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. 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. 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.

Course layout

Hole123456789Out101112131415161718InTotal
Yards4633424215603781954312494743,5134583785981813564672283154523,4336,946
Par444543435364453443443571

Source:
Lengths of the course for previous major championships:

Made the cut

Missed the cut

Round summaries

First round

Thursday, June 16, 1994
PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo par
1Tom Watson68−3
T2Ernie Els69−2
T2Hale Irwin69−2
T2Jack Nicklaus69−2
T2Frank Nobilo69−2
T6Masashi Ozaki70−1
T6Curtis Strange70−1
T6Kirk Triplett70−1
T6Scott Verplank70−1
T10Mark Calcavecchia71E
T10Ben Crenshaw71E
T10Clark Dennis71E
T10Bradley Hughes71E
T10Steve Lowery71E
T10Jeff Maggert71E
T10Hajime Meshiai71E
T10Colin Montgomerie71E
T10Greg Norman71E
T10Dave Rummells71E
T10Jim Thorpe71E
T10Don Walsworth71E
T10Mark Wurtz71E

Second round

Friday, June 17, 1994
PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo par
1Colin Montgomerie71-65=136−6
T2John Cook73-65=138−4
T2David Edwards73-65=138−4
T2Hale Irwin69-69=138−4
T5Jeff Maggert71-68=139−3
T5Jack Nicklaus69-70=139−3
T7Ernie Els69-71=140−2
T7Frank Nobilo69-71=140−2
T7Steve Pate74-66=140−2
T7Curtis Strange70-70=140−2

Amateurs: Alexander.

Third round

Saturday, June 18, 1994
PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo par
1Ernie Els69-71-66=206−7
2Frank Nobilo69-71-68=208−5
T3Hale Irwin69-69-71=209−4
T3Colin Montgomerie71-65-73=209−4
T3Loren Roberts76-69-64=209−4
T3Tom Watson68-73-68=209−4
T7Steve Lowery71-71-68=210−3
T7Curtis Strange70-70-70=210−3
T9John Cook73-65-73=211−2
T9Greg Norman71-71-69=211−2
T9Steve Pate74-66-71=211−2

Final round

Sunday, June 19, 1994
Els shot a 66 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 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 Els69-71-66-73=279−5Playoff
T1Colin Montgomerie71-65-73-70=279−5Playoff
T1Loren Roberts76-69-64-70=279−5Playoff
4Curtis Strange70-70-70-70=280−475,728
5John Cook73-65-73-71=282−261,318
T6Clark Dennis71-71-70-71=283−149,485
T6Greg Norman71-71-69-72=283−149,485
T6Tom Watson68-73-68-74=283−149,485
T9Jeff Maggert71-68-75-70=284E37,179
T9Frank Nobilo69-71-68-76=284E37,179
T9Jeff Sluman72-69-72-71=284E37,179
T9Duffy Waldorf74-68-73-69=284E37,179

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
BirdieBogeyDouble bogey

Source:

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, 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, while Montgomerie finished with a 78 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. 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 Els74+34-4320,000
T2Loren Roberts74+34-5141,827
T2Colin Montgomerie78+7–141,827

Cumulative playoff scores, relative to par
Source: