The 1970 U.S. Open was played at the widely criticized Hazeltine National Golf Club near Minneapolis. A Robert Trent Jones design, the layout featured 13 dogleg holes, many of which had blind tee shots.

To exacerbate player concerns, the ground was quite firm and the wind blew hard.

"It lacks definition," said Jack Nicklaus, who tied for 51st.

"I don’t know what to say," said a diplomatic Arnold Palmer, who tied for 54th.

"Jones has so many doglegs out here, he must have laid it out in a kennel," offered Bob Rosburg, who tied for 64th.

"If I had to play this course every day for fun, I’d find another game," said Dave Hill, who finished second. "It lacks 80 acres of corn and a few cows. They ruined a good farm when they built this course."

If the runner-up didn’t like the venue, the champion certainly did. Englishman Tony Jacklin, only 25, played the wind as if he were at home and beat Hill by seven shots.

The USGA returned to a modified Hazeltine National Golf Club with the 1977 U.S. Women’s Open, the 1983 U.S. Senior Open and the 1991 U.S. Open — to far better reviews.

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The USGA gave its first-ever U.S. Open slow-play penalty in 1978 at Cherry Hills Country Club near Denver.

Professional Bob Impaglia took 273 seconds to play his approach shot to the ninth green and incurred a two-stroke penalty.

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Jack Nicklaus and Lee Trevino, two superstars of the day, tied after 72 holes of the 1971 U.S. Open at Merion Golf Club.

Waiting to start at the first tee of the playoff, Trevino tossed a rubber snake to Nicklaus. Trevino’s daughter had put the snake in Trevino’s golf bag. While the snake did not bother Nicklaus, the woman standing next to him let out a series of screams that seemed to shake him.

Nicklaus trailed after the third hole and never caught Trevino, who won by three shots.

The victory came during an impressive streak for Trevino. He held three national titles at the same time, after winning the British and Canadian Opens that summer.

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The 1976 U.S. Open fulfilled a deathbed wish of sorts for Bobby Jones. The USGA took the championship to the Atlanta Athletic Club where the USGA found typical June heat, an atypical Open golf course and an interesting champion.

Jerry Pate, only 22 but winner of the 1974 U.S. Amateur, placed a 194-yard five-iron shot from rough only three feet from the last hole to secure victory. Only Jack Nicklaus was younger in winning this title.

Despite temperatures over 100 degrees, the gallery count in Atlanta topped 100,000, proof that venues outside the usual Open rotation would support the championship.

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George and Tom Fazio were invited to rework some of the holes on Donald Ross’s Inverness Club in Toledo, Ohio, before the 1979 U.S. Open. The club acquired land for the project; the Fazios created new holes and combined some existing ones.

When professional Lon Hinkle decided to take a shortcut Thursday afternoon on the new par-5 eighth hole (a fusion of previous holes), he had an easy one-iron shot, an easy three-iron shot, and two-putted for birdie.

This rankled the USGA, which overnight planted a 25-foot spruce tree to eliminate the shortcut. It was dubbed immediately the "Hinkle Tree" by media.

Next day, Hinkle aimed at a small gap near the tree and played the hole exactly the same way.

No additional trees were planted.

ion into subsequent Opens.

His rights were up in 1990, but the USGA recognized this two-time champion (He also won in 1974) by giving Irwin a "special exemption" to the Open at Medinah Country Club’s No. 3 Course near Chicago.

Irwin made the most of this opportunity, first by dropping a 45-foot birdie putt on the last hole of regulation play, second by tying Mike Donald in the first playoff round, and third by beating Donald in sudden death when he birdied the first hole.

(The current U.S. Open format calls for a hole-by-hole playoff if the matter is not determined by an 18-hole playoff.)

The U.S. Open at Pinehurst is the ninth of Irwin’s current 10-year exemption.

In the 1993 U.S. Open at Baltusrol Golf Club in northern New Jersey, John Daly set a championship record — his usual kind.

No one had reached the 630-yard 17th hole in two shots in an Open. During the second round, Daly hit a driver and a one-iron shot to the putting surface and two-putted for birdie.

Daly tied for 33rd, 12 shots behind winner Lee Janzen.