History Of The US Open Trophy

As the prize for winning one of the four Majors, the US Open trophy is one of the most famous in the game. However, the one you see on TV being handed to the winner at the conclusion of each year's tournament is not the original. 

The USGA commissioned the Gorham Corporation to provide the first trophy way back in 1895, which was made of stirling silver and stood 18 inches tall, but another was needed after that perished in 1946. 

But what happened to the original? Well, the winner that year, Lloyd Mangrum, displayed it at his local clubhouse near Chicago. While it was there, though, the clubhouse went up in flames and took the trophy with it.

After the second trophy, an exact replica, was presented to the USGA in 1947, it was handed to the winner until it was retired in 1986, and it now resides at the USGA Golf Museum in New Jersey. That means when the winner receives the trophy nowadays, he actually takes home the third US Open trophy, which he then keeps for the following 12 months.

At the end of that time, the trophy is returned to the USGA, whereupon the player is given a replica, around 90% of the original's size, which he keeps for good.

As well as that perk of winning the US Open, the player is also awarded the Jack Nicklaus medal during the trophy presentation, a tradition that is a remnant of a practice from the first US Open in 1895. Back then, the winner's club was handed the trophy for the next year, with the champion being awarded a medal.

Like the trophy, the medal didn't have a name, but that all changed in 2012 to honour the four-time US Open winner. At the same time, it was given a standard design featuring Nicklaus' famous golf swing.

At one point, it looked as though the USGA may need to commission a fourth US Open trophy, too. That's because, after Rory McIlroy won the Major in 2011, he made a point of taking it with him to events over the next year, until that plan hit the buffers when it was shipped to China for McIlroy's appearance at the Shanghai Masters.

Instead of being shown off at the tournament, it was impounded by Chinese customs officials, given McIlroy's management company and the USGA the headache of negotiating to get it back.

Thankfully, they managed it, and the US Open trophy was returned in time for the 2012 Major at San Francisco's Olympic Club, and into the grateful hands of its next recipient, Webb Simpson, who had no such dramas during his stewardship of it.