1996 U.S. Open (golf)
 | |
| Tournament information | |
|---|---|
| Dates | June 13–16, 1996 |
| Location | Bloomfield Hills, Michigan |
| Courses | Oakland Hills Country Club South Course |
| Organized by | USGA |
| Tour | PGA Tour |
| Statistics | |
| Par | 70 |
| Length | 6,974 yards (6,377 m) |
| Field | 156 players, 108 after cut |
| Cut | 148 (+8) |
| Prize fund | $2.4 million |
| Winner's share | $425,000 |
| Champion | |
 Steve Jones | |
| 278 (−2) | |
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]
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
[edit]South Course [6]
| Hole | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Out | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | In | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yards | 433 | 523 | 194 | 430 | 455 | 356 | 405 | 440 | 220 | 3,456 | 450 | 399 | 560 | 170 | 471 | 400 | 403 | 200 | 465 | 3,518 | 6,974 |
| Par | 4 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 35 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 35 | 70 |
Lengths of the course for previous majors:
|
Round summaries
[edit]First round
[edit]Thursday, June 13, 1996
Woody Austin, playing in his first U.S. Open, and Payne Stewart each shot a 3-under-par 67 for a 1-stroke lead over Lee Janzen and John Morse. Frank Nobilo, Philip Walton and Paul Azinger were among the group at 1-under 69 as well as two club professionals, Bob Ford and Gary Trivisonno.[7]
20-year-old amateur Tiger Woods was 3-under thru his first 13 holes and held a share of the lead, but would play the last five holes at 9-over-par for a first round 76.[8]
| Place | Player | Score | To par |
|---|---|---|---|
| T1 | Woody Austin | 67 | −3 |
| Payne Stewart | |||
| T3 | Lee Janzen | 68 | −2 |
| John Morse | |||
| T5 | Paul Azinger | 69 | −1 |
| David Berganio Jr. | |||
| Stewart Cink | |||
| Bob Ford | |||
 Frank Nobilo | |||
 Masashi Ozaki | |||
 Philip Walton | |||
| Gary Trivisonno |
Second round
[edit]Friday, June 14, 1996
Payne Stewart shot a second round 71 to hold sole possession of the lead. Greg Norman moved up into a tie for 2nd after shooting a 66. There were only four golfers with sub-par scores through 36 holes after 12 players broke par on Thursday.[9] A total of 108 players in the field of 156 made the cut, a U.S. Open record. The previous record was 88 at Baltusrol in 1993.[10]
| Place | Player | Score | To par |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Payne Stewart | 67-71=138 | −2 |
| T2 | Woody Austin | 67-72=139 | −1 |
 Ernie Els | 72-67=139 | ||
 Greg Norman | 73-66=139 | ||
| T5 | Ken Green | 73-67=140 | E |
| Steve Jones | 74-66=140 | ||
| Davis Love III | 71-69=140 | ||
| Frank Nobilo | 69-71=140 | ||
 Sam Torrance | 71-69=140 | ||
| T10 | Billy Andrade | 72-69=141 | +1 |
| David Berganio Jr. | 69-72=141 | ||
| John Cook | 70-71=141 | ||
| John Daly | 72-69=141 | ||
| Jim Furyk | 72-69=141 | ||
| Neal Lancaster | 74-67=141 | ||
| Masashi Ozaki | 69-72=141 | ||
| Scott Simpson | 70-71=141 | ||
| Tom Watson | 70-71=141 |
Amateurs: Scott (+4), Woods (+5), Kuehne (+8), Leen (+8), Hobby (+10), Edstrom (+14).
Third round
[edit]Saturday, June 15, 1996
| Place | Player | Score | To par |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tom Lehman | 71-72-65=208 | −2 |
| 2 | Steve Jones | 74-66-69=209 | −1 |
| T3 | Davis Love III | 71-69-70=210 | E |
| John Morse | 68-74-68=210 | ||
| Frank Nobilo | 69-71-70=210 | ||
| T6 | Woody Austin | 67-72-72=211 | +1 |
| Ernie Els | 72-67-72=211 | ||
| Jim Furyk | 72-69-70=211 | ||
| Colin Montgomerie | 70-72-69=211 | ||
| Sam Torrance | 71-69-71=211 |
Final round
[edit]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 1-under needing 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 end 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]
| Place | Player | Score | To par | Money ($) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Steve Jones | 74-66-69-69=278 | −2 | 425,000 |
| T2 | Tom Lehman | 71-72-65-71=279 | −1 | 204,801 |
| Davis Love III | 71-69-70-69=279 | |||
| 4 | John Morse | 68-74-68-70=280 | E | 111,235 |
| T5 | Ernie Els | 72-67-72-70=281 | +1 | 84,965 |
| Jim Furyk | 72-69-70-70=281 | |||
| T7 | Ken Green | 73-67-72-70=282 | +2 | 66,295 |
| Scott Hoch | 73-71-71-67=282 | |||
 Vijay Singh | 71-72-70-69=282 | |||
| T10 | Lee Janzen | 68-75-71-69=283 | +3 | 52,591 |
| Colin Montgomerie | 70-72-69-72=283 | |||
| Greg Norman | 73-66-74-70=283 |
Amateurs: Leen (+11), Kuehne (+13), Woods (+14), Scott (+21)
Scorecard
[edit]| Hole | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Par | 4 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 |
| Jones | −1 | −1 | −1 | −1 | −1 | −1 | −1 | −1 | −2 | −3 | −3 | −4 | −3 | −3 | −3 | −3 | −2 | −2 |
| Lehman | −1 | −2 | −2 | −2 | −2 | −3 | −4 | −4 | −4 | −3 | −3 | −2 | −2 | −2 | −2 | −2 | −2 | −1 |
| Love | E | −1 | −1 | E | E | E | E | −1 | −1 | E | −1 | −2 | −2 | −2 | −3 | −3 | −2 | −1 |
| Morse | E | E | E | E | E | −1 | −1 | −1 | −1 | −1 | −1 | −2 | −1 | −1 | −2 | −1 | −1 | E |
| Els | +1 | +1 | +1 | +1 | +2 | +1 | E | +1 | +2 | +2 | +3 | +2 | +2 | +3 | +2 | +2 | +1 | +1 |
| Furyk | +1 | E | E | E | E | E | +1 | +2 | +2 | +2 | +1 | E | E | E | E | −1 | E | +1 |
| Nobilo | −1 | −1 | −1 | −1 | −1 | −1 | −1 | −2 | −2 | −2 | −1 | −1 | −1 | E | +2 | +3 | +3 | +4 |
Cumulative tournament scores, relative to par
| Birdie | Bogey | Double Bogey |
References
[edit]- 1 2 3 Sirak, Ron (June 17, 1996). "Virtual unknown Steve Jones tames 'The Monster'". Tuscaloosa News. Alabama. Associated Press. p. 1B.
- ↑ Dorman, Larry (June 17, 1996). "Inspired Jones claims U.S. Open title". Spokesman-Review. Spokane, Washington. (New York Times). p. C1.
- ↑ Bonk, Thomas (June 17, 1996). "Stellar field humbled by a man named Jones". Eugene Register-Guard. Oregon. (Los Angeles Times). p. 1B.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 Reilly, Rick (June 24, 1996). "Dear Mr. Hogan,". Sports Illustrated. p. 38.
- 1 2 Parascenzo, Marino (June 17, 1996). "Steve who?". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. p. B-1.
- ↑ "1996 U.S. Open: Card of the course". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Associated Press. June 13, 1996. p. D-2.
- ↑ "Stewart, Allen Duo Has Little in Common but U.S. Open Lead". Deseret News. Associated Press. June 14, 1996. Retrieved June 2, 2025.
- ↑ Bonk, Thomas (June 14, 1996). "Oakland Hills Grabs Tiger by the Tail in First Round". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved June 2, 2025.
- ↑ "Stormin' Norman Tames Monster of an Open Course". Deseret News. Associated Press. June 15, 1996. Retrieved June 4, 2025.
- ↑ Bonk, Thomas (June 15, 1996). "This One Really Is Wide Open". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved June 4, 2025.
- ↑ "U.S. Open History". USGA. Retrieved April 15, 2019.
External links
[edit]- USGA Championship Database
- USOpen.com – 1996[link removed]