U.S. Senior Open Championship

The premier event in senior golf in 2003— the 24^th U.S. Senior Open — became the eighth major tournament hosted by Inverness in its 100 years of rich golfing tradition. Each of the first three days produced a new leader. The excitement was unforgettable. Tom Watson fired an opening round 66, becoming the first golfer ever to lead the initial round of both the U.S. Open and the U.S Senior Open, in the same year. Vincente Fernandez shot a second round 64, one shot more than the competitive course record Vijay Singh shot in the 1993 PGA Championship. Bruce Lietzke’s third round 64 established a four-shot lead going into the final day. Overcoming bogies on 17^th and 18^th, at the conclusion of play on Sunday, Lietzke had won his first career major championship, in this, his 53^rd major championship appearance, shooting two over par for the day. Only Lietzke (-7), Watson (-5) and Fernandez (-4) finished under par and only the 13^th hole, a par-5, played under par for the tournament.

Making his debut at Inverness in 1957, golf legend Jack Nicklaus made his last Inverness appearance, at the 2003 U.S. Senior Open. He finished nine over par, tied for 25^th place. Here is an excerpt from his post tournament interview:

Do you wish you had another crack at it (Inverness), one more crack?

JACK NICKLAUS:
“No, I have had enough cracks at this golf course. I finished up — this is the last time I’m going to play this place. That’s fine. I never played well here. I said that at the beginning of the week. I always had trouble with it. It’s not my style of golf course from the way I play golf. It’s a golf course that you really have to grind it out, not hit it long, hit it very straight, chip and putt very well for four days. Not that I don’t like it. I like it. It’s just always been very difficult for me.”