Rose became the first player from England to win the U.S. Open since Tony Jacklin in 1970, and the first to win any major since Nick Faldo won his third Masters in 1996. It was a record sixth runner-up finish for Mickelson and defending championWebb Simpson tied for 32nd place. Inclement weather in the opening round delayed the completion of each of the first two rounds to the following day, and the average score in each of the four rounds exceeded 74 (+4). Shawn Stefani recorded the first-ever hole in one during a U.S. Open at Merion, acing the 229-yard (209 m) 17th on Sunday.
About half the field consisted of players who are exempt from qualifying for the U.S. Open. Each player is classified according to the first category in which he qualified, and other categories are shown in parentheses.[4]
1. Winners of the U.S. Open Championship the last ten years
The course was re-measured prior to the 1971 Open and found to be 150 yds shorter than previously thought. Given that the same tees were used, the previous two opens were also played over 6544 yds as the previous measurement of 6694 was incorrect.
One unique aspect of the course was that players began the first and second rounds on the 1st and 11th tees, rather than the 1st and 10th tees, as is typical. This was due to the 11th tee being more conveniently located relative to the practice range than the 10th tee.[14] This was the second straight year the players did not begin rounds on the 10th tee as the first and second rounds started on the 1st and 9th tee the previous year at Olympic Club.
Round summaries
First round
Thursday, June 13, 2013 Friday, June 14, 2013
Due to rain delays, the first round was not completed on Thursday;[15] only the morning half of the field completed their rounds. Luke Donald was the overnight leader at −4, while Mickelson was the clubhouse leader at 67 (−3).[16] When the first round was completed Friday morning, only five players were under par: Mickelson at 67 (−3), Donald and Mathew Goggin at 68 (−2) and Nicolas Colsaerts and Russell Knox at 69 (−1). Since 2008, the USGA has placed the top three players in the world rankings in the same grouping for the first two rounds.[17] None of the three broke par in the first round: Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy shot 73 (+3) and Adam Scott 72 (+2). The scoring average for the field was 74.31, more than four strokes over par.[13]
On Friday, the second round was suspended due to darkness, with 68 players yet to complete their rounds. The leaders in the clubhouse were Mickelson and Billy Horschel, at 139 (−1). Horschel hit all 18 greens in regulation and shot a 67 (−3).[18] When the second round was completed Saturday morning, Horschel and Mickelson still stood atop the leader board. Only six players shot under-par rounds, led by Horschel's 67. The scoring average for the second round was 75.13.[13]
Amateurs: Kim (+3), Pan (+4), Weaver (+8), Phelan (+8), Williams (+9), Fox (+10), Hall (+11), Homa (+11), McElyea (+20), Murray (+24)
Third round
Saturday, June 15, 2013
Mickelson shot an even-par round for 209 (−1) to stay atop the leaderboard, his second 54-hole lead at the U.S. Open. Hunter Mahan, Charl Schwartzel, and Steve Stricker were one shot back at even-par 210.[19] As in the second round, only six players had under-par rounds, led by Rickie Fowler at 67. Woods struggled with his putting; after a birdie on the par-4 1st, he made seven bogeys to shoot 76 and fall to 219 (+9), ten strokes back. The scoring average for the third round was 74.36.[13]
Phil Mickelson three-putted the third and fifth holes for double bogeys, but took back the lead with an eagle on the 10th. Justin Rose responded with birdies on the 12th and 13th. A bogey by Mickelson on the 13th gave Rose the lead.[20]
Through 16 holes, Rose had five birdies and five bogeys and a one-shot lead over Mickelson. He managed par on the challenging final two holes, finishing with an even-par 70 for a 281 (+1) overall. Mickelson narrowly missed a birdie putt on the 16th that would have tied Rose and did not threaten to birdie either of the final two holes. A missed long par putt on 18 dropped him to +3 overall and into a tie with Jason Day for second place.[20]
For Rose, it was his first major title.[21] He completed the tournament without any double bogeys. On his win, Rose commented "It feels fantastic. I committed myself to the process this week. I committed myself to putting a strategy in place that I hoped would work in five-to-10 years in delivering major championships ... it's a moment where you can look back and think childhood dreams have come true."[20] He was the first English player to win the U.S. Open since Tony Jacklin in 1970, and the first to win any major since Nick Faldo won the 1996 Masters. Rose, who entered the tournament ranked fifth in the world, moved up to third as a result of the win.[20]
For Mickelson, it was his sixth runner-up finish at the U.S. Open,[22][23] an event record. He has never won the event and called the loss heartbreaking: "this is tough to swallow after coming so close ... I felt like this was as good an opportunity I could ask for and to not get it ... it hurts."[20]
Mahan was tied for the lead as late as the 14th hole before going +4 on the last four holes and dropping into a four-way tie for fourth, four strokes back.[20]Jason Dufner shot a 67 (−3) despite a triple-bogey on 15 to tie Mahan, Horschel, and Ernie Els.[20]Hideki Matsuyama also shot a 67 with six birdies to finish in a tie for tenth. Schwartzel started the day one shot back, but a 78 dropped him outside the top 10.
Shawn Stefani recorded the first-ever hole-in-one during a U.S. Open at Merion, acing the 229-yard (209 m) 17th. His 4-iron tee shot bounced off the slope left of the green and rolled a considerable distance into the cup.[24] The scoring average for the fourth round was 74.05.[13]
Justin Rose
