Tickets were sold out months ago for this, one of the greatest tests of golfing nerve and skill, and a crowd of 22,500 will be on hand to salute today's winner. The prestige of a victory in this tournament is backed up by a first prize of$320,000. Lee Trevino once paid tribute to the around-the-year excellence of this year's venue, the Oakmont course near
Pittsburgh, by saying: "There's only one course I know of where you can step out and play the US Open right now.... Oakmont."
Lee Janzen will be defending his title on the course where
Jack Nicklaus won his first Open in 1962 (he went on to win three more). in all, Oakmont has staged the tournament six times, most recently in 1983. If an overseas player is to win a trophy that the Americans like to keep to themselves, then
Australian Greg Norman and current European leader
Jose-Maria Olazabal are among the favourites.