1996 U.S. Open (golf)

The 1996 U.S. Open was the 96th U.S. Open, held June 13–16 at Oakland Hills Country Club in Birmingham, Michigan, a suburb northwest of Detroit. Steve Jones won his only major title, one stroke ahead of runners-up Tom Lehman and Davis Love III.[1][2][3][4][5]

1996 U.S. Open
Tournament information
DatesJune 13–16, 1996
LocationBloomfield Hills, Michigan
Course(s)Oakland Hills Country Club
South Course
Organized byUSGA
Tour(s)PGA Tour
Statistics
Par70
Length6,974 yards (6,377 m)
Field156 players, 108 after cut
Cut148 (+8)
Prize fund$2.4 million
Winner's share$425,000
Champion
Steve Jones
278 (−2)
Oakland Hills Country Club
Location in the United States
Oakland Hills Country Club
Location in Michigan

Jones went through an incredible journey just to get to Oakland Hills. He had won four PGA Tour events, the last in 1989, but in November 1991 he was involved in a dirt bike accident that threatened to end his career. He separated his shoulder and sprained an ankle, as well as suffering ligament damage in his left ring finger.[1][4] Jones was sidelined for three years, not making it back on tour until 1994. His win here came in his first U.S. Open since 1991, and he was the first champion to go through sectional qualifying since tour rookie Jerry Pate in 1976.[4] After this win, Jones won three additional events on tour.

This was the eighth major championship at the South Course, which previously hosted the U.S. Open in 1924, 1937, 1951, 1961, and 1985, and the PGA Championship in 1972 and 1979. It later hosted the PGA Championship in 2008.

It was Lehman's third close call in a major (1994 Masters, 1995 U.S. Open);[4] he regrouped and won the next, The Open Championship in England. Love won the PGA Championship the following year at Winged Foot.

Course layout

South Course [6]

Hole123456789Out101112131415161718InTotal
Yards4335231944304553564054402203,4564503995601704714004032004653,5186,974
Par453444443354453444343570

Lengths of the course for previous majors:

Past champions in the field

PlayerCountryYear(s) wonR1R2R3R4TotalTo parFinish
Ernie Els South Africa199472677270281+1T5
Lee Janzen United States199368757169283+3T10
Tom Watson United States198270717172284+4T13
Curtis Strange United States1988, 198974737169287+7 T27
Jack Nicklaus United States1962, 1967,
1972, 1980
72746972287+7T27
Payne Stewart United States199167717673287+7T27
Scott Simpson United States198770717672289+9T40
Corey Pavin United States199573707274289+9T40
Hale Irwin United States1974, 1979, 199072717374290+10T50
Tom Kite United States199276717275294+14T82

All ten former champions in the field made the cut.

Round summaries

First round

Thursday, June 13, 1996

PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo par
T1Woody Austin United States67−3
Payne Stewart United States
T3Lee Janzen United States68−2
John Morse United States
T5Paul Azinger United States69−1
David Berganio Jr. United States
Stewart Cink United States
Bob Ford United States
Frank Nobilo New Zealand
Masashi Ozaki Japan
Philip Walton Ireland
Gary Trivisonno United States

Second round

Friday, June 14, 1996

PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo par
1Payne Stewart United States67-71=138−2
T2Woody Austin United States67-72=139−1
Ernie Els South Africa72-67=139
Greg Norman Australia73-66=139
T5Ken Green United States73-67=140E
Steve Jones United States74-66=140
Davis Love III United States71-69=140
Frank Nobilo New Zealand69-71=140
Sam Torrance Scotland71-69=140
T10Billy Andrade United States72-69=141+1
David Berganio Jr. United States69-72=141
John Cook United States70-71=141
John Daly United States72-69=141
Jim Furyk United States72-69=141
Neal Lancaster United States74-67=141
Masashi Ozaki Japan69-72=141
Scott Simpson United States70-71=141
Tom Watson United States70-71=141

Amateurs: Scott (+4), Woods (+5), Kuehne (+8), Leen (+8), Hobby (+10), Edstrom (+14).

