1985 U.S. Open (golf)

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1985 U.S. Open
Tournament information
DatesJune 13–16, 1985
LocationBloomfield Hills, Michigan
Course(s)Oakland Hills Country Club, South Course
Tour(s)PGA Tour
Statistics
Par70
Length6,996 yards (6,397 m)
Field156 players, 66 after cut
Cut146 (+6)
Prize fund$650,000
Winner's share$103,000
Champion
United States Andy North
279 (−1)
← 1984
1986 →
Oakland Hills Country Club is located in the United States
Oakland Hills Country Club
Oakland Hills Country Club
class=notpageimage|
Location in the United States

The 1985 U.S. Open was the 85th U.S. Open, held June 13–16 at the South Course of Oakland Hills Country Club in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, a suburb northwest of Detroit. Andy North, the 1978 champion, won his second U.S. Open title by a stroke over runners-up Dave Barr, Chen Tze-chung, and Denis Watson.[1]

Chen had a historic beginning to the U.S. Open. In his first three rounds, he established a new course record at Oakland Hills with a 65, made the first double eagle in U.S. Open history, and established both 36 and 54-hole scoring records. Heading into the final round, he owned a two-stroke advantage over North, who shot 65 in the second round and 70 in the third. Chen increased his lead over North to four shots after just four holes of play. But at the 5th hole, disaster struck for Chen as he saw his lead dissolve in unique fashion.[2] His approach shot from the fairway found deep rough well short and right of the green. His first chip shot stopped several yards short of the green. Hitting his fourth shot, and still in the deep rough, Chen's wedge got tangled up in the grass upon impact and struck the ball a second time on the follow-thru, sending the ball careening short of the green. Chen was assessed the stroke and a penalty. Now lying five, he chipped on and two-putted for an quadruple bogey 8. He had seen a four-stroke lead vanish in one hole and was now tied with playing partner North.

Unnerved by the mistake, Chen proceeded to bogey the next three holes, and North took a one-stroke lead over Barr at the turn.[3][4] Chen recovered with a birdie at 12, and with North bogeying 9, 10, and 11, he found himself back in the lead. North, however, would be the last man standing. He birdied 13 while Chen bogeyed 14 and 17, and Barr bogeyed his final two holes. At the 18th, Chen narrowly missed a bunker shot to miss a chance at forcing a playoff, and both Barr and Chen finished at 280. North could protect his lead and two-putted for bogey and a one-stroke victory.

Penalties played an additional role in the 1985 U.S. Open, as Denis Watson of Zimbabwe, who also finished 1-stroke behind North, had been assessed a two-stroke penalty in the first-round for taking too long over a putt, as USGA rules allowed a 10-second wait for a ball resting on the cup edge, and an official ruled he took 35-seconds and assessed the penalty.[5] The rules to assess penalties on both Chen and Watson have since been changed.[6][7][8]

In the final round, North hit only four fairways and recorded just one birdie. For the tournament, he had just nine birdies, the lowest by a champion in post-World War II U.S. Open history. North finished at 279 (−1), the only player to finish under par. It was his first PGA Tour win since the 1978 U.S. Open, and was his last on tour.

Jack Nicklaus shot 149 (+9) and missed the cut by three strokes, ending a streak of 21 consecutive cuts made at the U.S. Open.

This was the seventh major championship at the South Course, which previously hosted the U.S. Open in 1924, 1937, 1951, and 1961, and the PGA Championship in 1972 and 1979. It later hosted the U.S. Open in 1996 and the PGA Championship in 2008.

Course layout[]

See also: Oakland Hills Country Club

South Course [9][10]

Hole 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Out 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 In Total
Yards 436 527 199 433 457 359 405 439 217 3,472 454 411 560 172 465 399 409 201 453 3,524 6,996
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:

Past champions in the field[]

Made the cut[]

Player Country Year(s) won R1 R2 R3 R4 Total To par Finish
Andy North  United States 1978 70 65 70 74 279 −1 1
Johnny Miller  United States 1973 74 71 68 69 282 +2 8
Fuzzy Zoeller  United States 1984 71 69 72 71 283 +3 T9
Hale Irwin  United States 1974, 1979 73 72 70 70 285 +5 14
David Graham  Australia 1981 73 72 74 68 287 +7 T23
Larry Nelson  United States 1983 71 71 77 71 290 +10 T39

Missed the cut[]

Player Country Year(s) won R1 R2 Total To par
Tom Watson  United States 1982 75 72 147 +7
Lee Trevino  United States 1968, 1971 76 72 148 +8
Jack Nicklaus  United States 1962, 1967,
1972, 1980		 76 73 149 +9
Lou Graham  United States 1975 76 75 151 +11
Hubert Green  United States 1977 73 79 152 +12
Jerry Pate  United States 1976 78 81 159 +19

Source:[11]

Round summaries[]

First round[]

Thursday, June 13, 1985

Place Player Country Score To par
1 Chen Tze-chung  Taiwan 65 −5
2 Fred Couples  United States 66 −4
T3 Andy Bean  United States 69 −1
Rick Fehr  United States
Jay Haas  United States
Tom Kite  United States
Mike Reid  United States
T8 Dave Barr  Canada 70 E
Bill Glasson  United States
 United States
Andy North  United States
Gene Sauers  United States
Payne Stewart  United States
Lanny Wadkins  United States

