A look at a few memorable moments in U.S. Open history

NEW YORK (Reuters) -- The U.S. Open, the second and usually the toughest of the year's four major championships, was first held as a relatively low-key event at Newport Golf Club in 1895.

Unsurprisingly, it was overshadowed by the inaugural U.S. Amateur which was played on the same course that year during the same week.

The U.S. Open fully established itself in 1913 when 20-year-old American amateur Francis Ouimet stunned the golfing world by beating renowned English professionals Harry Vardon and Ted Ray in a playoff at The Country Club.

By the end of World War Two, the tournament had become important at the highest level and gained a significant surge in popularity when Georgia amateur Bobby Jones dominated the it with four victories between 1923 and 1930.

Spectator tickets were sold for the first time in 1922 and, following a boom in entries, the United States Golf Association (USGA) -- the tournament's organising body -- introduced sectional qualifying in 1924.

For American players, the championship has become the most important of the four majors to win, as well as the most difficult given its traditionally tight layouts flanked by punishing rough.

Following are some of the most memorable moments in U.S. Open history:

1930

Bobby Jones, widely regarded as the greatest amateur in the history of the game, won the last of his four U.S. Open titles at Interlachen when he holed a 40-foot putt on the 18th green to clinch victory by two strokes from Macdonald Smith.

Possibly his key shot, and certainly his most memorable, that week came at the ninth hole during the second round.

Jones had topped a shot into the water but, remarkably, the ball skimmed off the surface like a flat pebble and bounced across to safety on the other side.

The 'Lily Pad Shot', as it became known, was a crucial factor in helping Jones to clinch his fourth U.S. Open crown in just eight years. Even more significantly, it helped him to secure the third leg of what became his famous grand slam.

Jones completed the 'Impregnable Quadrilateral' in 1930 by winning the amateur and open championships of both Britain and the United States. He then retired from competitive golf.

1950

Just 16 months after breaking his pelvis, a shoulder, a rib and an ankle in a car accident that almost killed him, Ben Hogan played through extreme pain and nausea to win his second U.S. Open in an 18-hole playoff with George Fazio and Lloyd Mangrum.

The last two rounds had to be played on the final day and Hogan, after opening scores of 72 and 69, stayed in title contention by carding a third-round 72 in the morning with no ill effects.

Going into the final nine holes, though, he suffered acute cramp in his left leg and came close to withdrawing from the tournament when he reached the 13th green, situated close to the clubhouse.

He feared he would be unable to walk, let alone play, the last five holes but managed to stumble on. After hitting a superb one-iron approach to set up a par at the 72nd hole and tie Fazio and Mangrum with a total of 287, he won the playoff the following day, carding a 69 to beat Mangrum by four strokes and Fazio by six.

Hogan went on to win two more U.S. Open titles -- in 1951 and 1953.

1960

Arnold Palmer's first shot in the final round at Cherry Hills set the tone for a brilliant closing round of 65 and one of the greatest last-day victory charges in major championship history.

Palmer began the fourth round seven strokes behind leader Mike Souchak, having been told by American golf writer Bob Drum that he had no chance of winning because he was too far back.

Fired up by these doubts, Palmer coolly drove the green at the 346-yard opening hole after ripping into one of his trademark slashing drives. He two-putted for birdie, picked up a further five shots in the next six holes and relentlessly moved to his only sub-70 round of the tournament.

He covered the front nine in a U.S. Open record of 30, played the back nine in 35 and won the championship by two strokes from Jack Nicklaus.

Although it proved to be the only U.S. Open title of his career, Palmer's dashing 65 was a defining moment in the game and helped to make him among the most recognisable sportsman in the world.

He had also come from behind with birdies on the final two holes to win that year's U.S. Masters by a shot from Ken Venturi. The last-day Palmer charge was now part of golfing folklore.

1980

Aged 40, Jack Nicklaus improved his own U.S. Open scoring record by three strokes when he won the championship for a record-equalling fourth time with a 72-hole aggregate of 272 at Baltusrol Golf Club.

Nicklaus, who won the title by two shots from Japan's Isao Aoki, had established the previous mark of 275 at the same course in 1967.

