2001 U.S. Open (golf)

2001 U.S. Open

Tournament information
Dates	June 14–18, 2001
Location	Tulsa, Oklahoma
Course(s)	Southern Hills Country Club
Organized by	USGA
Tour(s)	PGA Tour European Tour Japan Golf Tour
Statistics
Par	70
Length	6,973 yards (6,376 m)
Field	156 players, 79 after cut
Cut	146 (+6)
Prize fund	$5,000,000 €5,878,883
Winner's share	$900,000 €1,058,199
Champion
Retief Goosen
276 (−4), playoff

Tulsa 

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Location in the United States

Tulsa 

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Location in Oklahoma

The 2001 United States Open Championship was the 101st U.S. Open, held June 14–18 at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The U.S. Open returned to Southern Hills for the first time since 1977. Retief Goosen won the first of his two U.S. Open titles in an 18-hole Monday playoff, two strokes ahead of runner-up Mark Brooks. The tournament was also notable for ending defending champion Tiger Woods' run of four consecutive major championship wins, the "Tiger Slam;" he finished seven strokes back in a tie for twelfth. Woods reclaimed the U.S. Open title the following year, and won the PGA Championship at Southern Hills in 2007.

The total purse was $5 million with a winner's share of $900,000.

At the end of the final round on Sunday, Brooks three-putted his way out of the lead on the 72nd hole. In the final pairing, co-leaders Goosen and Stewart Cink both had approach shots from the 18th fairway. Cink missed the green long and then three-putted from fifteen feet (4.5 m) to double bogey. Goosen had ten feet (3 m) for birdie, but also three-putted to tie Brooks, forcing the next-day playoff.

Previous majors at Southern Hills

This U.S. Open was the third at Southern Hills and its sixth major championship. Former Open champions were Tommy Bolt in 1958, and Hubert Green in 1977. Southern Hills had a history of hot championships with temperatures soaring above 90 °F (32 °C). In 1977, Green led by one shot with four holes to go when he was informed of a death threat against him, received by the FBI. He decided to continue on and won the title by one stroke, the first of his two major championships.

The course also previously hosted the PGA Championship in 1970, 1982, and 1994, all played in August, and later hosted the 2007 event.

Course layout

Southern Hills Country Club

Hole	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Out	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	In	Total
Yards	454	467	408	368	642	175	382	225	374	3,495	374	165	456	534	215	412	491	365	466	3,478	6,973
Par	4	4	4	4	5	3	4	3	4	35	4	3	4	5	3	4	4	4	4	35	70

Lengths of the course in previous major championships:

• 6,834 yards (6,249 m), par 70 - 1994 PGA Championship
• 6,862 yards (6,275 m), par 70 - 1982 PGA Championship
• 6,873 yards (6,285 m), par 70 - 1977 U.S. Open
• 6,962 yards (6,366 m), par 70 - 1970 PGA Championship
• 6,907 yards (6,316 m), par 70 - 1958 U.S. Open

Past champions in the field

Made the cut

Player	Country	Year(s) won	R1	R2	R3	R4	Total	To par	Finish
Tom Kite	United States	1992	73	72	72	64	281	+1	T5
Tiger Woods	United States	2000	74	71	69	69	283	+3	T12
Corey Pavin	United States	1995	70	75	68	72	285	+5	T19
Steve Jones	United States	1996	73	73	72	70	288	+8	T30
Hale Irwin	United States	1974, 1979, 1990	67	75	74	76	292	+12	T52
Ernie Els	South Africa	1994, 1997	71	74	77	72	294	+14	T66

Missed the cut

Player	Country	Years won	R1	R2	Total	To par
Lee Janzen	United States	1993, 1998	77	70	147	+7

