BROOKLINE, Mass. — As is tradition, several top officials with the United States Golf Association addressed the media on the Wednesday before the start of the U.S. Open. Stuart Francis, the president of the USGA, Mike Whan, the organization’s CEO and John Bodenhamer, the senior managing director of championships, proudly talked about bringing the country’s national championship back to The Country Club for the first time since 1988.
“This Open almost didn’t happen, and there’s a number of stories behind that,” Bodenhamer said. “Prior to 2013 and the U.S. Amateur here, we didn’t think we could conduct a U.S. Open here. The footprint was small. It was in a residential community. There were just too many hurdles to overcome, but conducting the U.S. Open at Merion Golf Club in 2013 changed our perspective. When we came here for the Amateur in 2013, we thought coming back to Brookline was possible.”
Several topics were addressed, along with USGA initiatives and programs, as well as the subject that has dominated the headlines this week, the LIV Golf Series. Here are the five takeaways.
