ARCHITECTS - The course was originally developed by Donald Ross and opened in 1903. Rees Jones did the most recent renovations in preparation for this U.S. Open.

DEFENDING CHAMPION - Lee Janzen won his second U.S. Open title in five years, overtaking Payne Stewart down the stretch on the final day. Janzen finished with five consecutive pars, earning victory with an even-par 280, by one stroke over Stewart, who was the leader after each of the first three rounds.

JANZEN DOUBLES UP - With his second Open victory, the 35-year-old Lee Janzen became only the 18th player to win two or more Opens. In fact, Ernie Els also became a two-time winner with his victory in 1997.

JANZEN'S FINAL ROUND OF 68 - With his 2-under-par 68, Janzen was the only player in contention who shot under par for the final round. Among the top six players to finish, the next best score was a 3-over 73.

QUICK RECAP -- Payne Stewart, the leader by four strokes over Tom Lehman and Bob Tway after three rounds (3-under-par 207), shot a final round 74 that included a costly bogey 6 on the 16th hole. Janzen started five strokes behind after three rounds, and fell seven back with bogeys at holes 2 and 3 before rallying to make four birdies the rest of the way.

LEE JANZEN UPON WINNING THE 1998 OPEN - "It's satisfying to know that I went out any played my absolute best to win the one championship I love more than any other… I really feel extremely lucky to have the opportunity to play golf for a living, and to win a second U.S. Open, well you can't do any better than that… After 11 (birdie 3 from 8 feet), I realized I had a chance to win. I kept thinking that this was the U.S. Open, our national championship. I kept reminding myself to stay focused… The confidence will always be there that I can play difficult courses well."

ATTRACTIVE PAIRING - For Thursday and Friday of the U.S. Open, defending champion Lee Janzen will be paired with 1998 British Open champion Mark O'Meara and long-hitting 1998 U.S. Amateur champion Hank Kuehne.

PAIRINGS AND STARTING TIMES - Pairings and starting times will be available Thursday, June 10th, two days after sectional qualifying has been completed. They will be posted on the USGA Internet site at www.usga.org.

MEDIA CONFERENCE WITH LEE JANZEN - Lee Janzen will meet with all interested credentialed media at 2:30 p.m. Tuesday (June 15) in the Media Center at Pinehurst. The complete schedule of pre-championship interviews will be published and distributed prior to Championship week.

USGA TOLL-FREE INTERVIEW HOTLINE - Top players will have broadcast quality interviews available for media use in the weeks prior to the U.S. Open. Call (888) 321-USGA

WWW.USGA.ORG - Log on to the USGA Internet site (www.usopen.com) for the latest U.S. Open information during the championship.

REPEAT WINNER - Curtis Strange, in 1989, was the last golfer to successfully defend his U.S. Open title.

EXEMPT PLAYERS - Sixty-seven players are fully exempt into the 156-player Open field, including 10 past champions - Lee Janzen (1998,1993), Ernie Els (1997,1994), Steve Jones (1996), Corey Pavin (1995), Tom Kite (1992), Payne Stewart (1991), Hale Irwin (1990), Curtis Strange (1989, 1988), Tom Watson (1982), and Jack Nicklaus (1980, 1972, 1967, 1962). A champion receives a full exemption into the field for 10 years.

NICKLAUS' OPEN STREAK AT 43 - The 59-year-old Jack Nicklaus will be playing in his 43rd consecutive U.S. Open, dating back to his first one in 1957 at Inverness Club in Toledo, Ohio, as a amateur. He also holds the Open record for cuts made at 35 after tying for 43rd place last year at The Olympic Club (Calif). Hale Irwin will be playing in his 30th Open, while Tom Watson and Tom Kite will be playing in their 28th.

OPEN A SELLOUT - For the 13th consecutive year the U.S. Open is a sellout, with 30,000 tickets sold for each day of the championship.

OTHER USGA CHAMPIONSHIPS AT PINEHURST (NO. 2) - In all, Pinehurst has been the host for six other USGA championships:

• 1962 U.S. Amateur - Labron Harris rallied from five holes down to defeat Downing Gray, 1 up.
• 1967 World Senior Amateur Team Championship - In the first of only two championships held, the four-man U.S. team won by 17 strokes in a field of 11 teams.
• 1980 World Amateur Team Championship - Jay Sigel, Bob Tway and Hal Sutton were members of this U.S. four-man team that won by 17 strokes in a field of 39 teams.
• 1980 Women's World Amateur Team Championship - Juli Inkster and Carol Semple Thompson helped the U.S. team to a seven-stroke victory in a 28-team field.
• 1989 U.S. Women's Amateur - Vicki Goetz (Ackerman) became the third youngest to win a Women's Amateur, defeating Brandie Burton, 4 and 3.
• 1994 U.S. Senior Open - Simon Hobday faltered down the stretch on the final day, but hung on to shoot 14-under 274 and win by one over Graham Marsh and Jim Albus.

OTHER MAJOR PROFESSIONAL EVENTS AT PINEHURST -

• 1936 PGA Championship - Denny Shute closed out his final match against Jimmy Thompson with an eagle 3 on the 34th hole to win 3 and 2.
• 1951 Ryder Cup - A U.S. team including Ben Hogan and Sam Snead won a lopsided victory, 9˝ to 2˝.
• 1991 PGA Tour Championship - Craig Stadler (5-under-par 279) won over Russ Cockran with a birdie on the second extra hole. The course played at 7,005 yards and par 71
• 1992 PGA Tour Championship - Paul Azinger (8-under-par 276) made this his only victory of the season. Three strokes back were Lee Janzen and Corey Pavin. The course played at 7,005 yards and par 71.

