New York: The US Open’s 18-hole play-off format will be scrapped in favour of a two-hole aggregate, the United States Golf Association (USGA) said on Monday, after calls to move the tournament more in line with the other three Majors.
The change, which also affects the US Women’s Open, US Senior Open and US Senior Women’s Open, takes effect immediately in the event of a tie after 72 holes of stroke play.
If players are tied after the two-hole play-off, the extra-holes session will switch to sudden death.
“We know how important it is to everyone in the golf world to see play conclude on the Sunday of a Major championship, and to award the trophy to the champion,” USGA chief executive Mike Davis said on Monday.
“After receiving input from a variety of constituents, including players, fans, volunteers, officials and our broadcast partners, it clearly came across as something that everyone valued, and would benefit from.”
The last US Open decided by a play-off was in 2008 at Torrey Pines where Tiger Woods and Rocco Mediate were tied after 18 extra holes. Woods prevailed on a sudden death 19th hole to collect the most recent of his 14 Majors.
In its 117-year history, the US Open has been settled by a play-off on 33 occasions, by 18-hole and 36-hole formats.
The Masters scrapped its 18-hole play-off in 1976 in favour of sudden death, followed by the PGA Championship a year later. The British Open adopted a four-hole play-off in 1986. The PGA Championship has since changed to a three-hole aggregate.
Davis said there was “no right or wrong way” to determine a winner in stroke play, but felt a two-hole play-off allowed a player to recover from a bad shot.
“Two holes will allow a player to recover from any single mistake and, at the same time, provide a memorable, and perhaps dramatic, experience for all involved,” said Davis.
This year’s US Open will be played from June 14-17 at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club in Southampton, New York.
“It’s not a surprise, frankly,” three-time US Open winner Hale Irwin told Golf World on Monday. Irwin defeated Mike Donald in the 1990 championship at Medinah in the first US Open decided by sudden death, after the two men completed their 18-hole play-off in a tie.
“I’m sure there have been a lot of opinions expressed to see a winner determined on Sunday, be it fans or media or Fox Sports, which is paying umpteen millions to broadcast the US Open. I think tradition had to take a backseat here to the times we live in.”
Irwin, who received a copy of the USGA release on Sunday night, only disagrees with the length of the new format, not the decision itself.
“I would have liked to see three-or four-hole playoffs,” he said, citing the designated play-off length for the PGA Championship and the British Open, respectively. “As a player, I would want as many holes as possible to determine a winner. That extra 18 holes was a grind, but it felt necessary.”
“Hey, I loved the 18-hole playoff. It was fun,” said Scott Simpson, who lost while playing it to the late Payne Stewart in 1991 at Hazeltine National, 75-77.
“It was back and forth. It was not anticlimactic. But, you know, time marches on. We live in a Snapchat world. I think you can make arguments for and against. ”
Reuters
