The top moments from U.S. Opens held in California

The first-ever U.S. Open held in California, and on the West Coast for that matter, came at Riviera Country Club in 1948. The event produced Ben Hogan's first of four U.S. Open championships. The Los Angeles club, which hosted only one U.S. Open, also became known as "Hogan's Alley" after he won there for the third time in a span of less than 18 months.

Lost amid Ben Hogan's triumph at Riviera was the presence of Ted Rhodes in the 1948 U.S. Open field. Rhodes, who was said to have often played golf with boxing legend Joe Louis, became the first professional African-American to play in the U.S. Open, as legend has it. Rhodes, often regarded as the first black professional golfer in history, finished 51st.

In addition to being the first time The Olympic Club, located in San Francisco, hosted the U.S. Open, the 1955 event marked the legendary Byron Nelson's final appearance at this particular major. Nelson, who won the 1939 U.S. Open for one of his five major victories, was semi-retired at the time but played well enough to place 28th.

Arguably the biggest upset in the history of major tournament golf came at The Olympic Club in 1955. Jack Fleck, a little-known course pro from Iowa, made his way into an 18-hole playoff after he birdied the 18th in the final round to tie legend Ben Hogan. In that playoff, Fleck stunned Hogan, who was looking for a fifth U.S. Open victory, by posting a two-shot win.

Billy Casper is responsible for perhaps the greatest comeback in U.S. Open history. That came in 1966 at The Olympic Club, when the 1959 U.S. Open champion made up a seven-stroke deficit on the back nine to catch Arnold Palmer with a final-round 68. Casper then managed to outlast Palmer, and in fitting fashion, he had to come back from a two-shot hole to win by four strokes.

Amid difficult conditions during the 1972 U.S. Open, and first at famed Pebble Beach, the great Jack Nicklaus hit one of the most memorable tee shots in the history of the tournament en route to his third victory of its kind. Nicklaus cracked a 1-iron on the 219-yard, par-3 17th hole that hit the flag stick and fell just inches from the hole. The Golden Bear made the easy tap-in to pave the way to his title.

Though Lee Trevino did not win the 1972 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, his valiant run to a T4 finish should not be overlooked. Why? Because the defending U.S. Open champ was in the hospital several days prior to the event with pneumonia. Yet he found a way to not only play in the tournament but also post one of the more inspirational performances of his Hall of Fame career.

A decade after Jack Nicklaus just missed a hole-in-one with one of the greatest shots in the tournament's history, Tom Watson might have outdone him — on the same 17th hole. After missing the green on his tee shot, Watson's ball lie in the rough, facing a tough up-and-down but not that far from the cup. In spectacular fashion, one of golf's best short-game players flopped and rolled the chip in for birdie and the lead. He went on to birdie 18 and top runner-up Nicklaus for his only U.S. Open victory.

The first of two Simpsons to win the U.S. Open at The Olympic Club, Scott Simpson put forth a spirited effort while carding a final-round 68 en route to passing 54-hole leader Tom Watson to win his only major. The leader in the clubhouse on Sunday, Simpson had to sweat things out while Watson missed a 35-foot birdie putt that would have forced a playoff.

Ten years after Watson posted his memorable victory at Pebble Beach, another Tom was finally able to call himself a major champion at the 1992 U.S. Open. With the winds whipping all weekend at Pebble, Tom Kite managed to stand firm and finished at 3-under (one of only two golfers to shoot under par for the event) to win his only major title, at age 42. 

One of the toughest U.S. Opens, at least in the eyes of a good amount of competitors, was held at The Olympic Club in 1998. Like Billy Casper in '66 at the famous San Francisco track, Lee Janzen also came back from being seven shots down to win the tournament by one stroke over Payne Stewart, who led after each of the previous three rounds. Several golfers complained about Olympic's Sunday pin placements, specifically on No. 18, which was set at the top of a slope. 

There have been dominant performances in majors, and then there was Tiger Woods' blistering performance at Pebble Beach during the 2000 U.S. Open. In his prime and loaded with confidence, Woods didn't just run away from the field, but he obliterated it to the point that it seemed he was capable of winning every event he played. Tiger finished with a 12-under-par 272, a record 15 strokes better than runners-up Miguel Angel Jimenez and Ernie Els. 

After falling down the stretch in the 1998 U.S. Open, Payne Stewart found redemption by winning the '99 event at Pinehurst. Sadly, Stewart never got the chance to defend his title the next year when Pebble Beach again hosted the U.S. Open. Stewart, who died in a plane crash in October 1999, caused by the loss of cabin air pressure, was honored on the Wednesday before the 2000 tournament with a "21-tee salute."   A group of golfers, including Phil Mickelson and David Duval, simultaneously hit balls into the ocean in honor of the fallen star.

For as easy as Tiger Woods made winning the U.S. Open at Pebble in 2000, fans didn't know until after the 2008 installment at San Diego's Torrey Pines how difficult a time it was for him to capture that one. Playing with a broken leg and ACL tear, Woods sank perhaps the most memorable 12-foot putt in the history of the event on the 72nd hole to force a Monday playoff with Rocco Mediate. That putt sent the gallery into a frenzy and Tiger on the most famous celebratory reaction of his storied career. Woods actually needed 19 holes the next day to top Mediate for what would be his last major victory until the 2019 Masters.

While Tiger Woods' 2000 dominance of Pebble Beach gets plenty of the attention, lost in the mix of the U.S. Opens at this grand location is Graeme McDowell's triumph when it last hosted in 2010. Northern Ireland's McDowell not only won his first major title but also became the first European golfer to win the U.S. Open since England's Tony Jacklin in 1970.

Until this year, San Francisco's Olympic Club was the most recent from the state to host the U.S. Open. Webb Simpson claimed his only major championship to date. He did so in entertaining fashion by beating Graeme McDowell and Michael Thompson by one stroke during the fifth U.S. Open to be played at the historic Bay Area club.

With a sixth time hosting the U.S. Open this week, Pebble Beach ties for the third-most in the history of the event. There are plenty of storylines to follow. The obvious: Brooks Koepka looking to become only the second player to win three straight U.S. Opens and Phil Mickelson trying again for that elusive victory in the tournament to complete his career grand slam.