Notebook, Round 4: U.S. Open

text size

Graeme McDowell (71-68-71-7--284) E

Graeme McDowell turned in a 3-over 74 on Sunday to win the 2010 U.S. Open Championship by one stroke over Gregory Havret (72) and two shots over Ernie Els (73). The 30-year-old native of Portrush, Northern Ireland becomes the first European to win the U.S. Open since Tony Jacklin in 1970.

McDowell's win is the third consecutive by a European on the PGA TOUR (Justin Rose, Memorial Tournament; Lee Westwood, St. Jude Classic). His victory is the 12th by an international player in 2010, and the seventh in the last eight starts. He joins fellow Northern Irishman Rory McIlroy (Quail Hollow Championship) in the winner's circle this season.

McDowell's final-round 74 was just one stroke from equaling the highest final-round score by a winner at the U.S. Open since World War II -- 75 by Cary Middlecoff (1949) and Hale Irwin (1979).

Here's a look at which countries outside of the United States have won the most U.S. Opens:

14 -- Scotland, most recently Tommy Armour (1927)
8 -- England, most recently Tony Jacklin (1970)
5 -- South Africa, most recently Retief Goosen (2004)
2 -- Australia, most recently Geoff Ogilvy (2006)
1 -- New Zealand, Michael Campbell (2005)
1 -- Argentina, Angel Cabrera (2007)
1 -- Northern Ireland, Graeme McDowell (2010)

McDowell made his 19th start in a major championship this week, with his best finishes at each major as follows: Masters (T17, 2009), U.S. Open (1st, 2010), British Open (T11, 2005) and PGA Championship (T10, 2009). His missed cut at the 2010 Masters snapped a streak of six straight made cuts in majors, including five top-20s.

This week represented McDowell's 64th start on the PGA TOUR, with his previous best finish a runner-up effort at the 2005 Arnold Palmer Invitational. In 2010, he has made seven starts, with his previous best showing a sixth-place effort at the World Golf Championships-CA Championship.

McDowell is a five-time winner on the European Tour, recently winning the 2010 Celtic Manor Wales Open. His other victories came at the 2002 Volvo Scandinavian Masters, 2004 61st Telecom Italia Open, 2008 Ballantine's Championship and the 2008 Barclays Scottish Open.

Gregory Havret (73-71-69-72--285) +1

Gregory Havret, a 33-year-old native of La Rochelle, France, finished runner-up in his first-ever start at the U.S. Open. He was seeking to become the first player to win the Championship in his inaugural start since Francis Ouimet in 1913.

Havret is perhaps best known for defeating Phil Mickelson in a playoff at the 2007 Barclays Scottish Open at Loch Lomond. His other European Tour wins came at the 2001 Atlanet Italian Open and the 2008 Johnnie Walker Championships at Gleneagles.

Havret was making his fourth-career start in a major championship (MC-2007 British Open, MC-2007 PGA Championship, T19-2008 British Open, 2nd-2010 U.S. Open).

Havret has made seven-career starts on the PGA TOUR, with his best finishes coming at the 2010 U.S. Open (2nd), 2008 World Golf Championships-CA Championship (T15) and the 2008 British Open (T19).

Ernie Els (73-68-72-73--286) +2

Ernie Els finished solo-third for his best finish in a major championship since finishing solo-third at the 2007 PGA Championship.

Ernie Els made his 71st start in a major championship, with his best finishes at each major as follows: Masters (2nd, 2000, 2004/6 top-10s), U.S. Open (1st, 1994, 1997/8 top-10s), British Open (1st, 2002/12 top-10s) and the PGA Championship (3rd-2007, T3-1995/5 top-10s).

Els has played in the U.S. Open18 times (15 made cuts), with victories in 1994 and 1997. He has eight top-10s (T7-1993, 1-1994, T5-1996, 1-1997, T2-2000, T5-2003, T9-2004, 3-2010).

Dustin Johnson (71-70-66-82--289) +5

Dustin Johnson entered the final round with a three-stroke lead, but a triple bogey on the par-4 second hole and a double bogey on the par-4 third derailed his title holes, eventually carding an 11-over 82. It is the largest lead lost by a 54-hole leader at the U.S. Open since Retief Goosen entered the final round three strokes ahead in 2005, eventually won by Michael Campbell.

Dustin Johnson failed in his attempt to become the only player on the PGA TOUR under the age of 30 with four or more victories. Players in their 30s with three wins include Johnson, Anthony Kim, Camilo Villegas and Sean O'Hair.