After setting the first-round pace with Tom Weiskopf on 63, Nicklaus never relinquished the lead. He and Aoki were level going into the final day but Nicklaus fired a two-under-par 68 to the Japanese player's 70 to complete a wire-to-wire victory.

By clinching his fourth U.S. Open crown, Nicklaus matched the achievements of Bobby Jones, Willie Anderson and Ben Hogan.

Nicklaus had won his first U.S. Open in his rookie season of 1962 and followed up with further triumphs in 1967 and 1972.

1982

Tom Watson won his only U.S. Open title at Pebble Beach after producing one of the most dramatic finishes in the tournament's history.

He had shared the lead with Nicklaus going into the final round and, after a bogey at the 16th, was still level with two holes to play.

Nicklaus, though, was safely in the clubhouse after closing with a 69 and Watson needed to make successive pars on two of the toughest closing holes in championship golf to force a playoff.

At the long, par-three 17th, he pulled his tee shot into thick rough to the back left of the green from where he faced a near-impossible chip from 18 feet on to a down slope.

Undaunted, though, he confidently told his caddie Bruce Edwards he was going to hole the shot. With sand wedge in hand, he made good contact and the ball landed on the edge of the green before rolling into the hole for a remarkable birdie-two.

Arms aloft, Watson set off on a victory jig around the green and then birdied the 18th to win the tournament by two shots.

1990

Hale Irwin, aged 45, became the oldest winner in U.S. Open history when he won the title for the third time after a playoff with journeyman Mike Donald at Medinah.

The bespectacled Irwin had won the tournament at Winged Foot in 1974 and at Inverness in 1979. A full 11 years later, he holed a monster putt from 45 feet at the 72nd hole to tie Donald for the lead at eight under after regulation play.

U.S. Masters champion Nick Faldo and Billy Ray Brown both missed makeable putts at the last to finish a shot away from joining Donald and Irwin in the title playoff.

Donald led Irwin by a stroke after 17 extra holes but hooked his tee shot into trees at the 18th before running up a bogey as both players carded 74s.

Irwin made the most of Donald's error at the 19th hole, sinking a birdie putt from eight feet to become the fifth player to collect three U.S. Open titles.

1999

Payne Stewart had won his first U.S. Open at Hazeltine in 1991 but struggled to maintain consistent form over the following six years.

Although he played in the 1993 Ryder Cup, he failed to make the U.S. team in 1995 and 1997 and it seemed he would have to settle for a career haul of two major titles -- having also won the 1989 U.S. PGA Championship at Kemper Lakes.

In 1999 at Pinehurst, however, Stewart found himself locked in a rollercoaster last-day battle for honours with Phil Mickelson, the pair exchanging the lead several times until Mickelson forged one clear with three holes remaining.

Both players reached the 16th green in three shots but Stewart holed his par-putt from 25 feet while Mickelson missed from eight. The lead was once again tied.

At the short 17th, Stewart edged a stroke ahead, making birdie after hitting a six-iron to within five feet of the flag while Mickelson missed his own birdie chance from six feet.

Although a playoff seemed to be looming when Stewart's drive at the last found thick rough, he managed to preserve his one-shot advantage by sinking a 15-foot putt for par. A closing 70 gave him a 72-hole total of one-under-par 279 and a second U.S. Open crown.

2000

Tiger Woods, firmly established as the world number one, was in a class of his own as he romped to his first U.S. Open victory by a tournament record 15 strokes at Pebble Beach.

He opened with an impressive six-under-par 65 and followed up with a second-round 69. Although he struggled a little in strong winds to return a 71 on day three, he was a massive nine ahead of his closest challengers going into the final round.

Despite a slight breeze on the last day, he produced flawless golf to card a four-under-par 67, obliterating the field with a record-equalling championship aggregate of 12-under 272 for a memorable wire-to-wire triumph in the 100th U.S. Open.

Only Jack Nicklaus, at Baltusrol in 1980, and Lee Janzen, also at Baltusrol in 1993, had previously matched his 72-hole score in a U.S. Open.

Ernie Els and Miguel Angel Jimenez were well adrift of Woods in a tie for second place at three-over-par 287, after closing with a 72 and 71 respectively.