The 112th U.S. Open Championship, commonly referred to as U.S. Open, is set to begin on Thursday, June 14, 2011 at the Olympic Club, San Francisco, California. Phil Mickelson, Bubba Watson and Tiger Woods will tee off at 10:33 am at this year’s championship.
The traditional mid-June annual event is one of four major championship events organized by the United States Golf Association (USGA). The final round is played on third Sunday of June which is also the Father’s Day in the U.S. The very first U.S. Open was held on October 4, 1895 at Newport Country Club, Newport, Rhode Island on a nine-hole course. It is open to any professional golfer who are fully exempted by the USGA , successfully qualifying and amateurs with up-to-date men’s USGA Handicap Index not exceeding 1.4. A total of 156 players are included in the annual competition. During the long history there are four players who won the championship four times each; Willie Anderson, Bobby Jones, Ben Hogan, and Jack Nicklaus. Tiger Woods and Hale Irwin won the championship three times each. Even though there were several championships with no price money, the winner’s share has grown from $150 in 1895 to $1,440,000 in 2011.