast greens and unusually high rough as many of these features are common year round at Oakmont Country Club. In fact, Oakmont's greens are so fast that the USGA directed the club to slow them down for the Open, although they were still much faster than what would be found at a normal tour event. Preparation began in 2002 and 2003 and since then has included minor renovation to the course, most notably the lengthening of the course for the world's best players, small renovations to the clubhouse, and also the deepening of Oakmont's storied bunkers. Other changes to the course since the last Open in 1994 include the addition of a bridge to connect holes 2-8 which posed as a major problem causing player and pedestrian jams over the Pennsylvania Turnpike. The USGA will recruit 5,000 volunteers in order to insure the event will go smoothly. The event is expected to, like the last Open at Oakmont, attract record breaking sell-out crowds. Crowd control was also a major problem for the USGA and its volunteers as huge crowds filled the course during the tournament creating traffic problems. The USGA began selling tickets to the general public on June 15, 2006. The USGA is expected to sell out all of their tickets for the competitive rounds by their deadline for purchase on August 15, 2006. After the sale of all tickets for the competitive rounds, all post-deadline purchases will be settled by a lottery.

Partnership with American Express

For the first time in its history, the United States Golf Association entered into a commercial partnership. It entered into an agreement with American Express for an undisclosed amount, which allowed American Express to set up a special "Trophy Room" area at the 2007 U.S. Open for American Express cardholders. Jud Linville, president of American Express U.S. Consumer Card Services, addressed concern about the arrangement commercializing the USGA Championship, saying, “We’re not going to be slapping logos all over the place, we’re trying to broaden the appeal of the game.” Long-time American Express sponsoree Tiger Woods told the media in response to the deal, “It’s a tremendous opportunity, this is two enormous brands coming together to help golf.”

Summary

First round

In the difficult course conditions, only Nick Dougherty and Ángel Cabrera broke par during the first round. Tiger Woods shot a 1-over 71, and Phil Mickelson, with the wrist injury, shot a 4-over 74.

#	Player	Country	Score	To par
1	Nick Dougherty	England	68	-2
2	Ángel Cabrera	Argentina	69	-1
T3	José María Olazábal	Spain	70	E
	Bubba Watson	United States
T5	Olin Browne	United States	71	+1
	Ben Curtis	United States
	Jason Dufner	United States
	Niclas Fasth	Sweden
	Fred Funk	United States
	Jim Furyk	United States
	Anders Hansen	Denmark
	Peter Hanson	Sweden
	Lucas Glover	United States
	J. J. Henry	United States
	Pablo Martín	Spain
	Geoff Ogilvy	Australia
	Justin Rose	England
	Vijay Singh	Fiji
	Brandt Snedeker	United States
	Tiger Woods	United States

Second round

Ángel Cabrera birdied the 18th hole after hitting an approach to within two feet to take a one-shot lead at the halfway point. The shot moved the cut line from +11 to +10, eliminating 19 players (including Phil Mickelson, who had had the longest current streak of making cuts at major championships at 30).

Paul Casey had the low round of the day, shooting a superb 66 on a day when the average score was 76.933, the highest since the final round at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club in 2004. Stephen Ames was the only other player under par for the day with a score of 69.

#	Player	Country	Score	To par
1	Ángel Cabrera	Argentina	69-71=140	E
2	Bubba Watson	United States	70-71=141	+1
T3	Stephen Ames	Canada	73-69=142	+2
	Aaron Baddeley	Australia	72-70=142
	Niclas Fasth	Sweden	71-71=142
	Justin Rose	England	71-71=142
7	Paul Casey	England	77-66=143	+3
T8	Tom Pernice Jr.	United States	72-72=144	+4
	Carl Pettersson	Sweden	72-72=144
	Brandt Snedeker	United States	71-73=144
	David Toms	United States	72-72=144
	Scott Verplank	United States	73-71=144

Amateurs: Harrell (+11), Ramsay (+12), Kokrak (+16), Davies (+17), Kelly (+18), Kuehne (+19), Golden (+20), Condello (+22), Pettitt Jr (+23), Prugh (+23), Ureta (+23).

Third round

Aaron Baddeley continued his strong play with a second straight even-par round of 70, including a birdie on the 18th hole, to take a two-shot lead heading into the final round. Tiger Woods hit the first 17 greens in regulation en route to a 1-under 69, barely needing to work to save par until his only bogey on the last hole, and finished in second place two shots behind Baddeley. It was one of just two under-par rounds on the day (Steve Stricker shot a 68), and placed Woods in the final pairing on Sunday. Woods has still not won a major championship by coming from behind, which he would have had to do to win his third U.S. Open. Four players finished one stroke behind Woods.

#	Player	Country	Score	To par
1	Aaron Baddeley	Australia	72-70-70=212	+2
2	Tiger Woods	United States	71-74-69=214	+4
T3	Stephen Ames	Canada	73-69-73=215	+5
	Paul Casey	England	77-66-72=215
	Justin Rose	England	71-71-73=215
	Bubba Watson	United States	70-71-74=215
T7	Ángel Cabrera	Argentina	69-71-76=216	+6
	Jim Furyk	United States	71-75-70=216
	Steve Stricker	United States	75-73-68=216
T10	Stuart Appleby	Australia	74-72-71=217	+7
	Niclas Fasth	Sweden	71-71-75=217
	David Toms	United States	72-72-73=217

Final round

Ángel Cabrera shot a 1-under 69 to become the first Argentinian to win the U.S. Open. He entered the final round four shots behind, after shooting a disappointing 76 on Saturday. This gave him a 2:20 pm tee time on Sunday, 40 minutes ahead of the final pairing, which included Tiger Woods. After a birdie on the 15th hole, Cabrera was 3-under for the round, with a three stroke lead over Woods and a surging Jim Furyk. After bogeys on the 16th and 17th holes that reduced his lead to one, Cabrera parred the difficult 18th hole and then had to wait in the clubhouse for Furyk and Woods to finish. Both needed to birdie the 72nd hole to force a Monday playoff but neither did, giving Cabrera the victory by a single stroke. Cabrera and Anthony Kim (67) were the only players to post sub-par scores during the final round. Aaron Baddeley started the round as the leader but opened with a triple bogey seven and shot 80. The field broke par for only eight rounds during the tournament, just two players per day on the difficult Oakmont layout, and Cabrera was the only player to break par twice.

#	Player	Country	Score	To par	Winnings
1	Ángel Cabrera	Argentina	69-71-76-69=285	+5	$1,260,000
T2	Jim Furyk	United States	71-75-70-70=286	+6	$611,336
	Tiger Woods	United States	71-74-69-72=286
4	Niclas Fasth	Sweden	71-71-75-70=287	+7	$325,923
T5	David Toms	United States	72-72-73-72=289	+9	$248,948
	Bubba Watson	United States	70-71-74-74=289
T7	Nick Dougherty	England	68-77-74-71=290	+10	$194,245
	Jerry Kelly	United States	74-71-73-72=290
	Scott Verplank	United States	73-71-74-72=290
T10	Stephen Ames	Canada	73-69-73-76=291	+11	$154,093
	Paul Casey	England	77-66-72-76=291
	Justin Rose	England	71-71-73-76=291

Full final leaderboard
The top eight finishers at the U.S. Open are automatically invited to the 2008 Masters and the top fifteen are fully exempt from qualifying for the 2008 U.S. Open at Torrey Pines.

See also

• United States Golf Association
• Oakmont Country Club

External links

• 2007 U.S. Open official site

Preceded by 2007 Masters

Major Championships

Succeeded by 2007 Open Championship