2002 U.S. SENIOR OPEN FACT SHEET

June 27-30
Caves Valley Golf Club
Baltimore, Md.

PAR AND YARDAGE - Caves Valley Golf Club is set at 7,005 yards and par is 35-36--71.

THE ARCHITECT - Caves Valley Golf Club was designed by Tom Fazio and opened in 1991. It is the newest golf course (11 years old) to host a U.S. Senior Open.

DEFENDING CHAMPION - Starting the final round four shots out of the lead held by Isao Aoki, Bruce Fleisher fired a 2-under-par 68 to finish at even par 280 and win the 2001 U.S. Senior Open by one stroke over Aoki and Gil Morgan at Salem Country Club in Peabody, Mass. The win marked Fleisher's second USGA title. He also won the 1968 U.S. Amateur. Fleisher joins Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer as the third player to win both the Senior Open and the Amateur. His 33 years between USGA championships betters a record previously held by Marlene Streit of 29 years between her 1956 U.S. Women's Amateur title and her 1985 USGA Senior Women's Amateur win. He was the third-round leader at the 2000 U.S. Senior Open but finished as a runner-up to Hale Irwin.

2001 RE-CAP - Fleisher played in the third-to-last group in the final round and when he finished at even par, he was tied with three other players (Isao Aoki, Jim Colbert and Gil Morgan), who were still on the course. Of the contenders, he was the only player to record a par on the short but treacherous 18^th hole.

He recorded three birdies and a bogey the first six holes of his final round before reeling off 12 straight pars.

QUOTING THE CHAMPION, BRUCE FLEISHER - "I ran into Gary Player before the round," Fleisher said. "He said: 'Bruce, this is your day. This is your time. You can take this thing. All you've got to do is focus, believe in yourself. You've already had a wonderful year. There's really no reason you can't pull this off.'"

MORE QUOTES FROM FLEISHER: "To have four guys at even par with two holes left and one guy hang on doesn't really surprise me because of the difficulty that this golf course gives you. So be it. I did it. I'm excited and I'm glad it's over. I did not want to go back out (tomorrow) for four holes."

QUOTES, TAKE THREE - "I will come off this high shortly. It's something that I will remember for a long time. I won on a very difficult golf course, playing the best the game has to offer in years past. It's something to be very proud of."

FLEISHER AT THE SENIOR OPEN - Here's a quick look at Bruce Fleisher's performance record at the U.S. Senior Open.

TICKETS - A total of 22,500 tickets per day will be sold for the 2002 U.S. Senior Open. Weekly packages of $250 and $125 per admission are available as are four-day (Thursday through Sunday) championship tickets for $100 each and three-day (Monday through Wednesday) practice tickets for $50 each. For more information, please call (410) 654-2270.

MEDIA CONFERENCE WITH BRUCE FLEISHER - Defending champion Bruce Fleisher will meet with all interested credentialed media at 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday, June 26, in the Media Center at Caves Valley Golf Club. The complete schedule of pre-championship interviews will be published and distributed prior to Championship week at the Media Center and media hotel.

PAIRINGS AND STARTING TIMES - Pairings and starting times will be available Friday, June 21. They will be posted on the USGA Internet site at www.usga.org.

USGA INTERVIEW HOTLINE - Listen to the USGA Interview Hotline for pre-championship interviews in broadcast quality. Hear Bruce Fleisher and other contenders by calling toll-free (888) 321-USGA in June. You can also access them over the USGA Internet site at www.usga.org.

WWW.USGA.ORG - Log onto the USGA Internet www.usga.org for the latest U.S. Senior Open information during the Championship.

PURSE - The 2002 purse is $2.5 million, up from $2.4 million in 2001, and the winner receives $450,000.

FORMAT - The championship is played at stroke play over 72 holes. There are 156 players in the championship field, comprised of those advancing from sectional qualifying, and those exempt from sectional qualifying. After 36 holes, the field is cut to the 60 lowest scorers and ties and anyone within 10 strokes of the leader.

PLAYOFF FORMAT - If a playoff is needed, the U.S. Senior Open will use a multiple-hole, aggregate score format. If there is a tie or ties at the end of 72 holes, a 3- or 4-hole playoff will follow immediately. If the playoff results in a tie, play will continue hole-by-hole until a champion is determined.

CHAMPIONSHIP HISTORY - First played in 1980, this is the 23rd U.S. Senior Open Championship.

TELEVISION COVERAGE - All times listed are Eastern Daylight Time (EDT).

A playoff for the 2002 U.S. Senior Open would be played Sunday, June 30, starting immediately after the completion of 72 holes. NBC would broadcast the playoff in its entirety.

SECOND VISIT TO CAVES VALLEY - The Senior Open is making its first stop at Caves Valley in 2002. However, Caves Valley served as the site of the 1995 U.S. Mid-Amateur after opening just four years earlier. Jerry Courville won the Mid-Amateur title in 1995, defeating Warren Sye, 1 up.

MORE CHAMPIONSHIPS - In 2005, the Caves Valley will serve as the site of the NCAA Men's Division I Golf Championship.