Third round

Saturday, June 15, 1996

PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo par
1Tom Lehman United States71-72-65=208−2
2Steve Jones United States74-66-69=209−1
T3Davis Love III United States71-69-70=210E
John Morse United States68-74-68=210
Frank Nobilo New Zealand69-71-70=210
T6Woody Austin United States67-72-72=211+1
Ernie Els South Africa72-67-72=211
Jim Furyk United States72-69-70=211
Colin Montgomerie Scotland70-72-69=211
Sam Torrance Scotland71-69-71=211

Final round

Sunday, June 16, 1996

In the final pairing, Tom Lehman had a three-stroke lead over Steve Jones after eight holes, but bogeyed 10 and 12 and Jones led by two strokes with six holes remaining. Tied at the 18th tee, Lehman drove into a bunker and missed a 15-foot (4.5 m) putt to save par. Davis Love III made a charge, recording birdies at 11, 12, and 15; he bogeyed the final two holes, missing a 3-footer (0.9 m) for par at the last. John Morse came to the 18th tee at 1-under par needing a birdie to tie Jones and Lehman for the lead. He hit the green in two on the par-4 finishing hole but 3-putted from 30 feet to finish at even-par for the tournament and he ended up alone in fourth place. Unlike Love, Morse and Lehman, Jones did not bogey the last; he hit his approach to 12 feet (3.7 m) and two-putted for par to prevail by one.[4][5]

PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo parMoney ($)
1Steve Jones United States74-66-69-69=278−2425,000
T2Tom Lehman United States71-72-65-71=279−1204,801
Davis Love III United States71-69-70-69=279
4John Morse United States68-74-68-70=280E111,235
T5Ernie Els South Africa72-67-72-70=281+184,965
Jim Furyk United States72-69-70-70=281
T7Ken Green United States73-67-72-70=282+266,295
Scott Hoch United States73-71-71-67=282
Vijay Singh Fiji71-72-70-69=282
T10Lee Janzen United States68-75-71-69=283+352,591
Colin Montgomerie Scotland70-72-69-72=283
Greg Norman Australia73-66-74-70=283

Amateurs: Leen (+11), Kuehne (+13), Woods (+14), Scott (+21)

Scorecard

Hole 1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9 101112131415161718
Par453444443445344434
Jones−1−1−1−1−1−1−1−1−2−3−3−4−3−3−3−3−2−2
Lehman−2−2−2−2−2−3−4−4−4−3−3−2−2−2−2−2−2−1
LoveE−1−1EEEE−1−1E−1−2−2−2−3−3−2−1
MorseEEEEE−1−1−1−1−1−1−2−1−1−2−1−1E
Els+1+1+1+1+2+1E+1+2+2+3+2+2+3+2+2+1+1
Furyk+1EEEEE+1+2+2+2+1EEEE−1E+1
Nobilo−1−1−1−1−1−1−1−2−2−2−1−1−1E+2+3+3+4

Cumulative tournament scores, relative to par

Birdie Bogey Double Bogey

Source:[1][4][7]

References

  1. Sirak, Ron (June 17, 1996). "Virtual unknown Steve Jones tames 'The Monster'". Tuscaloosa News. (Alabama). Associated Press. p. 1B.
  2. Dorman, Larry (June 17, 1996). "Inspired Jones claims U.S. Open title". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). (New York Times). p. C1.
  3. Bonk, Thomas (June 17, 1996). "Stellar field humbled by a man named Jones". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). (Los Angeles Times). p. 1B.
  4. Reilly, Rick (June 24, 1996). "Dear Mr. Hogan,". Sports Illustrated. p. 38.
  5. Parascenzo, Marino (June 17, 1996). "Steve who?". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. p. B-1.
  6. "1996 U.S. Open: Card of the course". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Associated Press. June 13, 1996. p. D-2.
  7. "U.S. Open History". USGA. Retrieved April 15, 2019.
Preceded by
1996 Masters
Major Championships Succeeded by
1996 Open Championship

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.