Last night's epic* US Open final round got me to wondering - which of the recent US Opens were all that memorable anyway, and for what reasons were they memorable. The following chronicles my off-the-cuff remembrances of these events:
* - epically sleep inducing
(Ratings from one star to five stars)
2010: Pebble Beach - Graeme McDowell. The long-awaited return to Pebble. Lefty wows 'em Friday. Tiger wows 'em Saturday. DJ collapses and nobody wows 'em Sunday. McDowell survives. **
2009: Bethpage - Lucas Glover. Memorable for the heartbreak where Woods, Mahan, Lefty, Duval, Barnes all contend but cannot seal the deal. Memorable also for the pair of sneakers I wore to Friday's mud-caked second round, and consequently threw away after returning home.***
2008: Torrey Pines - Tiger Woods. Rocco Mediate. 19 holes of playoff excitement. Possibly best Open ever. *****
2007: Oakmont - Angel Cabrera. Another close-but-not-quite for Tiger, Furyk. I don't remember much of this so I'll give it **
2006: Winged Foot - Geoff Ogilvy. Memorable most for the brutality of Winged Foot and for Lefty's tee-to-tree-to-tent-to-bunker 72nd hole goofups. Also, don't forget Monty's 18th hole screw-ups. ****
2005: Pinehurst - Michael Campbell. He played the best...but the Goosen/Gore collapses sure did help. **
2004: Shinnecock Hills - Retief Goosen. Memorable for the 71st hole Lefty goofups, though Goosen played damn solid. Memorable also for the Sunday 7th hole debacle. ***
2003: Olympia Fields - Jim Furyk. Also starring Stephen Leaney. Grind. Fail. *
2002: Bethpage - Tiger Woods. First Bethpage open. New York goes nuts for Tiger and Lefty. The USGA makes the 10th fairway almost unreachable. Solid stuff all around. ****
2001: Southern Hills - Retief Goosen. Mark Brooks was also involved. Most memorable for Goosen's 72nd hole three-jack. Don't forget Stewie Cink's earlier three-jack that cost him a shot in the playoff. **
2000: Pebble Beach - Tiger Woods. As compelling as a 15 shot victory can be. ****
1999: Pinehurst - Payne Stewart. GREAT finish involving Tiger, VJ, and Lefty. Stewart made the putt when the others did not. Proof that the Open could be held at non-stuffy, non-private club venues and be compelling theater. *****
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