The 2005 United States Open Golf Championship was the 105th U.S. Open, played from June 13 to June 19, 2005 at Pinehurst Resort course No. 2. The U.S. Open returned to Pinehurst No. 2 for the first time since 1999 when Payne Stewart won his second U.S. Open four months before his death. Six years was the shortest gap between U.S. Opens at the same site since the 1946 U.S. Open. Michael Campbell won his first career major in a surprising collapse by two of the best players in the world. The event took place in the Village of Pinehurst, North Carolina. The purse was $6.25 million and Campbell earned $1.17 million.

History of U.S. Open at Pinehurst No. 2

The 2005 U.S. Open at Pinehurst was only the second U.S. Open to be played there because of the fear it would be too hot in mid-June and its abandons from a major city of populated area. In 1999 Payne Stewart won his second U.S. Open title in one of the most remarkable U.S. Open victories ever. He trailed Phil Mickelson by one stroke on the 16th hole where he then made an amazing 25-foot putt for par then moments later Mickelson missed a 7-foot putt for par. Stewart birdied 17 and holed a 15-foot par putt on 18 in one of the most dramatic finishes ever. Stewart died in a plane crash four months later. He was honored at the 2005 U.S. Open with a silhouette of Payne’s 1999 U.S. Open victory pose on the flag of the 18th green.

Round-by-round summary

First round (Thursday)

Qualifiers Olin Browne and Rocco Mediate stole the first round lead at Pinehurst No. 2. While Masters champion Tiger Woods battled to an even-par 70 and two time winner Ernie Els ground out a 71. Retief Goosen launched his title defense with a three-birdie 68 for a three-way tie for third, 2004 Masters winner Phil Mickelson returned a 69 after holing a 20-foot birdie putt at the last and world number two Vijay Singh opened with a 70.

#	Player	Country	Score	To par
T1	Olin Browne		67	-3
	Rocco Mediate
T3	Retief Goosen		68	-2
	Lee Westwood
	Brandt Jobe
T6	Steve Jones		69	-1
	Phil Mickelson
	Luke Donald
	K.J. Choi

Second round (Friday)

Two-time champion Retief Goosen shared the lead in the U.S. Open second round after most of the field struggled at Pinehurst on Friday. Trailing by one at the start of the day, the South African carded an even-par 70 to finish on two-under 138, level with overnight leader Olin Browne and unheralded Jason Gore. Gore, who missed the cut in his only previous U.S. Open appearance in 1998, vaulted up the leaderboard late in the day with a five-birdie 67. South Korea's K.J. Choi (70) and Australian Mark Hensby (68), who were tied for fourth at one under. World number two Vijay Singh was a further shot back in a four-way share of sixth after a second successive 70, alongside Spaniard Sergio García and New Zealand's Michael Campbell, who fired matching 69s, and Briton Lee Westwood, after a 72. Of the other big names, Tiger Woods was one over after a 71, while Phil Mickelson (77) and Ernie Els (76) just made the halfway cut which fell at eight-over 148. Nine players finished under par after the opening round but only five were still in red figures after day two.

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#	Player	Country	Score	To par
T1	Olin Browne		67-71=138	-2
	Retief Goosen		68-70=138
	Jason Gore		71-67=138
T4	K.J. Choi		69-70=139	-1
	Mark Hensby		71-68=139
T6	Michael Campbell		71-69=140	E
	Vijay Singh		70-70=140
	Sergio García		71-69=140
	Lee Westwood		68-72=140
T10	Eight players tied			align=center

Third round (Saturday)

Retief Goosen took a three-shot lead after the U.S. Open third round on Saturday. The world number five recovered from a double-bogey six at the 13th with three birdies in the last five holes to card a one-under-par 69. Goosen finished at three-under-par, the only man to end the day in red figures. Tied for second at even par 210 were Goosen's playing partner Olin Browne and Jason Gore, both carding 72s. Michael Campbell, another qualifier, registered a 71 to share fourth place at one-over 211 with Mark Hensby (72). David Toms, the 2001 PGA champion, was a further shot back after a 70 while Tiger Woods recorded a 72 to finish in a four-way tie for seventh at three over.

