The 2008 United States Open Championship was the 108th U.S. Open, played June 12–16 at Torrey Pines Golf Course in San Diego, California.Torrey Pines 2008 U.S. Open 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 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)

Field 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:

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.

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.Rickie Fowler Gains Spot In U.S. Open Field

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. 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 , 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.

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 Gary Wolstenholme (a, England) – replaced Sean O'Hair Andrew Svoboda (L, Purchase) – replaced Brett Wetterich

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

Course layout

South Course Hole123456789Out101112131415161718InTotalYards4483891954884535154611776123,7384142215046144354782254415733,9057,643Par443444435354345443453671 Source:

Round summaries

First round 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.

PlacePlayerScoreTo parT1 Justin Hicks68−3 Kevin StreelmanT3 Stuart Appleby69−2 Eric Axley Rocco Mediate Geoff OgilvyT7 Robert Allenby70−1 Ernie Els Rickie Fowler (a) Robert Karlsson Lee Westwood

Second round Friday, June 13, 2008

The first round co-leaders both fell well down the leaderboard: Justin Hicks shot an 80 (+9) to drop to a tie for 49th and Kevin Streelman shot 77 (+6) to drop to tied for 22nd. Stuart Appleby carded a 70 (−1) to take the lead at 139 (−3), one stroke ahead of Robert Karlsson, Mediate, and Woods. Woods shot a 30 on the front nine, one stroke more than the U.S. Open record for nine holes set by Vijay Singh in 2003. Singh made his 14th consecutive cut at the U.S. Open, the longest current streak. Miguel Ángel Jiménez shot the low round of the day −5 (66) and moved into a tie for 5th.

The cut was at +7 (149), 10 strokes from the leader, and 80 players made the cut. Defending champion Cabrera shot a 76 (+5) for at total of 155 (+13) to miss the cut by six shots. Ian Poulter withdrew with a wrist injury after playing 15 holes. Three amateurs made the cut: Derek Fathauer (+4), Michael Thompson (+5), and Rickie Fowler (+7).

In all, 19 players shot sub-par second rounds. The scoring average was 74.96 for round two and 75.27 overall.

PlacePlayerScoreTo par1 Stuart Appleby69-70=139−3T2 Robert Karlsson70-70=140−2 Rocco Mediate69-71=140 Tiger Woods72-68=140T5 Miguel Ángel Jiménez75-66=141−1 Davis Love III72-69=141 D. J. Trahan72-69=141 Lee Westwood70-71=141T9 Robert Allenby70-72=142E Ernie Els70-72=142 Geoff Ogilvy69-73=142 Carl Pettersson71-71=142

Amateurs: Fathauer (+4), Thompson (+5), Fowler (+7), Stanley (+8), Taylor (+10), Tway (+11), Cox (+15), Wilson (+17), Henderson (+21), Wolstenholme (+23), Quagliano (+25).

Third round Saturday, June 14, 2008

Overnight leader Stuart Appleby shot 79 (+8) to slip back to T-19 at 218 (+5), while playing partner Rocco Mediate shot 72 (+1) to finish two strokes behind at 212 (−1). Many of the leaders struggled on day three. Karlsson and Jiménez dropped back to 215 (+2), Davis Love III to 4 over-par and D. J. Trahan to 1 over-par. Lee Westwood finished at 211 (−2) after a round of 70, the only one to shoot par or better in all three rounds. Woods, despite struggling with his knee injury, dazzled on the back nine with some improbable shots, resulting in two eagles on the 13th and 18th and a chip-in birdie from the rough on the 17th to take the 54-hole lead at 210 (−3), a stroke ahead of Westwood. Brandt Snedeker shot the low round of the day at 68 (-3). In total, 11 players shot sub-par rounds and the scoring average for the round was 74.36 and 75.08 overall.

PlacePlayerScoreTo par1 Tiger Woods72-68-70=210−32 Lee Westwood70-71-70=211−23 Rocco Mediate69-71-72=212−1T4 Geoff Ogilvy69-73-72=214+1 D. J. Trahan72-69-73=214T6 Robert Allenby70-72-73=215+2 Miguel Ángel Jiménez75-66-74=215 Robert Karlsson70-70-75=215 Hunter Mahan72-74-69=215 Camilo Villegas73-71-71=215

Final round Sunday, June 15, 2008

Woods had previously won each of the thirteen major championships in which he entered the final round with at least a share of the lead, and his fourteenth was no different. He lost his lead on the first hole, double-bogeying the hole for the third time in the tournament, and followed that with a bogey on the second, but regained two of the shots with birdies on 9 and 11. He also bogeyed 13, the same hole on which he had sunk an eagle putt the previous day.

Mediate had put together a solid round, only scoring one bogey over the final 13 holes. However, he barely missed a birdie putt on 17 and hit a wedge too strong on 18; his pars on the two final holes kept both Woods and his playing partner Westwood in contention. Both came to the par-5 final hole one shot behind Mediate, who was in the clubhouse at 283 (−1).

Woods and Westwood both hit their drives into bunkers and had to lay up. Woods' second shot went into the rough; Westwood laid up in the fairway. Both reached the green with their third shots, leaving them with birdie putts to force an 18-hole playoff with Mediate. Westwood's putt, which had a severe break to the right, was not successful. Woods' putt was closer at , with a much less severe break; his putt lipped the hole before dropping and putting him in the playoff. Both Woods and Mediate became the first to finish under par at the U.S. Open since 2004.

Heath Slocum shot the low round of the day (and the tournament) at 65 (−6). In total, 12 players shot sub-par rounds and the scoring average for the round was 72.87 and 74.71 overall.