Round summaries

First round

Thursday, June 14, 2001
Friday, June 15, 2001

Severe thunderstorms halted play Thursday afternoon with only 66 players completing their rounds. South Africa's Goosen completed an opening round of 66, four-under-par, to lead the way. Goosen resumed his unfinished round on three-under-par and raced to six-under, but bogeys at the 16th and 17th took the edge off his round. However, it was enough to earn him a one-stroke lead over three-time champion Hale Irwin and Canadian Mike Weir with tour journeyman J. L. Lewis one stroke further back. Irwin, age 56, won his last U.S. Open title in 1990; he capped his opening 67 (−3) with a birdie at the treacherous par-four 18th. Woods could only manage a first round of 74 (+4), eight shots off the lead. He bogeyed the ninth, before recording his first birdie of the round at the 15th. But even that could not spark a revival in his fortunes as he bogeyed the last.

Place	Player	Country	Score	To par
1	Retief Goosen	South Africa	66	−4
T2	Hale Irwin	United States	67	−3
	Mike Weir	Canada
4	J. L. Lewis	United States	68	−2
T5	Stewart Cink	United States	69	−1
	Chris DiMarco	United States
	Toshimitsu Izawa	Japan
	Jeff Maggert	United States
	Loren Roberts	United States
T10	Ángel Cabrera	Argentina	70	E
	Mark Calcavecchia	United States
	José Cóceres	Argentina
	David Duval	United States
	Bob Estes	United States
	Jim Furyk	United States
	Sergio García	Spain
	Matt Gogel	United States
	Phil Mickelson	United States
	Corey Pavin	United States
	Hal Sutton	United States

Second round

Friday, June 15, 2001
Saturday, June 16, 2001

The delay created by Thursday's thunderstorms meant 33 players could not finish the second round on Friday, and had to play Saturday morning. The cut line was 146 (+6) with 79 players making the cut. Brooks fired a 64 (−6) Friday to grab a share of the lead. Goosen, who led after the first round was completed Friday morning, and Lewis joined Brooks at 136 (−4). Sergio García and Stewart Cink were tied for fourth at two-under par. Phil Mickelson and David Duval, players who briefly flirted with the lead during Woods' run at the Masters in April, were knotted at 139 (−1) after each posted 69 on Friday. Woods shot a 71 for 145 (+5), one stroke ahead of the cut.

Place	Player	Country	Score	To par
T1	Mark Brooks	United States	72-64=136	−4
	Retief Goosen	South Africa	66-70=136
	J. L. Lewis	United States	68-68=136
T4	Stewart Cink	United States	69-69=138	−2
	Sergio García	Spain	70-68=138
T6	David Duval	United States	70-69=139	−1
	Rocco Mediate	United States	71-68=139
	Phil Mickelson	United States	70-69=139
	Matt Gogel	United States	70-69=139
10	Jim Furyk	United States	70-70=140	E

Amateurs: Molder (+6), Harris (+13), Quinney (+15).

Third round

Saturday, June 16, 2001

Cink finished with a three-under 67 and a share of the third-round lead with Goosen. One of three leaders at the start of the day, Goosen parred each of the last nine holes despite a number of wayward shots down the stretch. The 32-year-old South African managed a 69 to push the leading total to 205 (−5). Brooks, a co-leader of Goosen's after a tournament-low 64 on Friday, shot even-par 70 to join Rocco Mediate and García in third place at 206 (−4). Mickelson, who ended the day three under, was the first big name to make a charge in the third round. Woods shot a 69 for 214 (+4), nine strokes back in tie for 23rd.

Place	Player	Country	Score	To par
T1	Stewart Cink	United States	69-69-67=205	−5
	Retief Goosen	South Africa	66-70-69=205
T3	Mark Brooks	United States	72-64-70=206	−4
	Sergio García	Spain	70-68-68=206
	Rocco Mediate	United States	71-68-67=206
6	Phil Mickelson	United States	70-69-68=207	−3
T7	Paul Azinger	United States	74-67-69=210	E
	David Duval	United States	70-69-71=210
T9	Jim Furyk	United States	70-70-71=211	+1
	Mike Weir	Canada	67-76-68=211

