2011 U.S. Open (golf)

Blue Course [1]

Thursday, June 16, 2011

Overnight rain softened the fairways and greens and allowed for lower-than-average scoring for the first round of a U.S. Open. The man to take greatest advantage was Rory McIlroy, maintaining his good play in recent majors: he led after the first round of the 2010 Open Championship and after all of the first three rounds of the 2011 Masters Tournament, as well as finishing T-3rd in the 2010 PGA Championship. He carded a bogey-free 65 to sit at six-under-par, three ahead of two major winners: Y. E. Yang, the 2009 PGA champion, and Charl Schwartzel, who had beat McIlroy at the 2011 Masters and so was looking for his second straight major. The large group on two-under-par included a resurgent Sergio García, reigning Open champion Louis Oosthuizen, and several unexpected names, including journeymen Scott Hend and Alexandre Rocha. 22-year-old New Yorker Chris DeForest, playing in his first professional tournament, looked set to join them until double-bogeying his final hole for a 71. Defending champion Graeme McDowell was well-placed after an opening 70; he was alongside Robert Rock, who had only arrived on-site at 3am that morning after visa problems. However, the marquee group of Luke Donald, Lee Westwood and Martin Kaymer, numbers one, two and three in the world, all struggled, carding 74, 75 and 74 respectively. The leading amateurs were Peter Uihlein and Brad Benjamin, who were both at one-over-par.[16][17]

Place	Player	Score	To par
1	Rory McIlroy	65	−6
T2	Charl Schwartzel	68	−3
	Y. E. Yang
T4	Sergio García	69	−2
	Scott Hend
	Kim Kyung-tae
	Louis Oosthuizen
	Ryan Palmer
	Alexandre Rocha
T10	Stewart Cink	70	−1
	Bubba Dickerson
	Johan Edfors
	Robert Garrigus
	Davis Love III
	Graeme McDowell
	Álvaro Quirós
	Chez Reavie
	Robert Rock
	John Senden
	Brandt Snedeker
	Henrik Stenson

Friday, June 17, 2011
Saturday, June 18, 2011

Rory McIlroy was the headline story once again on Friday, as he continued his good form, breaking several U.S. Open scoring records in the process. Out early in the morning session, he added an eagle two on the 8th hole to a succession of pars and birdies, and a two-putt birdie at the 16th took him to 12-under-par. This tied the record score under par for any player, at any point of the tournament in the history of the U.S. Open; Gil Morgan and Tiger Woods had previously achieved the feat, but having played only 34 holes at the time, McIlroy was the quickest to reach it. One hole later, another birdie made the Northern Irishman the first player in U.S. Open history to reach 13-under-par. An immediate double-bogey at the 18th – McIlroy's first dropped shots of the tournament – took him back to 11-under, and a second round of 66, but the record-breaking continued: his eventual six-shot lead was the joint largest after 36 holes in major championship history. McIlroy also set the record for fewest holes to reach 10-under-par, 26 holes, (13 fewer than the prior record) and lowest 36-hole total in U.S. Open history.[18]

The man McIlroy led was South Korea's Y. E. Yang, who added a 69 to his opening 68 to sit on his own at five-under-par; he himself was three clear of the chasing pack. Sergio García's solid form continued, and he was in the group at two-under-par, as was the consistent Matt Kuchar after a 68. Further down the field, Germany's Marcel Siem tied for the low round of the day, matching McIlroy's 66 to surge up the field after a disappointing opening 79. Amateur Patrick Cantlay also hit a hot streak, shooting a back nine of 30 to complete a round of 67 and move to even par, tying for low amateur with Russell Henley. The premier group of Luke Donald, Lee Westwood and Martin Kaymer enjoyed a slightly better day, as all three battled hard to stay inside the cutline, with Westwood leading the three at one-over-par. Like all the afternoon starters, they were disrupted by a 42-minute delay in play as a thunderstorm passed over Congressional Country Club; this meant seven groups would need to return on Saturday morning to complete their rounds. After completion of the second round on Saturday morning, the cut fell at four-over-par, with 72 players getting through to the final two rounds.[19][20]

Place	Player	Score	To par
1	Rory McIlroy	65-66=131	−11
2	Y. E. Yang	68-69=137	−5
T3	Sergio García	69-71=140	−2
	Robert Garrigus	70-70=140
	Zach Johnson	71-69=140
	Matt Kuchar	72-68=140
	Brandt Snedeker	70-70=140
T8	Brandt Jobe	71-70=141	−1
	Kim Kyung-tae	69-72=141
	Davis Love III	70-71=141
	Ryan Palmer	69-72=141
	Álvaro Quirós	70-71=141
	Robert Rock	70-71=141
	Heath Slocum	71-70=141

• Amateurs: Cantlay (E), Henley (E), Benjamin (+3), Williams (+7), Uihlein (+8), Pan (+10), Hossler (+11), Pinckney (+12), Irwin (+13), Patterson (+13), Chung (+15), Barbosa (+24)

