1989 U.S. Open (golf)


The 1989 U.S. Open was the 89th U.S. Open, held June 15–18 at the East Course of Oak Hill Country Club near Rochester, New York. Curtis Strange won his second consecutive U.S. Open, one stroke ahead of runners-up Chip Beck, Mark McCumber, and Ian Woosnam, becoming the first successful defender of a U.S. Open title since Ben Hogan in 1951. Strange became the sixth player to defend the U.S. Open title. This was the last of his 17 wins on the PGA Tour.
Heavy rains before the tournament allowed for some low scores in the early rounds, with a record 38 under-par rounds in the first two rounds. During the second round, four players recorded holes-in-one at the downhill 6th hole. All four hit a 7-iron past the flag, taking advantage of the damp conditions. The rest of the field had thirty birdies at the hole during the second round.
Gary Player, the 1965 champion and winner of nine major titles, played in his final U.S. Open in 1989. He shot 78-69=147 and missed the cut by two strokes.
This was the third U.S. Open and the fourth major at the East Course. Previous U.S. Opens were in 1956 and 1968, and the PGA Championship in 1980. It later hosted the Ryder Cup in 1995 and the PGA Championship in 2003 and 2013.

Course layout

East Course
Hole123456789Out101112131415161718InTotal
Yards4404012115704061674314304193,4754291923725943231774424584403,4276,902
Par443543444354345434443570

Source:
Previous course lengths for major championships

Made the cut

Missed the cut

Source:

Round summaries

First round

Thursday, June 15, 1989
PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo par
T1Jay Don Blake66−4
T1Bernhard Langer66−4
T1Payne Stewart66−4
T4Tom Kite67−3
T4Jack Nicklaus67−3
T4Tom Pernice, Jr.67−3
T4Scott Simpson67−3
T4Joey Sindelar67−3
T9Kurt Beck68−2
T9Nick Faldo68−2
T9Raymond Floyd68−2
T9Larry Nelson68−2
T9Dillard Pruitt68−2

Second round

Friday, June 16, 1989
Strange fired a six-under 64 in the second round to tie the course record, set in 1942 by Hogan, and take the 36-hole lead.
PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo par
1Curtis Strange71-64=135−5
2Tom Kite67-69=136−4
T3Jay Don Blake66-71=137−3
T3Scott Simpson67-70=137−3
T5Mark McCumber70-68=138−2
T5Ian Woosnam70-68=138−2
T7Isao Aoki70-70=140E
T7Chip Beck71-69=140E
T7Steve Elkington70-70=140E
T7Nick Faldo68-72=140E
T7Dan Forsman70-70=140E
T7Eddie Kirby70-70=140E
T7Mark Lye71-69=140E
T7Greg Norman72-68=140E
T7Scott Taylor69-71=140E
T7Mark Wiebe69-71=140E
T7Richard Zokol71-69=140E

Source:
Amateurs: Sigel, Yarian.

Third round

Saturday, June 17, 1989
Overnight rains thoroughly soaked the already saturated course and caused a delay in the start. Instead of pairs, the players went off on split tees in groupings of three, a first at the U.S. Open. A 73 in the third round dropped Strange to three back of Tom Kite, whose first three rounds were in the 60s.
PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo par
1Tom Kite67-69-69=205−5
2Scott Simpson67-70-69=206−4
3Curtis Strange71-64-73=208−2
T4Jay Don Blake66-71-72=209−1
T4Larry Nelson68-73-68=209−1
T4Masashi Ozaki70-71-68=209−1
T7Mark McCumber70-68-72=210E
T7Tom Pernice, Jr.67-75-68=210E
T9Chip Beck71-69-71=211+1
T9Brian Claar71-72-68=211+1
T9Ian Woosnam70-68-73=211+1
T9José María Olazábal69-72-70=211+1

Source:

Final round

Sunday, June 18, 1989
Kite led by three after four holes in the final round, but a triple bogey at the 5th hole and bogeys at 8 and 10 dropped him a stroke back of Strange. Double bogeys at 13 and 15 dropped him from contention. Kite recorded a 78 and finished in ninth place. Strange played steadily in the penultimate pairing, with fifteen consecutive pars until a birdie at the 16th, his first since the second round. Despite a three-putt for bogey at the 18th, Strange held on for a one-stroke win and a second straight U.S. Open title.
PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo parMoney
1Curtis Strange71-64-73-70=278−2200,000
T2Chip Beck71-69-71-68=279−167,823
T2Mark McCumber70-68-72-69=279−167,823
T2Ian Woosnam70-68-73-68=279−167,823
5Brian Claar71-72-68-69=280E34,345
T6Masashi Ozaki70-71-68-72=281+128,220
T6Scott Simpson67-70-69-75=281+128,220
8Peter Jacobsen71-70-71-70=282+224,307
T9Paul Azinger71-72-70-70=283+319,968
T9Hubert Green69-72-74-68=283+319,968
T9Tom Kite67-69-69-78=283+319,968
T9José María Olazábal69-72-70-72=283+319,968

Source:

Scorecard

Final round
Hole123456789101112131415161718
Par443543444434543444
Strange−2−2−2−2−2−2−2−2−2−2−2−2−2−2−2−3−3−2
Beck+1E+1+1+2+2+2+1+1+1E−1−1−1−1−1−1−1
McCumberEEE−1−1−1−1−2−1−1−1−1EEE−1−1−1
WoosnamE−1−1−1−1−1−1−1+1EEEE+1EEE−1
Kite−5−5−6−6−3−3−3−2−2−1−1−1+1+1+3+3+3+3

Cumulative tournament scores, relative to par
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