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1994 U.S. Open (golf)

Coordinates: 40°31′34″N 79°49′37″W / 40.526°N 79.827°W / 40.526; -79.827
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1994 U.S. Open
Tournament information
DatesJune 16–20, 1994
LocationOakmont, Pennsylvania
Course(s)Oakmont Country Club
Tour(s)PGA Tour
Statistics
Par71
Length6,946 yards (6,351 m)[1]
Field159 players, 65 after cut
Cut147 (+5)
Prize fund$1.7 million
Winner's share$320,000
Champion
South Africa Ernie Els
279 (−5), playoff
← 1993
1995 →
Oakmont CC is located in the United States
Oakmont CC
Oakmont CC
Oakmont CC is located in Pennsylvania
Oakmont CC
Oakmont CC

The 1994 U.S. Open was the 94th U.S. Open, held June 16–20 at Oakmont Country Club in Oakmont, Pennsylvania, a suburb northeast of Pittsburgh. Ernie Els, age 24, won the first of his four major titles on the second sudden-death hole to defeat Loren Roberts, after Colin Montgomerie was eliminated in an 18-hole playoff.[2] (Both Roberts and Montgomerie were winless in major championships, but each won several senior majors while on the Champions Tour.) It was the seventh U.S. Open and tenth major held at Oakmont, and was Arnold Palmer's final U.S. Open as a participant.

Palmer's last

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Palmer, age 64, played in his final U.S. Open in 1994. He had not played in the tournament in eleven years, since it was last at Oakmont in 1983, but received an exemption by the USGA to play in his home state. As an amateur, his first U.S. Open in 1953 was also played at Oakmont, won by Ben Hogan.

Television

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This was the last U.S. Open for ABC Sports, which had televised the U.S. Open in the United States since 1966, 29 consecutive years.[3] NBC Sports televised the event for twenty years, from 1995 through 2014. Starting in 2015, Fox Sports began a 12-year contract to televise the championship and other USGA events. NBC regained the rights to the U.S. Open in 2020 after taking over Fox's contract.

Course layout

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Hole 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Out 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 In Total
Yards 463 342 421 560 378 195 431 249 474 3,513 458 378 598 181 356 467 228 315 452 3,433 6,946
Par 4 4 4 5 4 3 4 3 5 36 4 4 5 3 4 4 3 4 4 35 71

Source:[1]

Lengths of the course for previous major championships:

Round summaries

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First round

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Thursday, June 16, 1994

Place Player Score To par
1 United States Tom Watson 68 −3
T2 South Africa Ernie Els 69 −2
United States Hale Irwin
United States Jack Nicklaus
New Zealand Frank Nobilo
T6 Japan Masashi Ozaki 70 −1
United States Curtis Strange
United States Kirk Triplett
United States Scott Verplank
T10 United States Mark Calcavecchia 71 E
United States Ben Crenshaw
United States Clark Dennis
Australia Bradley Hughes
United States Steve Lowery
United States Jeff Maggert
Japan Hajime Meshiai
Scotland Colin Montgomerie
Australia Greg Norman
United States Dave Rummells
United States Jim Thorpe
United States Don Walsworth
United States Mark Wurtz

Second round

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Friday, June 17, 1994

Place Player Score To par
1 Scotland Colin Montgomerie 71-65=136 −6
T2 United States John Cook 73-65=138 −4
United States David Edwards 73-65=138
United States Hale Irwin 69-69=138
T5 United States Jeff Maggert 71-68=139 −3
United States Jack Nicklaus 69-70=139
T7 South Africa Ernie Els 69-71=140 −2
New Zealand Frank Nobilo 69-71=140
United States Steve Pate 74-66=140
United States Curtis Strange 70-70=140

Amateurs: Alexander (+7).

Third round

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Saturday, June 18, 1994

Place Player Score To par
1 South Africa Ernie Els 69-71-66=206 −7
2 New Zealand Frank Nobilo 69-71-68=208 −5
T3 United States Hale Irwin 69-69-71=209 −4
Scotland Colin Montgomerie 71-65-73=209
United States Loren Roberts 76-69-64=209
United States Tom Watson 68-73-68=209
T7 United States Steve Lowery 71-71-68=210 −3
United States Curtis Strange 70-70-70=210
T9 United States John Cook 73-65-73=211 −2
Australia Greg Norman 71-71-69=211
United States Steve Pate 74-66-71=211

Final round

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Sunday, June 19, 1994

Els shot a 66 (−5) in the third round to take a two-shot lead. At the start of the Sunday's final round, Els was the beneficiary of a controversial ruling. After he hit his opening drive into deep rough, a tournament official ruled that a broadcast truck and aerial camera was in his line of play. He was allowed to take a drop in a spot where escape was much more likely, but still ended up with a bogey on the hole. Afterwards, some pundits suggested that the ruling was wrong and Els should have been forced to play from his original location, since it was possible to move the aerial camera out of the way. Roberts and Montgomerie both recorded a 70 (−1) in the round to challenge Els. Roberts could have posted a −6 (278) clubhouse score, but he missed a par putt on the 18th. Strange was in contention most of the day, but made bogeys on 15 and 16 and a birdie on 18 left him at −4 (280). Els needed par on the last to hold off Roberts and Montgomerie, but he hit his drive into the rough and made bogey from there, forcing a three-way playoff. It was the first three-way playoff at the U.S. Open in 31 years, when Julius Boros defeated Jacky Cupit and Palmer in 1963.

