The 1990 U.S. Open was the 90th U.S. Open, held June 14–18 at Course No. 3 of Medinah Country Club in Medinah, Illinois, a suburb northwest of Chicago. Hale Irwin became the oldest U.S. Open champion by defeating Mike Donald at the 91st hole, the first in sudden-death, after the two tied in the 18-hole Monday playoff.[1][2] It was Irwin's third U.S. Open title, with previous wins in 1974 and 1979.[3] Implemented decades earlier, it was the first use of sudden-death in the U.S. Open; the last tie in a playoff was in 1946. Sudden death was needed again in 1994 and 2008.
Irwin was without a PGA Tour win in five years and 11 years removed from his last U.S. Open victory in 1979; he received a special exemption from the USGA to enter the tournament. Irwin began the final round in a tie for 20th place, four strokes back of leaders Billy Ray Brown and Donald. Playing well ahead of the leaders, Irwin fired a round of 67, which included a 45-foot (14 m) birdie putt at the 72nd hole. After the putt dropped, he provided the championship with its enduring image as he took a "victory lap" around the green, high-fiving spectators.[4] Irwin, however, had not won the championship yet as there were still golfers on the course with a chance to overtake him. Donald made par saves from 35 feet (11 m) on the 12th and from 15 feet (5 m) on the 14th before making bogey at the 16th. A two-putt par on the last tied him with Irwin, forcing an 18-hole Monday playoff. Brown and Nick Faldo finished a stroke out of the playoff in a tie for third place.
In the playoff, Donald took a two-shot lead to the 16th tee. Needing a birdie, Irwin responded with a brilliant 2-iron approach and sank the putt to get within one. After both players parred the 17th, Irwin made par at the last, giving Donald a chance to win the championship. His par putt, however, narrowly slid by, implementing sudden-death for the first time in U.S. Open history. (Previous playoff ties went on to play additional full rounds, the last of which was in 1946.) Irwin needed just one more hole, recording a birdie at the par-4 1st to win the championship.
At 45 years and 15 days, Irwin became the oldest winner of the U.S. Open, surpassing the record set in 1986 by Raymond Floyd by 15 months. The oldest winner of a major is Phil Mickelson, 50 at the 2021 PGA Championship.
Curtis Strange attempted to win his third consecutive U.S. Open; he began the final round just two off the lead, but a final round 75 dropped him back to 21st place. Amateurs Phil Mickelson and David Duval made their major championship debuts, finishing in 29th and 56th place, respectively.
Scoring conditions were ideal throughout the week, with a record 39 under-par rounds in the first round and 47 in the second. A total of 28 players finished the tournament under-par, a new U.S. Open record.
^. Golf.com. Archived from the original on June 18, 2009. Retrieved March 18, 2009.
^"U.S. Open 1990 – Medinah Country Club No. 3 Course". The Tampa Tribune. Florida. June 14, 1990. p. 10C – via newspapers.com.
^"U.S. Open History". USGA. Retrieved April 15, 2019.
^Hackenberg, Dave (June 19, 1990). "Irwin's dream indeed comes true". Toledo Blade. (Ohio). p. 23.
^"Irwin revises U.S. Open history". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. June 19, 1990. p. C1.
^"U.S. Open - playoff cards". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. June 19, 1990. p. C4.
