2023 US Open Championship of Golf at LACC Recap

Live from the Los Angeles Country Club (LACC); the 2023 edition of the U.S. Open Championship. This US Open of golf took place from June 15 to June 18, and this year's event is one that will go down in history.  
 
From amazing shots to an unexpected U.S. Open Championship winner, the tournament turned out to be memorable in numerous ways. Read on for a recap of some of the highlights of the weekend and check out the U.S. Open official website for even more details. 

U.S. Open Tournament Overview 

Held at a different course each year, the U.S. Open Championship is one of the PGA's Majors, the four most important tournaments of the season. This year, Los Angeles Country Club in Los Angeles, California, hosted the event. Built in 1897, the course never hosted the tournament before, but it was the home of the PGA's Los Angeles Open, which took place in 1926, 1934, 1935, 1936 and 1940. 

Going into the event, the U.S. Open odds were on Scottie Scheffler to win. Caesars had him favored at 13 to 2, and other players thought likely to win included Jon Rahm with 18 to 1 odds and Max Homa with 16 to 1 odds. 

2023 U.S. Open Tournament Highlights 

Each day of the 2023 U.S. Open proved to be noteworthy. On June 15, Rickie Fowler set the record for the lowest round at the U.S. Open at 62. An hour later while everyone was still celebrating his achievement, Xander Schauffele finished with 62 as well. 

Not only are their achievements noteworthy for the U.S. Open, but it is also a tie for the lowest single-round score of any of the PGA Majors. It was Branden Grace who set the record by getting the first 62 ever at a Majors tournament back in 2017. 

Friday also brought another unusual occurrence — two holes-in-one on the same hole, the 124-yard, par-3 15th. Matthieu Pavon pulled off the feat first, hitting the ball roughly 15 feet past the pin and then watching it slowly roll backward and in. Only a little more than three hours later, Sam Burns sunk the second hole-in-one of the day with a backspin shot that he hit with his sand wedge. With two holes-in-one and two players having record-setting days, the first day of the U.S. Open proved to be one of the best rounds of golf ever played at a PGA tournament. 

On Saturday, the reigning champion Matthew Fitzpatrick got a hole-in-one on the same 15th hole. It was his first hole-in-one ever at a PGA event. Distracted by the crowd's cheers, Fitzpatrick didn't even see the ball go into the hole and didn't realize he made the amazing shot until his playing partners, Cameron Smith and Sam Bennett, high-fived him. 

The Winner's Journey 

At the end of the tournament, Wyndham Clark was at the top of the U.S. Open Championship leaderboard. The 29-year-old golfer grew up in Denver, Colorado, and became a professional golfer in 2017, but was relatively unknown until this year. He played in the PGA Tour during the 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 seasons and was cut from tournaments 24 times. It was only six weeks ago that Clark finally won a PGA Tour title when he came in first at the Wells Fargo Championship. 

Throughout the tournament, Clark had to fight hard to reach the top of the 2023 U.S. Open Championship leaderboard. He had minor setbacks on Saturday when he had bogeys on holes 11 and 12 but then came back with a birdie on the 13th. Another bogey on hole 17 didn't rattle him either. Clark persevered and got a birdie on 18, sealing his position for Sunday. 

Sunday was also a nail biter for Clark, but on the 14th hole, he had a 280-yard shot that allowed him to finish with a birdie. A stellar performance on that hole put him three strokes ahead of Rory McIlroy, and he maintained his lead even with two subsequent bogies. Both Clark and experts watching the game credit his ability to remain calm and focused even in the face of setbacks as what gave him his first Majors win. 

For his big win, Clark took home a huge U.S. Open payout totaling $3.6 million. The total purse for the U.S. Open increased this year with Clark earning $450,000 more than Fitzpatrick when he won in 2022. 

Coming in second, McIlroy won $2.16 million, and Scottie Scheffler received $1.41343 million for his third-place win. Cameron Smith came in fourth and received a payout of $990,867. Fifth place was a tie between Rickie Fowler, Tommy Fleetwood and Min Woo Lee, with each of them winning a payout of $738,934. 

Celebrate the U.S. Open with Devereux 

There's no doubt that the 2023 Open Championship was one of the most exciting and surprising majors in the history of golf and that spectators and those who tuned into the tournament on TV witnessed history in the making. Clark's win is inspiring for golfers of all experience levels, and if that Open Championship win has you eager to get out on the course, Devereux can help you look and feel your best while you play. 

In honor of the tournament, we've introduced our U.S. Golf collection. Inspired by the U.S. military and streetwear trends, it's filled with patriotic looks for the next generation of golfers. Each patriotic piece will work as well on the fairways as it will at a 4th of July barbecue, and you can shop the U.S. Golf collection now to check out all the styles.