OTHER MAJOR EVENTS AT PINEHURST -- Pinehurst is the home of the annual North and South Amateur championship for men and women. Former USGA president William Campbell won the North and South four times.

THE WINNER'S SHARE - First place money for this Open is $625,000. The total purse in 1999 will be $3.5 million.

OTHER PRIZES - Among the benefits enjoyed by the Open winner are these:

1) an Open exemption for the next 10 years
2) an invitation to the next five Masters Tournaments
3) an invitation to the next 10 British Open Championships
4) an invitation to the next 10 Players Championships
5) an invitation to the next five PGA Championships
6) exempt status on the PGA Tour for five years

• The top 16 finishers are invited to next year's (2000) Masters Tournament
• Only the winner qualifies for this year's (1999) British Open
• Only the winner qualifies for this year's (1999) PGA Championship

Eastern Daylight Times: Thursday and Friday (June 17-18) - 3-5 p.m. on NBC, 12-3 p.m. and 5-7:30 p.m. on ESPN. Saturday and Sunday (June 19-20) - 12:30-7 p.m. on NBC. If an 18-hole playoff is necessary on Monday, ESPN will begin coverage from its noon start, with NBC picking up play at 2 p.m.

HISTORY - This is the 99th U.S. Open Championship. The first was played in 1895. The Open championship was not held for two years (1917-18) during WWI and for four years (1942-45) during WWII.

The youngest winner of the Open was 19-year-old John McDermott, who won in 1911. Eight players 21 or younger have won the Open, but not since Robert Jones did it in 1923. Since then, Jerry Pate is the youngest winner at age 22 in 1976. The oldest winner is Hale Irwin, who was 45 when he won in 1990.

Only four players have ever won the Masters and Open titles in the same year - Craig Wood (1941), Ben Hogan (1951 and 1953), Arnold Palmer (1960) and Jack Nicklaus (1972). Thirteen players have won both events in their professional careers.

COURSE SET-UP - Pinehurst (No. 2) will feature two par 3s and one par 5 on each nine. The layout features the famed hump-backed greens of a Donald Ross design. There are no water hazards. The fairway width will be between 24 (No. 3) and 30 yards (several). The primary rough will measure 4 inches high, and the intermediate rough will be grown to 1˝ inches. The greens will be set to run at 10'6" on the Stimpmeter.

WHO CAN ENTER - The Championship is open to any professional or amateur golfer with a USGA Handicap Index not exceeding 1.4. The deadline for entries was April 23.

ENTRIES - The USGA accepted a record 7,889 entries, an increase of 772 over the previous high total in 1998. In the last three days before the deadline (April 28), 2,771 entries were received, and all but a few of those arrived via overnight mail.

LOCAL QUALIFYING - Local qualifying over 18 holes were held at more than 80 sites in mid-May. From the nearly 7,000 golfers making the attempt to qualify, only about 750 advanced to sectional qualifying.

SECTIONAL QUALIFYING - Sectional qualifying over 36 holes were held at 13 sites on June 7-8. Eighty-nine golfers from sectional qualifying joined the 67 players who were fully exempt into the Open field.

In 1996, Steve Jones was the first non-exempt winner since 1976. He qualified at the Columbus, Ohio, sectional qualifier. In fact, he survived an 11-for-10 playoff at 141 (-3) to earn his place in the field.

CHAMPIONSHIP FIELD - The starting field of 156 golfers will be cut after 36 holes to the low 60 scorers (and ties), and any player within 10 strokes of the leader.

SCHEDULE OF PLAY - Eighteen holes of stroke play is scheduled each day from June 17 (Thursday) through June 20 (Sunday). In the case of a tie after 72 holes, an 18-hole playoff will be held on June 21 (Monday), beginning at noon (EDT). The last playoff was in 1994, a three-way playoff which was won by Ernie Els. The other two players in the playoff were Loren Roberts and Colin Montgomerie.

ON THE RANGE -- More than 12,000 golf balls are used on the practice range at an Open.

PAR AND YARDAGE FOR 1999 - 7,175 yards and par 70. Holes one through nine: No. 1, 404-yard, par 4; No. 2, 447-yard, par 4; No. 3, 335-yard, par 4; No. 4, 566-yard, par 5; No. 5, 482-yard, par 4; No. 6, 222-yard, par 3; No. 7, 398-yard, par 4; No. 8, 485-yard, par 4; No. 9, 179-yard, par 3.

Holes 10 through 18: No. 10, 610-yard, par 5; No. 11, 453-yard, par 4; No. 12, 447-yard par 4; No. 13, 383-yard, par 4; No. 14, 436-yard, par 4; No. 15, 202-yard, par 3; No. 16, 489-yard, par 4; No. 17, 191-yard, par 3; No. 18, 446-yard, par 4.

IMPORTANT PHONE NUMBERS - USGA Communications Department - (908) 234-2300
U.S. Open Championship Office - (910) 295-8151
U.S. Open Media Center (as of 6/11/99) - (910) 235-2138
U.S. Open Media Center Fax (as of 6/11/99) - (910) 235-2144

FOR MORE INFORMATION - Please contact Craig Smith, USGA manager of media relations, at (908) 234-2300 until June 8. Call the Media Center after June 8.