External linksEdit
USGA Championship Database
October 17, 2023
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The 1990 U S Open was the 90th U S Open held June 14 18 at Course No 3 of Medinah Country Club in Medinah Illinois a suburb northwest of Chicago Hale Irwin became the oldest U S Open champion by defeating Mike Donald at the 91st hole the first in sudden death after the two tied in the 18 hole Monday playoff 1 2 It was Irwin s third U S Open title with previous wins in 1974 and 1979 3 Implemented decades earlier it was the first use of sudden death in the U S Open the last tie in a playoff was in 1946 Sudden death was needed again in 1994 and 2008 1990 U S OpenTournament informationDatesJune 14 18 1990LocationMedinah Illinois41 57 58 N 88 02 53 W 41 966 N 88 048 W 41 966 88 048Course s Medinah Country Club Course No 3Tour s PGA TourStatisticsPar72Length7 185 yards 6 570 m Field156 players 68 after cutCut145 1 Prize fund 1 200 000Winner s share 220 000ChampionHale Irwin280 8 playoffLocation MapMedinahLocation in the United StatesShow map of the United StatesMedinahLocation in IllinoisShow map of Illinois 19891991 It was the third U S Open at Medinah which previously hosted in 1949 and 1975 It later hosted the PGA Championship in 1999 and 2006 and the Ryder Cup in 2012 Irwin was without a PGA Tour win in five years and 11 years removed from his last U S Open victory in 1979 he received a special exemption from the USGA to enter the tournament Irwin began the final round in a tie for 20th place four strokes back of leaders Billy Ray Brown and Donald Playing well ahead of the leaders Irwin fired a round of 67 which included a 45 foot 14 m birdie putt at the 72nd hole After the putt dropped he provided the championship with its enduring image as he took a victory lap around the green high fiving spectators 4 Irwin however had not won the championship yet as there were still golfers on the course with a chance to overtake him Donald made par saves from 35 feet 11 m on the 12th and from 15 feet 5 m on the 14th before making bogey at the 16th A two putt par on the last tied him with Irwin forcing an 18 hole Monday playoff Brown and Nick Faldo finished a stroke out of the playoff in a tie for third place In the playoff Donald took a two shot lead to the 16th tee Needing a birdie Irwin responded with a brilliant 2 iron approach and sank the putt to get within one After both players parred the 17th Irwin made par at the last giving Donald a chance to win the championship His par putt however narrowly slid by implementing sudden death for the first time in U S Open history Previous playoff ties went on to play additional full rounds the last of which was in 1946 Irwin needed just one more hole recording a birdie at the par 4 1st to win the championship At 45 years and 15 days Irwin became the oldest winner of the U S Open surpassing the record set in 1986 by Raymond Floyd by 15 months The oldest winner of a major is Phil Mickelson 50 at the 2021 PGA Championship Curtis Strange attempted to win his third consecutive U S Open he began the final round just two off the lead but a final round 75 dropped him back to 21st place Amateurs Phil Mickelson and David Duval made their major championship debuts finishing in 29th and 56th place respectively Scoring conditions were ideal throughout the week with a record 39 under par rounds in the first round and 47 in the second A total of 28 players finished the tournament under par a new U S Open record Contents 1 Course layout 2 Round summaries 2 1 First round 2 2 Second round 2 3 Third round 2 4 Final round 2 4 1 Scorecard 2 5 Playoff 2 5 1 Scorecard 3 References 4 External linksCourse layout EditMain article Medinah Country Club Hole 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Out 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 In TotalYards 385 180 412 434 526 445 581 190 426 3 582 577 402 462 199 545 384 426 168 440 3 603 7 185Par 4 3 4 4 5 4 5 3 4 36 5 4 4 3 5 4 4 3 4 36 72Source 5 