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.
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. 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. 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 ; 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
Hole123456789Out101112131415161718InTotal
Yards4335231944304553564054402203,4564503995601704714004032004653,5186,974
Par453444443354453444343570

Lengths of the course for previous majors:

Past champions in the field

All ten former champions in the field made the cut.

Round summaries

First round

Thursday, June 13, 1996
PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo par
T1Woody Austin67−3
T1Payne Stewart67−3
T3Lee Janzen68−2
T3John Morse68−2
T5Paul Azinger69−1
T5David Berganio, Jr.69−1
T5Stewart Cink69−1
T5Bob Ford69−1
T5Frank Nobilo69−1
T5Masashi Ozaki69−1
T5Philip Walton69−1
T5Gary Trivisonno69−1

Second round

Friday, June 14, 1996
PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo par
1Payne Stewart67-71=138−2
T2Woody Austin67-72=139−1
T2Ernie Els72-67=139−1
T2Greg Norman73-66=139−1
T5Ken Green73-67=140E
T5Steve Jones74-66=140E
T5Davis Love III71-69=140E
T5Frank Nobilo69-71=140E
T5Sam Torrance71-69=140E
T10Billy Andrade72-69=141+1
T10David Berganio, Jr.69-72=141+1
T10John Cook70-71=141+1
T10John Daly72-69=141+1
T10Jim Furyk72-69=141+1
T10Neal Lancaster74-67=141+1
T10Masashi Ozaki69-72=141+1
T10Scott Simpson70-71=141+1
T10Tom Watson70-71=141+1

Amateurs: Scott, Woods, Kuehne, Leen , Hobby, Edstrom.

Third round

Saturday, June 15, 1996
PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo par
1Tom Lehman71-72-65=208−2
2Steve Jones74-66-69=209−1
T3Davis Love III71-69-70=210E
T3John Morse68-74-68=210E
T3Frank Nobilo69-71-70=210E
T6Woody Austin67-72-72=211+1
T6Ernie Els72-67-72=211+1
T6Jim Furyk72-69-70=211+1
T6Colin Montgomerie70-72-69=211+1
T6Sam Torrance71-69-71=211+1

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 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 for par at the last. Unlike Lehman and Love, Jones did not bogey the last; he hit his approach to and two-putted for par to prevail by one.
PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo parMoney
1Steve Jones74-66-69-69=278−2425,000
T2Tom Lehman71-72-65-71=279−1204,801
T2Davis Love III71-69-70-69=279−1204,801
4John Morse68-74-68-70=280E111,235
T5Ernie Els72-67-72-70=281+184,965
T5Jim Furyk72-69-70-70=281+184,965
T7Ken Green73-67-72-70=282+266,295
T7Scott Hoch73-71-71-67=282+266,295
T7Vijay Singh71-72-70-69=282+266,295
T10Lee Janzen68-75-71-69=283+352,591
T10Colin Montgomerie70-72-69-72=283+352,591
T10Greg Norman73-66-74-70=283+352,591

Amateurs: Leen, Kuehne, Woods, Scott

Scorecard

Cumulative tournament scores, relative to par
BirdieBogeyDouble Bogey

Source: