2008 U.S. Open (golf)

2008 U.S. Open

Tournament information
Dates	June 12–16, 2008
Location	San Diego, California
Course(s)	Torrey Pines Golf Course, South Course
Organized by	USGA
Tour(s)	PGA Tour European Tour Japan Golf Tour
Statistics
Par	71
Length	7,643 yards (6,989 m)[1]
Field	156 players, 80 after cut
Cut	149 (+7)
Prize fund	$7,500,000[2] €4,766,396
Winner's share	$1,350,000[2] €858,181
Champion
Tiger Woods
283 (−1), playoff

Torrey Pines

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Location in the United States

Torrey Pines

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Location in California

The 2008 United States Open Championship was the 108th U.S. Open, played June 12–16 at Torrey Pines in San Diego, California.^[3] Tiger Woods won his third U.S. Open and 14th major title, defeating Rocco Mediate on the first hole of sudden-death, following an 18-hole playoff.^[4][5] With this victory, Woods joined Jack Nicklaus as the only two players to win the career grand slam three times. The U.S. Open was held at Torrey Pines Golf Course for the first time, on its South Course.

It was an unlikely victory for Woods, who entered the tournament considerably short of match practice and was plagued throughout the week by an ailing left knee. Two days after the championship, Woods revealed that he would miss the remainder of the 2008 season after undergoing knee surgery; this was his last win in a major championship until the 2019 Masters.

This was the final 18-hole playoff at the U.S. Open. A two-hole aggregate playoff was introduced by the United States Golf Association (USGA) in 2018.^[6]

About half the field each year consists of players who are fully exempt from qualifying for the U.S. Open. Below is the list of the 72 players that were fully exempt for the 2008 U.S. Open. Each player is classified according to the first category by which he qualified, but other categories are shown in parentheses:^[7]

1. Last 10 U.S. Open Champions

Ángel Cabrera (8,11,17), Michael Campbell, Jim Furyk (8,9,17), Retief Goosen (11,17), Lee Janzen (8), Geoff Ogilvy (9,12,17), Tiger Woods (3,4,5,8,9,10,12,13,17)

2. Top two finishers in the 2007 U.S. Amateur

Michael Thompson

• Colt Knost forfeited his exemption by turning professional.^[8]

3. Last five Masters Champions

Trevor Immelman (17), Zach Johnson (9,17), Phil Mickelson (5,9,12,13,17)

4. Last five British Open Champions

Ben Curtis, Todd Hamilton, Pádraig Harrington (9,11,17)

5. Last five PGA Champions

Vijay Singh (9,12,17)

• Shaun Micheel withdrew prior to the tournament.^[9]

6. The Players Champion

Sergio García (9,11,12,17)

7. The U.S. Senior Open Champion

Brad Bryant

8. Top 15 finishers and ties in the 2007 U.S. Open

Stephen Ames (17), Aaron Baddeley (9,17), Paul Casey (11,17), Nick Dougherty (11), Niclas Fasth (11,17), Jerry Kelly, Hunter Mahan (9,17), Justin Rose (9,11,17), Steve Stricker (9,17), David Toms, Scott Verplank (9,17), Bubba Watson

9. Top 30 leaders on the 2007 PGA Tour official money list

Robert Allenby (17), Woody Austin (17), Mark Calcavecchia, K. J. Choi (13,17), Stewart Cink (12,17), Tim Clark (17), Luke Donald (17), Ernie Els (11,17), Steve Flesch (13), Charles Howell III, John Rollins, Rory Sabbatini (17), Adam Scott (17), Heath Slocum, Brandt Snedeker (17), Boo Weekley (12,17)

• Brett Wetterich withdrew prior to the tournament.^[10]

10. All players qualifying for the 2007 edition of The Tour Championship

Jonathan Byrd, Camilo Villegas

11. Top 15 on the 2007 European Tour Order of Merit

Søren Hansen (17), Colin Montgomerie, Andrés Romero (17), Henrik Stenson (17), Richard Sterne (17), Lee Westwood (17)

12. Top 10 on the PGA Tour official money list, as of May 26

Ryuji Imada, Anthony Kim (17), Jeff Quinney (17)

13. Winners of multiple PGA Tour events from April 25, 2007 through June 1, 2008

Daniel Chopra

14. Top 2 from the 2008 European Tour Order of Merit, as of May 26

Miguel Ángel Jiménez (17), Oliver Wilson (17)

15. Top 2 on the 2007 Japan Golf Tour official money list, provided they are within the top 75 point leaders of the Official World Golf Rankings at that time

Shingo Katayama (17), Toru Taniguchi (17)

16. Top 2 on the 2007 PGA Tour of Australasia official money list, provided they are within the top 75 point leaders of the Official World Golf Rankings at that time

• Craig Parry and David Smail were not ranked in the top 75.

17. Top 50 on the Official World Golf Rankings list, as of May 26

Stuart Appleby, J. B. Holmes, Robert Karlsson, Martin Kaymer, Justin Leonard, Rod Pampling, Ian Poulter, Mike Weir

• Sean O'Hair withdrew prior to the tournament.^[11]

18. Special exemptions selected by the USGA

None

Sectional qualifiers

• Japan: Artemio Murakami, Craig Parry
• England: Phillip Archer, Robert Dinwiddie, Johan Edfors, Ross Fisher, Alastair Forsyth, Thomas Levet, Ross McGowan
• United States

• Daly City, California: Michael Allen, Craig Barlow, Garrett Chaussard (L), Jordan Cox (a,L), John Ellis (L), Jason Gore, Jeff Wilson (a,L)
• Littleton, Colorado: Jay Choi (L), Brian Kortan (L)
• Tequesta, Florida: Bobby Collins (L), Philippe Gasnier (L), Joey Lamielle (L)
• Roswell, Georgia: Jason Bohn, Matt Kuchar, D. J. Trahan
• Lake Forest, Illinois: Hunter Haas (L), Chris Kirk (L), Ian Leggatt (L), Mark O'Meara, D. A. Points (L), Jon Turcott (L)
• Beallsville, Maryland: Brian Bergstol (L), David Hearn (L)
• Augusta, Missouri: Robert Gaus (L)
• Purchase, New York: Yohann Benson (L), Jeffrey Bors (L), Michael Gilmore (L), Kevin Silva (L)
• Columbus, Ohio: Eric Axley, Bart Bryant, Chad Campbell, Ben Crane, Derek Fathauer (a,L), Robert Garrigus, Justin Hicks (L), Freddie Jacobson, Dustin Johnson, Davis Love III, Jarrod Lyle, John Mallinger, Steve Marino, Rocco Mediate, Jon Mills, Joe Ogilvie, Jesper Parnevik, Pat Perez, Carl Pettersson, Kyle Stanley (a), Kevin Tway (a), Nick Watney, Dean Wilson
• Springfield, Ohio: Chris Devlin (L), Andrew Dresser (L), Sean English (L), Fernando Figueroa (L), Jimmy Henderson (a,L), Peter Tomasulo (L)
• Creswell, Oregon: Rob Rashell (L), Nick Taylor (a)
• Cordova, Tennessee: Travis Bertoni (L), D. J. Brigman, Mathew Goggin, Brandt Jobe, Michael Letzig, John Merrick, Scott Piercy (L), Michael Quagliano (a,L), Brett Quigley, Patrick Sheehan, Scott Sterling, Kevin Streelman (L), Chris Stroud (L), Casey Wittenberg (L)
• Richmond, Texas: Rich Beem, Charlie Beljan (L)

Alternates who gained entry

• Rickie Fowler (a, Columbus) – replaced Shaun Micheel^[9]
• Gary Wolstenholme (a, England) – replaced Sean O'Hair^[11]
• Andrew Svoboda (L, Purchase) – replaced Brett Wetterich^[10]

(a) denotes amateur
(L) denotes player advanced through local qualifying

South Course

Source:^[1]

The U.S. Open is played over four days with an 18-hole round being played each day, for a total of 72 holes plus practice rounds. Players outside the top 60 and ties and outside ten strokes of the leader will be "cut" after 36 holes.

Thursday, June 12, 2008

The leaders after the first round were two little-known American players, Justin Hicks, a 33-year-old Nationwide Tour player, and Kevin Streelman, a 29-year-old PGA Tour rookie. They both shot 3 under-par 68s to lead four other players at 69 (−2), including the 2006 champion, Geoff Ogilvy. The top three ranked players in the world were paired together for the first two rounds, but none of them broke par for the day: Woods 72 (+1), Phil Mickelson 71 (E), Adam Scott 73 (+2). Woods was playing his first event since the Masters, after undergoing arthroscopic knee surgery, and Scott was playing with a broken little finger on his right hand. The World Golf Rankings were also used for three other pairings, making four pairings include the top 12 golfers in the world. Defending champion Ángel Cabrera shot 79 (+8). Mark Calcavecchia withdrew after playing nine holes with an injured knee and foot. In all, 11 players shot sub-par rounds and the scoring average was 75.58.^[1]