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#	Player	Country	Score	To par
1	Retief Goosen		68-70-69=207	-3
T2	Jason Gore		71-67-72=210	E
	Olin Browne		67-71-72=210
T4	Michael Campbell		71-69-71=211	rowspan="2" align=center
	Mark Hensby		71-68-72=211
6	David Toms		70-72-70=212	align=center
T7	Four players tied			align=center

Final round (Sunday)

Michael Campbell held off a charging Tiger Woods to clinch his maiden major title by two shots on Sunday. The 36-year-old Campbell, four off the pace overnight, collected four birdies and three bogeys to close with a one-under-par 69. Woods, who had been chasing his 10th career major, rallied from a bogey-bogey start and reeled off four birdies in the last nine holes to secure second place with a matching, best-of-the-day 69. He missed an eight-footer for par on 16 and three-putted for bogey on 17. Sergio García and South Africa's Tim Clark both carded 70s to tie for third at five over, level with Mark Hensby who registered a 74. Retief Goosen, three strokes clear overnight, threw away his chance of a third U.S. Open title by dropping six shots in the first nine holes. Five more bogeys after the turn led to a dismal 81 and a share of 11th place at eight-over 288. Jason Gore ballooned to a 14-over 84 to tie for 49th while Olin Browne returned an 80 for a share of 23rd. Ernie Els fired his lowest score of the week, a level-par 70 earning him a share of 15th at nine-over 289 while Phil Mickelson returned a 74 to finish at 12 over in a tie for 33rd.

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#	Player	Country	Score	To par	Winnings
1	Michael Campbell		71-69-71-69=280	E	$1,170,000
2	Tiger Woods		70-71-72-69=282	align=center
$700,000
T3	Sergio García		71-69-75-70=285	rowspan="3" align=center
	$320,039
		Tim Clark		76-69-70-70=285
Mark Hensby			71-68-72-74=285
T6	Davis Love III		77-70-70-69=286	rowspan="3" align=center
	$187,813
		Rocco Mediate		67-74-74-71=286
Vijay Singh			70-70-74-72=286
T9	Nick Price		72-71-72-72=287	rowspan="2" align=center
	$150,834
Arron Oberholser			76-67-71-73=287
T11	Bob Estes		70-73-75-70=288	rowspan="4" align=center
	$123,857
		Corey Pavin		73-72-70-73=288
		Peter Hedblom		77-66-70-75=288
Retief Goosen			68-70-69-81=288
T15	Stewart Cink		73-74-73-69=289	rowspan="8" align=center
	$88,120
		Fred Couples		71-74-74-70=289
		Ernie Els		71-76-72-70=289
		Ryuji Imada		77-68-73-71=289
		John Cook		71-76-70-72=289
		Peter Jacobsen		72-73-69-75=289
		K.J. Choi		72-73-69-75=289
David Toms			70-72-70-77=289

Quotes

"I was telling myself 20 times a hole, 'keep your focus'" - Michael Campbell

"If I had putted normally, I would be looking a lot better right now" - Tiger Woods

"I figured if I could just get to even par I might be able to get into a playoff. Unfortunately, I made those two bogeys on 16 and 17 and that kind of put me out of that equation." - Tiger Woods

"It's completely changed my whole career. I can't believe I'm holding this trophy." - Michael Campbell

"I almost gave up golf in 1998. I had had injuries, I had lost my card. I had nowhere to play but invitations came in and it got me started again. I've won 10 times since '99." - Michael Campbell

"So I had a three-shot lead going to the last and I thought to myself: 'just keep your focus, keep your focus'. And it worked." - Retief Goosen

"I got off to a bad start and from there on it pretty much went downhill the whole way," - Retief Goosen

"I played rubbish at the end of the day. There is nothing else to say." - Retief Goosen

External links

• 2005 U.S. Open official site