Saturday, June 18, 2011

Conditions continued to allow good scoring on Saturday, with several players taking advantage. Rory McIlroy was in no mood to relinquish his lead, however. A steady front nine saw him make his way back to 13-under-par, after Friday's closing double-bogey, when he birdied the par-five 9th. Once again 13 proved to be McIlroy's unlucky number as he bogeyed the 10th hole, but he swiftly regained his composure to become the first man ever to reach 14-under-par at a U.S. Open, before parring his way home. Alongside him, former PGA champion Y. E. Yang scrambled well through a difficult front nine, and picked up two shots on his inward nine for a good 70, putting him in the final pairing once again on Sunday.[21] Below him, Saturday began to live up to its "moving day" title. Jason Day, runner-up at the 2011 Masters Tournament, and world number two Lee Westwood surged through the field with best-of-the-day 65s to move into a tie for third and the penultimate pairing for Sunday; Westwood's third round playing partner Freddie Jacobson fared only one shot worse with a 66.[22] This matched the low score amongst the early starters, made by major debutant Webb Simpson, whose 66 took him from the cutline to one-under-par, and the top 15.[23]

Place	Player	Score	To par
1	Rory McIlroy	65-66-68=199	−14
2	Y. E. Yang	68-69-70=207	−6
T3	Jason Day	71-72-65=208	−5
	Robert Garrigus	70-70-68=208
	Lee Westwood	75-68-65=208
T6	Sergio García	69-71-69=209	−4
	Freddie Jacobson	74-69-66=209
	Matt Kuchar	72-68-69=209
9	Kim Kyung-tae	69-72-69=210	−3
T10	Brandt Jobe	71-70-70=211	−2
	Davis Love III	70-71-70=211
	Heath Slocum	71-70-70=211
	Henrik Stenson	70-72-69=211
	Bo Van Pelt	76-67-68=211

• Amateurs: Cantlay (−1), Henley (E), Benjamin (+12)

Sunday, June 19, 2011

Rory McIlroy began the final day eight shots clear of Y. E. Yang. McIlroy birdied the first hole and also went on to birdie the fourth. He missed the water hazard by a foot on the sixth hole, but still managed to make a par. At this point, Yang was two-under-par for the day but not challenging McIlroy. At the par-3 10th, Yang played first and hit his tee shot to four feet; McIlroy followed with an approach which caught the top of the slope behind the flag, and trickled down past Yang's ball to finish just inches away from the cup. This birdie moved McIlroy to a record-breaking 17-under-par for the tournament. A bogey on the 12th knocked him down to 16-under. On the par-5 16th, he got to 17-under again with a birdie but lost a shot with a bogey on the 17th green, his only three-putt of the tournament, finishing on 16-under. Two bogeys on the back nine saw Yang fall back into a tie for third place, with young Australian Jason Day moving into second place on his own; it was his second consecutive runner-up finish in the majors, in only his fourth major start; but he was a distant eight strokes behind McIlroy.[24]

Rory McIlroy and Robert Garrigus accomplished the rare feat of shooting all four rounds of golf under par in a U.S. Open. This had occurred only four times previously in the history of the event.[25] Yang would have joined this group were it not for a bogey on the 72nd hole. McIlroy also had the additional distinction of setting the U.S. Open 72-hole low marks for total shots and shots under par, at 268 and −16, respectively. McIlroy also became only the third golfer ever to shoot all four rounds under 70 at a U.S. Open, after Lee Trevino in 1968 and Lee Janzen in 1993.[26][27][28]

Place	Player	Score	To par	Money ($)
1	Rory McIlroy	65-66-68-69=268	−16	1,440,000
2	Jason Day	71-72-65-68=276	−8	865,000
T3	Kevin Chappell	76-67-69-66=278	−6	364,241
	Robert Garrigus	70-70-68-70=278
	Lee Westwood	75-68-65-70=278
	Y. E. Yang	68-69-70-71=278
T7	Sergio García	69-71-69-70=279	−5	228,416
	Peter Hanson	72-71-69-67=279
T9	Louis Oosthuizen	69-73-71-67=280	−4	192,962
	Charl Schwartzel	68-74-72-66=280

• Amateurs: Cantlay (E), Henley (+4), Benjamin (+21)

Source:[2]

Final round

Hole	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18
Par	4	3	4	4	4	5	3	4	5	3	4	4	3	4	4	5	4	4
McIlroy	−15	−15	−15	−16	−16	−16	−16	−16	−16	−17	−17	−16	−16	−16	−16	−17	−16	−16
Day	−5	−5	−5	−5	−5	−6	−6	−6	−6	−7	−7	−7	−7	−7	−7	−8	−8	−8
Chappell	−1	−1	E	E	E	−1	−1	−2	−3	−4	−3	−4	−5	−5	−5	−6	−6	−6
Garrigus	−4	−4	−4	−4	−3	−2	−2	−2	−2	−3	−3	−3	−4	−3	−4	−5	−6	−6
Westwood	−6	−6	−6	−6	−6	−5	−5	−5	−6	−6	−5	−5	−5	−5	−5	−6	−6	−6
Yang	−6	−6	−6	−6	−6	−7	−7	−7	−8	−9	−8	−8	−8	−8	−7	−7	−7	−6

Cumulative tournament scores, relative to par

Birdie

Bogey

Source:[29]