 | |
| Tournament information | |
|---|---|
| Dates | June 13–16, 1996 |
| Location | Bloomfield Hills, Michigan |
| Course(s) | 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) | |
The1996 U.S. Open was the 96thU.S. Open, held June 13–16 atOakland Hills Country Club inBirmingham, Michigan, a suburb northwest ofDetroit.Steve Jones won his onlymajor title, one stroke ahead of runners-upTom Lehman andDavis Love III.[1][2][3][4][5]
Jones went through an incredible journey just to get to Oakland Hills. He had won fourPGA Tour events, the last in1989, but in November 1991 he was involved in adirt 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 until1994. His win here came in his first U.S. Open since1991, and he was the first champion to go through sectional qualifying since tour rookieJerry Pate in1976.[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 in1924,1937,1951,1961, and1985, and thePGA Championship in1972 and1979. It later hosted the PGA Championship in2008.
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 inEngland. Love won thePGA Championship the following year atWinged Foot.
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:
|
Thursday, June 13, 1996
Woody Austin, playing in his first U.S. Open, andPayne Stewart each shot a 3-under-par 67 for a 1-stroke lead overLee Janzen andJohn Morse.Frank Nobilo,Philip Walton andPaul Azinger were among the group at 1-under 69 as well as two club professionals, Bob Ford and Gary Trivisonno.[7]
20-year-old amateurTiger 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 |
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).
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 |
Sunday, June 16, 1996
In the final pairing,Tom Lehman had a three-stroke lead overSteve 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)
| 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 |
42°32′38″N83°16′37″W / 42.544°N 83.277°W /42.544; -83.277