Place Player Score To par Money ($)
T1 South Africa Ernie Els 69-71-66-73=279 −5 Playoff
Scotland Colin Montgomerie 71-65-73-70=279
United States Loren Roberts 76-69-64-70=279
4 United States Curtis Strange 70-70-70-70=280 −4 75,728
5 United States John Cook 73-65-73-71=282 −2 61,318
T6 United States Clark Dennis 71-71-70-71=283 −1 49,485
Australia Greg Norman 71-71-69-72=283
United States Tom Watson 68-73-68-74=283
T9 United States Jeff Maggert 71-68-75-70=284 E 37,179
New Zealand Frank Nobilo 69-71-68-76=284
United States Jeff Sluman 72-69-72-71=284
United States Duffy Waldorf 74-68-73-69=284

Scorecard

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Final round

Hole 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18
Par 4 4 4 5 4 3 4 3 5 4 4 5 3 4 4 3 4 4
South Africa Els −6 −6 −6 −7 −7 −7 −7 −6 −6 −7 −6 −6 −6 −6 −7 −6 −6 −5
Scotland Montgomerie −4 −4 −4 −5 −5 −5 −6 −6 −7 −7 −6 −5 −4 −5 −4 −4 −5 −5
United States Roberts −4 −4 −4 −4 −4 −4 −4 −5 −6 −5 −6 −6 −7 −7 −6 −6 −6 −5
United States Strange −3 −3 −4 −5 −6 −6 −6 −5 −5 −4 −5 −5 −4 −5 −4 −3 −3 −4
United States Cook −2 −3 −3 −3 −3 −3 −3 −2 −1 E E E E −1 −1 −1 −2 −2
New Zealand Nobilo −5 −4 −2 −3 −4 −4 −4 −4 −4 −3 −2 −1 −1 −1 E E E E

Cumulative tournament scores, relative to par

Birdie Bogey Double bogey

Source:[4]

Playoff

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Monday, June 20, 1994

All three players struggled as the Monday playoff began. Montgomerie recorded double-bogey at the 2nd, 3rd, and 11th and fell out of contention. Els began the playoff bogey-triple bogey,[5] while Roberts double-bogeyed the 5th. Roberts had a one-stroke lead over Els on the 16th, but he bogeyed the hole to fall into a tie. Els and Roberts both carded a 74 (+3), while Montgomerie finished with a 78 (+7) and was eliminated.

After halving the first extra hole with pars, they headed to the 11th where Roberts found a greenside bunker on his approach while Els safely hit the green. After Roberts' par putt lipped out, Els two-putted for par and the championship.[2][6] It was the second time for sudden-death at the U.S. Open, which was first implemented in 1990. It was needed again in 2008.

Place Player Score To par Sudden death Money ($)
1 South Africa Ernie Els 74 +3 4-4 320,000
T2 United States Loren Roberts 74 +3 4-5 141,827
Scotland Colin Montgomerie 78 +7
  • Els and Roberts were tied at 74 (+3) after 18 holes; Montgomerie was four strokes back and was eliminated.
  • The sudden-death playoff began on the back nine and Els (4-4) defeated Roberts (4-5) on the second hole.[6][7]

Scorecard

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Hole  1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9  10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18
Par 4 4 4 5 4 3 4 3 5 4 4 5 3 4 4 3 4 4
South Africa Els +1 +4 +3 +3 +3 +3 +2 +3 +2 +3 +3 +4 +4 +4 +4 +4 +3 +3
United States Roberts E +1 +1 +1 +3 +2 +2 +3 +2 +3 +3 +3 +3 +3 +3 +4 +3 +3
Scotland Montgomerie E +2 +4 +4 +4 +5 +5 +6 +6 +6 +8 +8 +7 +7 +7 +7 +7 +7
Sudden-death playoff
South Africa Els E E
United States Roberts E +1

Cumulative playoff scores, relative to par

Birdie Bogey Double bogey Triple bogey+

Source:[8][9]

References

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  1. ^ a b "How Oakmont played in the 1994 U.S. Open". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. June 21, 1994. p. C7.
  2. ^ a b Reilly, Rick (June 27, 1994). "From trouble to triumph". Sports Illustrated. p. 38.
  3. ^ Rosaforte, Tim (June 27, 1994). "See Ya Later". Sports Illustrated. p. 49.
  4. ^ "U.S. Open History". USGA. Retrieved April 15, 2019.
  5. ^ GOLF; Forget Finesse, Remember a Name: Els Wins Open
  6. ^ a b Parascenzo, Marino (June 21, 1994). "Ernie is something Els". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. p. C1.
  7. ^ "Els awakens to win Open". Spokesman-Review. Spokane, Washington. Associated Press. June 21, 1994. p. C1.
  8. ^ "At U.S. Open, Els' finish makes up for shaky start". Seattle Times. Associated Press. June 21, 1994. Retrieved June 18, 2012.
  9. ^ "The leaders, hole by hole". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. June 21, 1994. p. C-6.
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40°31′34″N 79°49′37″W / 40.526°N 79.827°W / 40.526; -79.827