1994 U.S. Open (golf)

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.

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
Ernie Els
279 (−5), playoff
Oakmont CC
Location in the United States
Oakmont CC
Location in Pennsylvania

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
Main article: Oakmont Country Club
Hole123456789Out101112131415161718InTotal
Yards4633424215603781954312494743,5134583785981813564672283154523,4336,946
Par444543435364453443443571

Source:[1]

Lengths of the course for previous major championships:

Past champions in the field

Made the cut
PlayerCountryYear(s) wonR1R2R3R4TotalTo parFinish
Curtis Strange United States1988, 198970707070280−44
Tom Watson United States198268736874283−1T6
Hale Irwin United States1974, 1979, 199069697178287+3T18
Jack Nicklaus United States1962, 1967,
1972, 1980		69707776292+8T28
Tom Kite United States199273717277293+9T33
Scott Simpson United States198774737378298+14T55
Fuzzy Zoeller United States198476707677299+15T58

Missed the cut
PlayerCountryYear(s) wonR1R2TotalTo par
Larry Nelson United States19837573148+6
Lee Janzen United States19937771148+6
Payne Stewart United States19917475149+7
Andy North United States1978, 19857873151+9
Johnny Miller United States19738176157+15
Arnold Palmer United States19607781158+16

Round summaries

First round

Thursday, June 16, 1994

PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo par
1Tom Watson United States68−3
T2Ernie Els South Africa69−2
Hale Irwin United States
Jack Nicklaus United States
Frank Nobilo New Zealand
T6Masashi Ozaki Japan70−1
Curtis Strange United States
Kirk Triplett United States
Scott Verplank United States
T10Mark Calcavecchia United States71E
Ben Crenshaw United States
Clark Dennis United States
Bradley Hughes Australia
Steve Lowery United States
Jeff Maggert United States
Hajime Meshiai Japan
Colin Montgomerie Scotland
Greg Norman Australia
Dave Rummells United States
Jim Thorpe United States
Don Walsworth United States
Mark Wurtz United States

Second round

Friday, June 17, 1994

PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo par
1Colin Montgomerie Scotland71-65=136−6
T2John Cook United States73-65=138−4
David Edwards United States73-65=138
Hale Irwin United States69-69=138
T5Jeff Maggert United States71-68=139−3
Jack Nicklaus United States69-70=139
T7Ernie Els South Africa69-71=140−2
Frank Nobilo New Zealand69-71=140
Steve Pate United States74-66=140
Curtis Strange United States70-70=140

Amateurs: Alexander (+7).

Third round

Saturday, June 18, 1994

PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo par
1Ernie Els South Africa69-71-66=206−7
2Frank Nobilo New Zealand69-71-68=208−5
T3Hale Irwin United States69-69-71=209−4
Colin Montgomerie Scotland71-65-73=209
Loren Roberts United States76-69-64=209
Tom Watson United States68-73-68=209
T7Steve Lowery United States71-71-68=210−3
Curtis Strange United States70-70-70=210
T9John Cook United States73-65-73=211−2
Greg Norman Australia71-71-69=211
Steve Pate United States74-66-71=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. Roberts and Montgomerie both recorded a 70 (−1) in the round to challenge Els. Roberts could have won the championship outright, but he missed a par putt on the 18th. 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.

PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo parMoney ($)
T1Ernie Els South Africa69-71-66-73=279−5Playoff
Colin Montgomerie Scotland71-65-73-70=279
Loren Roberts United States76-69-64-70=279
4Curtis Strange United States70-70-70-70=280−475,728
5John Cook United States73-65-73-71=282−261,318
T6Clark Dennis United States71-71-70-71=283−149,485
Greg Norman Australia71-71-69-72=283
Tom Watson United States68-73-68-74=283
T9Jeff Maggert United States71-68-75-70=284E37,179
Frank Nobilo New Zealand69-71-68-76=284
Jeff Sluman United States72-69-72-71=284
Duffy Waldorf United States74-68-73-69=284

Scorecard

Final round

Hole123456789101112131415161718
Par444543435445344344
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−2−3−3−3−3−3−3−2−1EEEE−1−1−1−2−2
Nobilo−5−4−2−3−4−4−4−4−4−3−2−1−1−1EEEE

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.

PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo parSudden deathMoney ($)
1Ernie Els South Africa74+34-4320,000
T2Loren Roberts United States74+34-5141,827
Colin Montgomerie Scotland78+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
Hole 1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9 101112131415161718
Par444543435445344344
Els+1+4+3+3+3+3+2+3+2+3+3+4+4+4+4+4+3+3
RobertsE+1+1+1+3+2+2+3+2+3+3+3+3+3+3+4+3+3
MontgomerieE+2+4+4+4+5+5+6+6+6+8+8+7+7+7+7+7+7
Sudden-death playoff
ElsEE
RobertsE+1

Cumulative playoff scores, relative to par

Birdie Bogey Double bogey Triple bogey+

Source:[8][9]

References
  1. "How Oakmont played in the 1994 U.S. Open". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. June 21, 1994. p. C7.
  2. 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. 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.
Preceded by
1994 Masters		 Major Championships Succeeded by
1994 Open Championship

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