Since 1936, there have been 10 occasions in the U.S. where a major championship was contested on a course that also hosted a TOUR event that same season, and four times a player has won both events in the same year. Here's a look at how the TOUR winner finished in the major championship each year:

Tiger Woods (74-72-66-75--287) +3

Tiger Woods' highest final round scores in major championships as a professional: 76 -- 2004 U.S. Open; 75 -- 2010 U.S. Open, 2009 PGA Championship, 2003 Masters, 1999 Masters, 1997 PGA Championship

Tiger Woods at the U.S. Open Championship
• Professional Starts: 14 (1997-2010)
• Wins: 3 (2000, 2002, 2008)
•Top-10s: 8 (T3-1999, W-2000, W-2002, 2-2005, T2-2007, W-2008, T5-2009, T4-2010)

Tiger Woods at Major Championships
• Career Professional Majors: 52
• Cuts Made: 50 (2006 U.S. Open, 2008 British Open)
• Career Major Victories: 14 (1997, 2001, 2002, 2005 Masters Tournament; 2000, 2002, 2008 U.S. Open Championship; 2000, 2005, 2006 British Open Championship; 1999, 2000, 2006, 2007 PGA Championship)
• Career Major Top-10s: 34 (11-Masters Tournament; 7-British Open; 8-PGA Championship; 8-U.S. Open)

Tiger Woods has never come from behind to win a major when trailing after 54 holes. He either led or shared the lead in all 14 of his major championship victories.

Phil Mickelson (75-66-73-73--287) +3

The T4 finish is the 31st top-10 finish in a major championship by Phil Mickelson (13-Masters, 9-U.S. Open, 1-British Open, 8-PGA Championship).

Mickelson has five career runner-up finishes at the U.S. Open in 18 professional starts (20 total). Players with four runner-up finishes: Bobby Jones, Sam Snead, Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus. His T4 finish this week gives him seven top-4 finishes at the U.S. Open.

Mickelson was hoping to become the 16th player to win the Masters (2004, 2006, 2010) and the U.S. Open in a career. Of that list, Craig Wood (1941), Ben Hogan (1951, 1953), Arnold Palmer (1960), Jack Nicklaus (1972) and Tiger Woods (2002) have performed the feat in the same year.

Tom Watson (78-71-70-76--295) +11

Making his first U.S. Open start since 2003, 60-year-old Tom Watson finished T29 this week at Pebble Beach Golf Links. He is the only player to tee it up in all five U.S. Opens at Pebble Beach (T29-2010, T27-2000, MC-1992, 1st-1982, T29-1972).

The 60-year-old Watson became the second-oldest player to make the cut at the U.S. Open this week, and his T29 finish equaled the oldest player to make the cut -- Sam Snead (T29 in 1973):

61 -- Sam Snead (finished T29 in 1973)
60 -- Tom Watson (T29 in 2010)
58 -- Jack Nicklaus (T43 in 1998)
57 -- Sam Snead (T38 in 1969)
57 -- Dutch Harrison (T16 in 1967)
57 -- Jack Nicklaus (T52 in 1997)

Watson made his 730th start in a PGA TOUR (597 starts) or Champions Tour (133 starts) event this week.

Watson has made the cut at the U.S. Open 25 times. Only five players have completed 72 holes at the Open more times: Jack Nicklaus (35), Sam Snead (27), Hale Irwin (27), Gene Sarazen (26) and Raymond Floyd (26).

Watson made his 31st start at the U.S. Open, with top-5 finishes in 1982 (1st), 1983 (2nd), 1987 (2nd), 1980 (T3), 1974 (T5) and 1993 (T5).

Miscellaneous Notes

The top 10 players and ties are exempt into next year's U.S. Open: Graeme McDowell, Gregory Havret, Ernie Els, Phil Mickelson, Tiger Woods, Matt Kuchar, Davis Love III, Brandt Snedeker, Martin Kaymer, Alex Cejka and Dustin Johnson.

The top eight players are exempt into next year's Masters, which includes the entire list listed above, since all finished T8 or better.

The 54-hole leader/co-leader has won 48 times at the U.S. Open, most recently Tiger Woods in 2008.

The third-round leader/co-leader has gone on to win 11 of 25 stroke-play events on the PGA TOUR this season, most recently Jason Day at the HP Byron Nelson Championship.

Davis Love III finished T6 for his 20th top-10 finish in a major championship and his first since finishing T4 at the 2005 PGA Championship. He has now played in 85 major championships.

Matt Kuchar, playing in his 19th major championship, posted his best finish in a major with a T6. His previous-best finishes came in his first two starts (both as an amateur), finishing T21 at the 1998 Masters and T14 at the 1998 U.S. Open.

Shaun Micheel recorded a double-eagle on the sixth hole in the fourth round of the 2010 U.S. Open, holing a 3-iron from 239 yards for his second shot on the 523-yard hole. It was just the second double-eagle in U.S. Open history (T.C. Chen, second round, Oakland Hills, 1985). The double-eagle was the third of the season and the second in as many weeks on TOUR (Carl Pettersson/Bob Hope Classic, Steve Wheatcroft/St. Jude Classic).

There were no bogey-free rounds at this year's U.S. Open.

The par-3 seventh hole played at 92 yards on Sunday, making it the shortest hole in U.S. Open history (post World War II). The hole played to an average of 3.469 (2nd hardest) during the final round. For the week, it ranked as the hardest at Pebble Beach with a 3.487 average.

The par-5 sixth hole was the easiest for the week, averaging 4.646.