United States Open Golf Championship-menone of the world's major golf tournaments, open to both amateur and professional golfers (hence the name). It has been held annually since 1895 under supervision of the United States Golf Association. Since 1898 the competition has been 72 holes of stroke play (the player with the lowest total number of strokes is the winner). Regional qualifying tournaments have been held since 1924 to keep the number of players manageable, although golfers become eligible to compete in the Open by winning specified tournaments. (For a list of U.S. Open champions, see table (United States Open Golf Championship-men).)