1985 U.S. Open (golf)

1985 U.S. Open
Tournament information
Dates	June 13–16, 1985
Location	Bloomfield Hills, Michigan
Course(s)	Oakland Hills Country Club, South Course
Tour(s)	PGA Tour
Statistics
Par	70
Length	6,996 yards (6,397 m)
Field	156 players, 66 after cut
Cut	146 (+6)
Prize fund	$650,000
Winner's share	$103,000
Champion
	Andy North
	279 (−1)
	← 1984 1986 →

Oakland Hills Country Club

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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 a 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

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:

7,014 yards (6,414 m), par 70 - 1979 PGA Championship
7,054 yards (6,450 m), par 70 - 1972 PGA Championship
6,907 yards (6,316 m), par 70 - 1961 U.S. Open

6,927 yards (6,334 m), par 70 - 1951 U.S. Open
7,037 yards (6,435 m), par 72 - 1937 U.S. Open
6,880 yards (6,291 m), par 72 - 1924 U.S. Open

Round summaries

First round

Thursday, June 13, 1985

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

Second round

Friday, June 14, 1985

Place	Player	Score	To par
1	Chen Tze-chung	65-69=134	−6
T2	Jay Haas	69-66=135	−5
T2	Andy North	70-65=135	−5
4	Rick Fehr	69-67=136	−4
5	Denis Watson	72-65=137	−3
6	Dave Barr	70-68=138	−2
T7	Raymond Floyd	72-67=139	−1
	Tom Kite	69-70=139
	Mark O'Meara	72-67=139
	Curtis Strange	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	Score	To par
1	Chen Tze-chung	65-69-69=203	−7
2	Andy North	70-65-70=205	−5
3	Dave Barr	70-68-70=208	−2
4	Rick Fehr	69-67-73=209	−1
T5	Seve Ballesteros	71-70-69=210	E
	Tom Kite	69-70-71=210
	Denis Watson	72-65-73=210
T8	Payne Stewart	70-70-71=211	+1
T8	Lanny Wadkins	70-72-69=211	+1
T10	Raymond Floyd	72-67-73=212	+2
	Jay Haas	69-66-77=212
	Fuzzy Zoeller	71-69-72=212

Final round

Sunday, June 16, 1985

Place	Player	Score	To par	Money ($)
1	Andy North	70-65-70-74=279	−1	103,000
T2	Dave Barr	70-68-70-72=280	E	39,185
	Chen Tze-chung	65-69-69-77=280
	Denis Watson	72-65-73-70=280
T5	Seve Ballesteros	71-70-69-71=281	+1	18,458
	Payne Stewart	70-70-71-70=281
	Lanny Wadkins	70-72-69-70=281
8	Johnny Miller	74-71-68-69=282	+2	14,921
T9	Rick Fehr	69-67-73-74=283	+3	12,439
	Corey Pavin	72-68-73-70=283
	Jack Renner	72-69-72-70=283
	Fuzzy Zoeller	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
North	−4	−4	−4	−4	−4	−4	−4	−4	−3	−2	−1	−1	−2	−2	−2	−2	−2	−1
Barr	−1	−2	−2	−2	−3	−3	−3	−2	−2	−2	−2	−3	−2	−2	−2	−2	−1	E
Chen	−7	−8	−8	−8	−4	−3	−2	−1	−1	−1	−1	−2	−2	−1	−1	−1	E	E
Watson	+1	+1	+2	+1	E	+1	+1	+1	+1	+1	+1	E	E	E	E	E	E	E
Ballesteros	E	E	E	E	E	E	E	+1	+2	+3	+2	+1	+2	+2	+2	+2	+1	+1
Stewart	+1	−1	−1	−1	−2	−2	−2	−2	−2	−2	−2	−2	−1	E	E	E	E	+1
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:^[11]

References

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

External links

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

[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.

[oh85cse-9] "U.S. Open Course". Tuscaloosa News. Associated Press. June 13, 1985. p. 22.

[tcaoh-10] "The course at Oakland Hills (map)". Lakeland Ledger. Florida. New York Times. June 13, 1985. p. 3D.

[ldr-11] "U.S. Open History". USGA. Retrieved April 19, 2019.

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