Second round[]

Friday, June 14, 1985

Place Player Country Score To par
1 Chen Tze-chung  Taiwan 65-69=134 −6
T2 Jay Haas  United States 69-66=135 −5
Andy North  United States 70-65=135
4 Rick Fehr  United States 69-67=136 −4
5 Denis Watson  Zimbabwe 72-65=137 −3
6 Dave Barr  Canada 70-68=138 −2
T7 Raymond Floyd  United States 72-67=139 −1
Tom Kite  United States 69-70=139
Mark O'Meara  United States 72-67=139
Curtis Strange  United States 71-68=139

Amateurs: Sigel (+5), Verplank (+6), Randolph (+7), Townes (+12), Van Orman (+17), Tominaga (+18), Janzen (+21), Townes (+22)

Third round[]

Saturday, June 15, 1985

Place Player Country Score To par
1 Chen Tze-chung  Taiwan 65-69-69=203 −7
2 Andy North  United States 70-65-70=205 −5
3 Dave Barr  Canada 70-68-70=208 −2
4 Rick Fehr  United States 69-67-73=209 −1
T5 Seve Ballesteros  Spain 71-70-69=210 E
Tom Kite  United States 69-70-71=210
Denis Watson  Zimbabwe 72-65-73=210
T8 Payne Stewart  United States 70-70-71=211 +1
Lanny Wadkins  United States 70-72-69=211
T10 Raymond Floyd  United States 72-67-73=212 +2
Jay Haas  United States 69-66-77=212
Fuzzy Zoeller  United States 71-69-72=212

Final round[]

Sunday, June 16, 1985

Place Player Country Score To par Money ($)
1 Andy North  United States 70-65-70-74=279 −1 103,000
T2 Dave Barr  Canada 70-68-70-72=280 E 39,185
Chen Tze-chung  Taiwan 65-69-69-77=280
Denis Watson  Zimbabwe 72-65-73-70=280
T5 Seve Ballesteros  Spain 71-70-69-71=281 +1 18,458
Payne Stewart  United States 70-70-71-70=281
Lanny Wadkins  United States 70-72-69-70=281
8 Johnny Miller  United States 74-71-68-69=282 +2 14,921
T9 Rick Fehr  United States 69-67-73-74=283 +3 12,439
Corey Pavin  United States 72-68-73-70=283
Jack Renner  United States 72-69-72-70=283
Fuzzy Zoeller  United States 71-69-72-71=283

Amateurs: Scott Verplank (+9), Jay Sigel (+22)

Scorecard[]

Final round

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
United States North −4 −4 −4 −4 −4 −4 −4 −4 −3 −2 −1 −1 −2 −2 −2 −2 −2 −1
Canada Barr −1 −2 −2 −2 −3 −3 −3 −2 −2 −2 −2 −3 −2 −2 −2 −2 −1 E
Taiwan Chen −7 −8 −8 −8 −4 −3 −2 −1 −1 −1 −1 −2 −2 −1 −1 −1 E E
Zimbabwe Watson +1 +1 +2 +1 E +1 +1 +1 +1 +1 +1 E E E E E E E
Spain Ballesteros E E E E E E E +1 +2 +3 +2 +1 +2 +2 +2 +2 +1 +1
United States Stewart +1 −1 −1 −1 −2 −2 −2 −2 −2 −2 −2 −2 −1 E E E E +1
United States Wadkins +3 +2 +2 +1 +1 +1 +2 +2 +1 +1 +1 +1 E +1 +1 +1 +2 +1

Cumulative tournament scores, relative to par

Eagle Birdie Bogey Double bogey Triple bogey+

Source:[12]

References[]

  1. ^ McDermott, Barry (June 24, 1985). "A blast from the past". Sports Illustrated. pp. 20–25.
  2. ^ Lee, David (March 18, 2008). "Double Trouble". Golf Digest.
  3. ^ Barnas, Jo-Ann (June 11, 1996). "Chen's Monster". Detroit Free Press. Michigan. p. 1D – via newspapers.com.
  4. ^ "T.C. Chen finds niche golfing in Japan". Detroit Free Press. June 11, 1996. p. 7D – via newspapers.com.
  5. ^ "The golfer who didn't win the US Open because he waited for his ball to drop". The Guardian. June 15, 2017.
  6. ^ Kroichick, Ron (October 27, 2007). "Denis Watson relishing life". SFGate.
  7. ^ Townsend, Mark (March 20, 2018). "'I lost count of how many times I hit it, the final blow sending it over my left shoulder'". National Club Golfer.
  8. ^ "Rule 16 - Relief from Abnormal Course Conditions (Including Immovable Obstructions), Dangerous Animal Condition, Embedded Ball". USGA. Retrieved January 18, 2022.
  9. ^ "U.S. Open Course". Tuscaloosa News. Associated Press. June 13, 1985. p. 22.
  10. ^ "The course at Oakland Hills (map)". Lakeland Ledger. Florida. New York Times. June 13, 1985. p. 3D.
  11. ^ "1985 U.S. Open". databasegolf.com. Retrieved June 24, 2012.
  12. ^ "U.S. Open History". USGA. Retrieved April 19, 2019.

External links[]

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Coordinates: 42°32′38″N 83°16′37″W / 42.544°N 83.277°W / 42.544; -83.277

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