Final round

Sunday, June 17, 2001

Goosen missed a two-foot (0.6 m) par putt at the 72nd hole to fall back into a tie with Brooks, forcing an 18-hole playoff on Monday. Brooks was in the clubhouse when Goosen charged his ten-foot (3 m) birdie putt past the cup. Goosen, after watching his playing partner and co-leader Cink miss a 20-inch (50 cm) putt for bogey, pushed his short par putt by the right edge of the cup. He then sank a short bogey putt to finish regulation alongside Brooks at four-under-par 276. When Goosen and Cink dialed it up to go to five-under, Brooks responded by two-putting for birdie at the par-five 13th. The lead was his after Cink drove into a creek for bogey at 13 and Goosen suffered his first three-putt of the championship at the 14th. Goosen, who stoically battled to hold on to a piece of the top spot all week, knocked his approach at the 15th to the back fringe and rolled in a 12-footer to return to minus-five with Brooks. Brooks' 200-yard (180 m) approach to 18 landed forty feet (12 m) left of the right-side pin placement. His first putt was too hard and sped eight feet (2.4 m) past the hole, and his par try stopped on the right edge. The bogey gave Brooks an even-par 70 and dropped him to four-under. Back at 17, Cink replaced Brooks as co-leader after a brilliant wedge approach over the flag landed past the pin before spinning back to two feet for birdie.

Two players who had been expected to make a charge in the final round - Mickelson and García - blew their chances with poor displays. The most eye-catching performances of the day came from Vijay Singh and Tom Kite, who both stormed to 64 (−6) - the best rounds of the week - and Olin Browne, who sank a hole-in-one at the 11th. Woods, winner of the previous four major championships, failed to make a charge on Sunday and saw his run come to an end. He turned in his second straight 69 to finish seven strokes back, tied for 12th at 283 (+3), snapping streaks of eight straight top-10s in majors and 40 consecutive events under par.

Place	Player	Country	Score	To par	Money ($)
T1	Retief Goosen	South Africa	66-70-69-71=276	−4	Playoff
	Mark Brooks	United States	72-64-70-70=276
3	Stewart Cink	United States	69-69-67-72=277	−3	340,365
4	Rocco Mediate	United States	71-68-67-72=278	−2	226,777
T5	Paul Azinger	United States	74-67-69-71=281	+1	172,912
	Tom Kite	United States	73-72-72-64=281
T7	Ángel Cabrera	Argentina	70-71-72-69=282	+2	125,172
	Davis Love III	United States	72-69-71-70=282
	Phil Mickelson	United States	70-69-68-75=282
	Vijay Singh	Fiji	74-70-74-64=282
	Kirk Triplett	United States	72-69-71-70=282

Amateurs: Molder (+8).

Scorecard

Final round

Hole	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18
Par	4	4	4	4	5	3	4	3	4	4	3	4	5	3	4	4	4	4
Goosen	−5	−5	−5	−5	−5	−6	−6	−5	−4	−5	−5	−5	−5	−4	−5	−5	−5	−4
Brooks	−4	−4	−4	−4	−3	−3	−3	−3	−3	−3	−4	−4	−5	−5	−5	−5	−5	−4
Cink	−5	−5	−5	−5	−4	−4	−4	−4	−4	−4	−5	−5	−4	−4	−4	−4	−5	−3
Mediate	−5	−5	−4	−5	−5	−4	−4	−3	−4	−3	−2	−2	−2	−1	−1	−1	−1	−2
Azinger	−1	−1	−1	−1	−1	−1	−1	E	E	E	E	+1	E	+1	+1	+1	+1	+1
Kite	+6	+6	+6	+6	+6	+7	+6	+5	+5	+4	+3	+3	+2	+2	+2	+2	+1	+1
Mickelson	−3	−3	−3	−2	−3	−3	−3	−3	−2	−1	−1	−1	E	E	+1	+1	+2	+2
Woods	+4	+5	+5	+4	+3	+3	+2	+2	+3	+3	+2	+2	+2	+2	+2	+2	+3	+3
García	−4	−3	−3	−3	−2	−2	−2	−2	E	E	E	+1	E	E	+1	+2	+3	+3
Duval	+1	+1	+1	+1	+1	+1	+1	+1	+1	+1	+2	+2	+1	+3	+3	+3	+3	+4

