Matthew Fitzpatrick plays his second shot from the fairway bunker on the 18th hole during the final round of the 2022 U.S. Open. | Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images
America’s national championship is headed back to The Country Club at Brookline, a course steeped in history.
The U.S. Open is shipping up to Boston.
Following a successful 2022 championship that saw Matt Fitzpatrick claim his first major title, the United States Golf Association (USGA) announced it will return to the Country Club at Brookline in 2038.
Incidentally, it is also the site where Fitzpatrick won the 2013 U.S. Amateur.
“We are thrilled to extend our long, wonderful partnership with the USGA and to continue giving people in the Town of Brookline and across New England a chance to see golf at its finest,” said Lyman Bullard, president of The Country Club, in a USGA statement released Thursday.
The 2038 edition will mark the fifth U.S. Open at The Country Club.
Prior to 2022, the Boston-area club previously hosted in 1913, 1963, and 1988.
It also hosted the 1999 Ryder Cup, which saw Team USA make a resounding comeback on Sunday to defeat the Europeans. Justin Leonard famously holed a 45-foot putt on the 17th green to capture the Cup for the Americans.
Photo by Montana Pritchard/PGA of America via Getty Images
Justin Leonard celebrates on the 17th green at Brookline during the 1999 Ryder Cup.
Plenty of drama existed at the 2022 U.S. Open too, as Fitzpatrick defeated Will Zalatoris by one stroke. After finding the fairway bunker off the tee on the difficult par-4 18th, the Englishman hit his second shot onto the green and two-putted for victory. Zalatoris, meanwhile, missed a birdie putt that would have forced a playoff.
The 2022 U.S. Open also occurred one week after the inaugural LIV Golf event in London. At the time, much uncertainty existed about the Saudi-backed tour, and how the future of golf would look.
That tournament also marked Phil Mickelson’s return to major championship golf. In February 2022, Mickelson told author Alan Shipnuck that the Saudi Arabians were “scary motherf***ers,” which led to the six-time major champion taking a leave of absence from the game.
Consequently, Mickelson missed the 2022 Masters and skipped out on the 2022 PGA Championship, a year after becoming the oldest major champion at the 2021 PGA at Kiawah Island.
Whether this amount of theater will play out in 2038 remains to be seen, but the Country Club at Brookline never disappoints.
The club will also host the 2030 U.S. Girls’ Junior, the 2034 U.S. Amateur, and the 2045 U.S. Women’s Open.
Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko for more golf coverage. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThrough too.