Round summaries EditFirst round Edit Thursday June 14 1990 Place Player Score To parT1 nbsp Scott Simpson 66 6 nbsp Tim Simpson nbsp Jeff SlumanT4 nbsp Mike Donald 67 5 nbsp Steve JonesT6 nbsp Mark Brooks 68 4 nbsp John HustonT8 nbsp Emlyn Aubrey 69 3 nbsp Billy Ray Brown nbsp Hale Irwin nbsp Bob TwaySecond round Edit Friday June 15 1990 Place Player Score To par1 nbsp Tim Simpson 66 69 135 92 nbsp Jeff Sluman 66 70 136 83 nbsp Mike Donald 67 70 137 74 nbsp Mark Brooks 68 70 138 6T5 nbsp Hale Irwin 69 70 139 5 nbsp Scott Simpson 66 73 139T7 nbsp Billy Ray Brown 69 71 140 4 nbsp Jim Gallagher Jr 71 69 140 nbsp John Huston 68 72 140 nbsp Ian Woosnam 70 70 140Amateurs Duval E Mickelson 1 Third round Edit Saturday June 16 1990 Place Player Score To parT1 nbsp Billy Ray Brown 69 71 69 209 7 nbsp Mike Donald 67 70 72 209T3 nbsp Mark Brooks 68 70 72 210 6 nbsp Larry Nelson 74 67 69 210 nbsp Tim Simpson 66 69 75 210 nbsp Jeff Sluman 66 70 74 210T7 nbsp Larry Mize 72 70 69 211 5 nbsp Jose Maria Olazabal 73 69 69 211 nbsp Craig Parry 72 71 68 211 nbsp Mike Reid 70 73 68 211 nbsp Curtis Strange 73 70 68 211 nbsp Fuzzy Zoeller 73 70 68 211Final round Edit Sunday June 17 1990 Place Player Score To par Money T1 nbsp Hale Irwin 69 70 74 67 280 8 Playoff nbsp Mike Donald 67 70 72 71 280T3 nbsp Billy Ray Brown 69 71 69 72 281 7 56 878 nbsp Nick Faldo 72 72 68 69 281T5 nbsp Mark Brooks 68 70 72 73 283 5 33 271 nbsp Greg Norman 72 73 69 69 283 nbsp Tim Simpson 66 69 75 73 283T8 nbsp Scott Hoch 70 73 69 72 284 4 22 236 nbsp Steve Jones 67 76 74 67 284 nbsp Jose Maria Olazabal 73 69 69 73 284 nbsp Tom Sieckmann 70 74 68 72 284 nbsp Craig Stadler 71 70 72 71 284 nbsp Fuzzy Zoeller 73 70 68 73 284Amateurs Phil Mickelson E David Duval 5 Scorecard Edit Final round Hole 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18Par 4 3 4 4 5 4 5 3 4 5 4 4 3 5 4 4 3 4 nbsp Irwin 3 2 2 2 2 2 3 3 3 3 4 5 6 7 7 7 7 8 nbsp Donald 8 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 8 8 8 nbsp Brown 7 7 7 7 8 8 6 7 6 6 7 7 7 7 7 6 7 7 nbsp Faldo 5 5 5 5 6 6 6 6 6 6 7 7 7 8 8 7 7 7 nbsp Brooks 6 6 5 5 5 4 4 4 5 5 5 6 5 5 4 4 5 5 nbsp Norman 2 2 2 2 3 4 4 5 5 6 6 6 7 6 6 6 5 5 nbsp Simpson 6 6 6 6 6 5 5 5 6 6 6 6 5 5 5 5 5 5 nbsp Nelson 6 6 6 4 5 3 3 2 2 2 3 3 2 1 1 2 3 3 nbsp Sluman 6 6 6 5 4 4 4 4 4 3 4 4 4 4 3 3 3 3Cumulative tournament scores relative to par Birdie Bogey Double bogeySource 6 Playoff Edit Monday June 18 1990 Place Player Score To par Suddendeath Money 1 nbsp Hale Irwin 38 36 74 2 3 220 0002 nbsp Mike Donald 37 37 74 2 x 110 000Irwin and Donald tied in the 18 hole playoff at 74 2 The sudden death playoff began on hole 1 385 yd par 4 which Irwin 3 birdied and Donald x did not 7 Scorecard Edit Hole 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18Par 4 3 4 4 5 4 5 3 4 5 4 4 3 5 4 4 3 4 nbsp Irwin E E E E 1 1 1 1 2 2 3 4 4 3 3 2 2 2 nbsp Donald 1 E E 1 1 2 2 2 1 1 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 2Sudden death Playoff nbsp Irwin 1 nbsp Donald xBirdie BogeySource 8 9 References Edit Parascenzo Marino June 19 1990 Irwin rules U S Open Pittsburgh Post Gazette p 27 Bunch Ken June 19 1990 Irwin triumphs in duel at Open Milwaukee Sentinel p 1 part 2 Swift E M June 25 1990 Hail Irwin Sports Illustrated p 16 The 10 Best Duels in U S Open History Golf com Archived from the original on June 18 2009 Retrieved March 18 2009 U S Open 1990 Medinah Country Club No 3 Course The Tampa Tribune Florida June 14 1990 p 10C via newspapers com U S Open History USGA Retrieved April 15 2019 Hackenberg Dave June 19 1990 Irwin s dream indeed comes true Toledo Blade Ohio p 23 Irwin revises U S Open history Spokesman Review Spokane Washington Associated Press June 19 1990 p C1 U S Open playoff cards Spokesman Review Spokane Washington Associated Press June 19 1990 p C4 External links EditUSGA Championship Database Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title 1990 U S Open golf amp oldid 1159950435, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
