SAN DIEGO (AP) - The U.S. Open could be headed back to Torrey Pines.
The San Diego City Council is to vote Monday on whether to host the tournament in 2021, USGA spokesman Joe Goode said Tuesday. That would be 13 years after Tiger Woods won his third U.S. Open and 14th major in a 19-hole playoff over Rocco Mediate.
The San Diego Union-Tribute first reported the USGA invitation’s to Torrey Pines.
“We’re honored and thrilled by the strong show of support from Mayor Kevin Faulconer and the city of San Diego, and about the prospects of brining the U.S. Open back to a venue that hosted one of the most iconic victories in all of sports,” Goode said in an email.
The 2008 Open at Torrey Pines, a public course along the bluffs of the Pacific Ocean, stands out as the one of the most memorable majors because of who won and how he won. Woods was playing on a shattered left leg and had not competed in two months. He had not walked an 18-hole round from the Masters that year until he showed up at Torrey Pines for the Open.
Woods birdied the 18th hole in regulation to force a Monday playoff, and he made another birdie on the 18th hole in the playoff to force extra holes. He won on the 19th hole (No. 7) with a par to defeat Mediate.
Woods had surgery to repair knee ligaments two days later and was out the rest of the year. He has not won another major since.
Torrey Pines annually hosts the Farmers Insurance Open on the PGA Tour, a tournament Woods has won seven times.
Faulconer told the newspaper he believes the council will be “strongly supportive” of hosting another U.S. Open.
Torrey Pines had not been mentioned lately as a future U.S. Open venue, and it had been looked upon as a potential PGA Championship site.
This year’s U.S. Open is at Pinehurst No. 2, which is hosting the national championship for the third time since 1999. If San Diego accepts the invitation, the U.S. Open over the next eight years will be played at three public courses, two resorts and three private courses.
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