1994 U.S. Open (golf)

1994 U.S. Open
Tournament information
Dates	June 16–20, 1994
Location	Oakmont, Pennsylvania
Course(s)	Oakmont Country Club
Tour(s)	PGA Tour
Statistics
Par	71
Length	6,946 yards (6,351 m)
Field	159 players, 65 after cut
Cut	147 (+5)
Prize fund	$1.7 million
Winner's share	$320,000
Champion
	Ernie Els
	279 (−5), playoff

Oakmont CC

Location in the United States

Oakmont CC

Location in Pennsylvania

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

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

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

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:

6,972 yards (6,375 m), par 71 - 1983 U.S. Open
6,989 yards (6,391 m), par 71 - 1978 PGA Championship
6,921 yards (6,329 m), par 71 - 1973 U.S. Open
6,894 yards (6,304 m), par 71 - 1962 U.S. Open
Before 1962, the 1st hole was played as a par 5.

6,916 yards (6,324 m), par 72 - 1953 U.S. Open
6,882 yards (6,293 m), par 72 - 1951 PGA Championship
6,981 yards (6,383 m), par 72 - 1935 U.S. Open
6,965 yards (6,369 m), par 72 - 1927 U.S. Open
6,707 yards (6,133 m), par 74 - 1922 PGA Championship

Round summaries

First round

Thursday, June 16, 1994

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

Second round

Friday, June 17, 1994

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

Amateurs: Alexander (+7).

Third round

Saturday, June 18, 1994

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

Final round

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	Ernie Els	69-71-66-73=279	−5	Playoff
	Colin Montgomerie	71-65-73-70=279
	Loren Roberts	76-69-64-70=279
4	Curtis Strange	70-70-70-70=280	−4	75,728
5	John Cook	73-65-73-71=282	−2	61,318
T6	Clark Dennis	71-71-70-71=283	−1	49,485
	Greg Norman	71-71-69-72=283
	Tom Watson	68-73-68-74=283
T9	Jeff Maggert	71-68-75-70=284	E	37,179
	Frank Nobilo	69-71-68-76=284
	Jeff Sluman	72-69-72-71=284
	Duffy Waldorf	74-68-73-69=284

Scorecard

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
Els	−6	−6	−6	−7	−7	−7	−7	−6	−6	−7	−6	−6	−6	−6	−7	−6	−6	−5
Montgomerie	−4	−4	−4	−5	−5	−5	−6	−6	−7	−7	−6	−5	−4	−5	−4	−4	−5	−5
Roberts	−4	−4	−4	−4	−4	−4	−4	−5	−6	−5	−6	−6	−7	−7	−6	−6	−6	−5
Strange	−3	−3	−4	−5	−6	−6	−6	−5	−5	−4	−5	−5	−4	−5	−4	−3	−3	−4
Cook	−2	−3	−3	−3	−3	−3	−3	−2	−1	E	E	E	E	−1	−1	−1	−2	−2
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

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	Ernie Els	74	+3	4-4	320,000
T2	Loren Roberts	74	+3	4-5	141,827
T2	Colin Montgomerie	78	+7	–	141,827

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

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
Els	+1	+4	+3	+3	+3	+3	+2	+3	+2	+3	+3	+4	+4	+4	+4	+4	+3	+3
Roberts	E	+1	+1	+1	+3	+2	+2	+3	+2	+3	+3	+3	+3	+3	+3	+4	+3	+3
Montgomerie	E	+2	+4	+4	+4	+5	+5	+6	+6	+6	+8	+8	+7	+7	+7	+7	+7	+7
Sudden-death playoff
Els										E	E
Roberts										E	+1

Cumulative playoff scores, relative to par

	Birdie		Bogey		Double bogey		Triple bogey+

Source:^[8]^[9]

References

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

External links

40°31′34″N 79°49′37″W / 40.526°N 79.827°W / 40.526; -79.827

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[hopaus-1] 1 2 "How Oakmont played in the 1994 U.S. Open". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. June 21, 1994. p. C7.

[sijun94-2] 1 2 Reilly, Rick (June 27, 1994). "From trouble to triumph". Sports Illustrated. p. 38.

[sylat-3] Rosaforte, Tim (June 27, 1994). "See Ya Later". Sports Illustrated. p. 49.

[ldr-4] "U.S. Open History". USGA. Retrieved April 15, 2019.

[5] GOLF; Forget Finesse, Remember a Name: Els Wins Open

[ppgjn2194-6] 1 2 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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