Congressional wants to host 2026 U.S. Open

*From the July 4 issue of Golf World Monday:

With U.S. Open venues locked up through 2019, the USGA isn't in a hurry to consider additional championship sites, but one bid for its flagship event that could be on the table soon is for the 2026 edition.

Golf World has learned that Congressional CC wants to host a fourth Open -- even after the scoring onslaught perpetrated on its cushy canvas in the recent 111th Open -- and club officials are locked in on the championship 15 years hence. The 2026 date would return the national championship to the nation's capital just weeks before the 250th anniversary of the country's birth.

** There is precedent with golf's ruling organization acknowledging significant dates when choosing Open sites. To commemorate its 100th anniversary, the USGA held the 1995 U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills, one of the organization's five founding clubs. Last year Pebble Beach GL was awarded the 2019 Open to coincide with its 100th birthday.

Some will question whether Congressional's Blue Course is worthy of another championship. To that we say, why not? The 2011 U.S. Open might not have been the traditional exacting examination, but it produced a worthy champion in Rory McIlroy. And though it didn't meet the standard definition of a great championship, who could argue that it wasn't memorable?

--Dave Shedloski