MARYLAND AND THE USGA: Maryland will be host for its 19th USGA championship and second Senior Open when the 2002 Senior Open arrives in Baltimore. The most recent was the 1997 U.S. Open at Congressional C.C. in Bethesda. Congressional also hosted the 1995 U.S. Senior Open. The first USGA championship in Maryland was the 1899 U.S. Open at Baltimore C.C.

REPEAT AND MULTIPLE WINNERS - Miller Barber (1984 and 1985) and Gary Player (1987 and 1988) are the only players with back-to-back Senior Open victories. Hale Irwin (1998 and 2000) and Jack Nicklaus (1991 and 1993), are the only other multiple winners.

WINNERS OF U.S. OPEN & U.S. SENIOR OPEN - With his victory at Riviera Country Club in 1998, Hale Irwin became the seventh man to win both the U.S. Open and U.S. Senior Open. Here's a table detailing these multiple winners:

EXEMPT PLAYERS - A total of 71 players are exempt into the 156-player Senior Open field.

PAST CHAMPIONS - All 17 past champions are exempt for future Senior Opens.

Note: The champions in italics did not enter in 2002.

TWO TEES - Players start on both the first and 10^th tees during competition on Thursday and Friday, beginning at 7:15 a.m.

EXEMPT AMATEURS - Six amateurs are exempt from qualifying for the 2002 Senior Open, including 2001 USGA Senior Amateur champion Kemp Richardson. Others who are exempt are O. Gordon Brewer, Thomas Jung, Bill Ploeger, Paul Simson and Bill Shean Jr. Simson is exempt by virtue of being the low amateur at the 2001 Senior Open and Shean won the USGA Senior Amateur in 2000. The others are semifinalists from the 2001 USGA Senior Amateur.

2002 ENTRIES - In 2002, the USGA accepted a record 3,101 entries. The previous record was 3,007 in 2000.

WHO CAN ENTER - The Senior Open is open to any professional or amateur with a USGA Handicap Index not exceeding 3.4 who turns 50 on or before June 27, 2002.

SECTIONAL QUALIFYING AT 44 SITES FROM JUNE 3-18: Sectional qualifying was conducted at 44 sites from June 3-18. The closest local site to Caves Valley was the Country Club of Woodmore in Mitchellville, Md., on June 10.

HONORARY CHAIRMAN - President George H.W. Bush will serve as honorary chairman of the 2002 U.S. Senior Open. The 41^st President is the grandson of George Herbert Walker and son of Prescott Bush, both of whom are former USGA Presidents.

HOLE-BY-HOLE - CavesValley Golf Club will play at 7,005 yards, par 71.

FUTURE SENIOR OPENS -- The U.S. Senior Open will be played at The Inverness Club in Toledo, Ohio, June 26-29, 2003; at Bellerive C.C. in St. Louis, Mo., July 29-August 1, 2004; and at Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club in North Plains, Ore., August 3-6, 2006.

CHAMPIONSHIP OFFICE - The championship office address is: 2002 U.S. Senior Open, P.O. Box 42826, Baltimore, Md. 21284. Reg Jones is the championship director and Lee Bowman and Danny Cink are the championship manager and coordinator, respectively. They can reached at (410) 654-5000.

USGA MEDIA RELATIONS CONTACTS - For more information contact Pete Kowalski at 908-234-2300. The Media Center at Caves Valley Golf Club will be staffed as of June 20. The Media Center phone number is (410) 581-2720 and the Media Center fax number is (410) 581-2725.

Players Fully Exempt For The 2002 U.S. Senior Open (71)

Key to Player Exemptions

 1. Former winners of the U.S. Senior Open.
 2.  Winners of the U.S. Open in the last 10 years. (1992-2001)
 3.  Winners of the U.S. Amateur in the last 10 years. (1992-2001)
 4.  Winners of the Masters Tournament in the last 10 years. (1993-2002)
 5.  Winners of the British Open in the last 10 years. (1992-2001)
 6.  Winners of the PGA Championship in the last 10 years. (1992-2001)
 7.  Winners of the PGA Seniors Championship in the last 10 years. (1992-2001)
 8 . Winner of the 2001 British Senior Open Championship.
 9.  The 25 lowest scorers from the 2001 U.S. Senior Open.
10. The low amateur at the 2001 U.S. Senior Open.
11.  Winners of the USGA Senior Amateur in the last two years. (2000, 2001)
12.  Semifinalists for the 2001 USGA Senior Amateur.
13.  Playing members of the U.S. and European Ryder Cup teams in the last 10 years. (1992-2001)
14. The top 30 money leaders from the 2001 Senior PGA Tour money list.
15. The top 50 players on the Senior PGA Tour all-time money list through May 15, 2002.
16. The top 20 money leaders on the 2002 Senior PGA Tour money list through May 15, 2002.
17.  Winners of Senior PGA Tour events in the last three years (1999-2001) and the current calendar year.
18. Winners of PGA Tour events in the last five years and the current calendar year before the 2002 Championship. (1997-2001)
19. Any player turning 50 in the last calendar year who has won a U.S. Open, U.S. Amateur, Masters Tournament, British Open, British Amateur, or PGA Championship (one-time exemption)
20. Special exemptions as selected by the USGA Executive Committee.
21. The leading money winner from the 2001 Senior PGA European Tour Order of Merit.