Cumulative tournament scores, relative to par

Birdie

Bogey

Double bogey

Source:

Playoff

Monday, June 18, 2001

In the 18-hole playoff, Brooks birdied the third hole and Goosen the sixth to pull even at one-under par. Brooks bogeyed the seventh and again at the ninth, while Goosen birdied it to go three strokes up at the turn. Brooks bogeyed #10 while Goosen birdied to take a five-shot lead with eight holes to be played. They halved the next six holes, all pars except bogeys at #12, and Goosen maintained his five-stroke lead with just two holes remaining.

A two-shot swing in Brooks' favor at the 17th cut the lead to three, but Brooks, who struggled off the tee all day, sent his final drive into the right-hand rough. He chose a fairway wood for his approach and did well to run his ball into the bunker short and left of the final green. Goosen found the 18th fairway with his drive, then hit a five-iron that landed short of the green and rolled 20 yards (18 m) back down the slope. Taking no chances with his tight uphill lie, Goosen used a putter to knock his ball onto the putting surface, leaving 25 feet (7.6 m) for his par. Brooks blasted out of the trap to three feet and converted for par for a two-over 72. Goosen cautiously left his par putt five-foot (1.5 m) short, then rolled in the clinching putt for an even-par 70 and became just the sixth foreign-born winner of the U.S. Open in the last 70 years. The seemingly stoic 32-year-old became the third South African to win the title, joining Gary Player and Ernie Els as champions of the USGA's premier event.

Place	Player	Country	Score	To par	Money ($)
1	Retief Goosen	South Africa	70	E	900,000
2	Mark Brooks	United States	72	+2	530,000

Scorecard

Hole	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18
Par	4	4	4	4	5	3	4	3	4	4	3	4	5	3	4	4	4	4
Goosen	E	E	E	E	E	−1	−1	−1	−2	−3	−3	−2	−2	−2	−2	−2	−1	E
Brooks	E	E	−1	−1	−1	−1	E	E	+1	+2	+2	+3	+3	+3	+3	+3	+2	+2

Birdie

Bogey

Source:

Quotes

"It's amazing and I don't want to consider what it would have felt like if I had lost but I played solid and my putter was warm in places – except yesterday." – Retief Goosen

"It's been a long week, it feels like a year out here." – Retief Goosen

"When I got up this morning, I was more comfortable than I was Sunday morning. I knew I had a 50 percent chance of winning." – Retief Goosen

"I got punished severely in the rough today and that was kind of the difference," – Mark Brooks after his playoff loss.

"I started hitting the ball a lot better a few weeks ago, and just the putter wasn't working. And putting a new putter in the bag last week, it just helped." – Retief Goosen

"To be honest with you I played as hard as I could, I tried on every shot, and there's no regrets." – Tiger Woods after failing to win his fifth straight major championship

"I don't think people really understand how difficult it is on you to keep putting yourself there and the stress it puts on you coming down the back nine on Sunday with a chance to win. More times than not it wears you out." – Tiger Woods

"It's certainly not the finish I would have liked, but out of playing (36) majors now, and not winning any, I'm tired of beating myself up time after time," – Phil Mickelson.

"It was really tough to dig in and concentrate on that second putt because I really didn't think it was really all that important," – Stewart Cink after missing a two-foot putt which ultimately would have put him in the playoff with Goosen and Brooks (since Goosen missed his own two-foot putt seconds later).

External links

• USOpen.com – 2001
• About.com: 2001 U.S. Open
• Goosen Takes US Open Title – BBC Sports
• Goosen wins the US Open in playoff – Golf Today
• Coverage on European Tour's official site
• 2001 U.S. Open Results - Infoplease