1987 U.S. Open (golf)

1987 U.S. Open
Tournament information
DatesJune 18–21, 1987
LocationSan Francisco, California
Course(s)Olympic Club, Lake Course
Organized byUSGA
Tour(s)PGA Tour
FormatStroke play
Statistics
Par70
Length6,709 yards (6,135 m)[1]
Field156 players, 77 after cut
Cut147 (+7)
Prize fund$825,000
Winner's share$150,000
Champion
Scott Simpson
277 (−3)
Olympic Club
Location in the United States

The 1987 U.S. Open was the 87th U.S. Open, held June 18–21 at the Olympic Club in San Francisco, California. Scott Simpson passed and held off 1982 champion Tom Watson on the Lake Course to win his only major title by one stroke.

Eleven former champions were in the field and only four made the 36-hole cut.

This was the third U.S. Open at the Lake Course of the Olympic Club, the previous two in 1955 and 1966 ended in playoffs. The U.S. Open returned in 1998 and 2012; both were won by one stroke.

Course layout

Olympic Club - Lake Course[1]

Hole 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Out 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 In Total
Yards 533 394 223 438 457 437 288 132 433 3,335 422 430 390 186 417 149 609 428 343 3,374 6,709
Par 5 4 3 4 4 4 4 3 4 35 4 4 4 3 4 3 5 4 4 35 70

Lengths of the course for previous major championships:

Round summaries

First round

Thursday, June 18, 1987

Place Player Score To par
1 Ben Crenshaw 67 −3
T2 Seve Ballesteros 68 −2
Raymond Floyd
Tsuneyuki Nakajima
T5 Bernhard Langer 69 −1
Nick Price
Denis Watson
T8 Jay Don Blake 70 E
Lennie Clements
John Cook
Dale Douglass
David Frost
Sandy Lyle
Jack Nicklaus
Jim Thorpe
Bob Tway
Mark Wiebe

Second round

Friday, June 19, 1987

Place Player Score To par
T1 Tom Watson 72-65=137 −3
Mark Wiebe 70-67=137
T3 John Cook 70-68=138 −2
Bernhard Langer 69-69=138
Tsuneyuki Nakajima 68-70=138
Jack Nicklaus 70-68=138
Jim Thorpe 70-68=138
T8 Ben Crenshaw 67-72=139 −1
Bob Eastwood 73-66=139
Larry Mize 71-68=139
Scott Simpson 71-68=139

Amateurs: Alexander (+13), Parker (+13).

Third round

Saturday, June 20, 1987

Place Player Score To par
1 Tom Watson 72-65-71=208 −2
T2 Keith Clearwater 74-71-64=209 −1
Scott Simpson 71-68-70=209
4 Lennie Clements 70-70-70=210 E
T5 Seve Ballesteros 68-75-68=211 +1
Ben Crenshaw 67-72-72=211
Bernhard Langer 69-69-73=211
John Mahaffey 72-72-67=211
Larry Mize 71-68-72=211
Jim Thorpe 70-68-73=211

Final round

Sunday, June 21, 1987

Watson held a share of the lead after 36 holes, then took a one-shot lead over Simpson and Keith Clearwater into the final round. Clearwater, 27, shot a six-under 64 on Saturday to get into the final pair with Watson.[2] Watson struggled out of the gate on Sunday on Olympic's difficult start; he bogeyed the first two holes and the fifth as well. Simpson birdied the first but then had three bogeys in four holes. With consecutive birdies at 8 and 9, Watson carried a one-stroke lead to the back nine. Simpson, a group ahead on the course, took the lead with a 30-footer (9 m) for birdie at 15, but Watson responded with a birdie at 14 to tie. At 16, Simpson sank a 9-footer (2.7 m) for his third straight birdie to take the lead, then Watson missed his from 12 feet (3.7 m) to match. Simpson found a greenside bunker at 17, then hit his sand shot to 6 feet (1.8 m) and saved par. With a par on 18, Simpson was in the clubhouse with a 68 and Watson needed a birdie to a force a Monday playoff. His 35-foot (11 m) putt narrowly missed and Simpson was the champion by a stroke. In the final pairing, Clearwater had trouble both early and late and shot a 79 (+9) to fade to a tie for 31st.[3] Seve Ballesteros finished in solo third place, his best career finish in a U.S. Open.[4][5]

Place Player Score To par Money ($)
1 Scott Simpson 71-68-70-68=277 −3 150,000
2 Tom Watson 72-65-71-70=278 −2 75,000
3 Seve Ballesteros 68-75-68-71=282 +2 46,240
T4 Ben Crenshaw 67-72-72-72=283 +3 24,542
Bernhard Langer 69-69-73-72=283
Larry Mize 71-68-72-72=283
Curtis Strange 71-72-69-71=283
Bobby Wadkins 71-71-70-71=283
T9 Lennie Clements 70-70-70-74=284 +4 15,004
Tsuneyuki Nakajima 68-70-74-72=284
Mac O'Grady 71-69-72-72=284
Dan Pohl 75-71-69-69=284
Jim Thorpe 70-68-73-73=284

Scorecard

Final round

Hole  1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9  10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18
Par 5 4 3 4 4 4 4 3 4 4 4 4 3 4 3 5 4 4
Simpson −2 −2 −1 E E +1 E E E E E E E −1 −2 −3 −3 −3
Watson −1 E E E +1 +1 +1 E −1 −1 −1 −1 −1 −2 −2 −2 −2 −2
Ballesteros E E +1 +2 +3 +3 +2 +1 +1 +1 E +1 +2 +2 +1 +1 +2 +2
Crenshaw +2 +2 +2 +2 +2 +2 +2 +2 +1 E +1 +2 +2 +1 +1 +2 +3 +3
Langer E E E E E +1 +1 +1 +1 +1 +1 +2 +2 +1 +2 +2 +2 +3
Mize +1 +1 E E E +1 +1 +1 +1 E E +1 +2 +3 +3 +3 +3 +3
Strange +3 +3 +3 +3 +4 +4 +4 +3 +2 +2 +2 +2 +2 +3 +3 +3 +4 +3
Wadkins +2 +2 +3 +3 +4 +4 +4 +4 +4 +3 +3 +3 +2 +3 +3 +3 +4 +3
Clements E +1 +2 +2 +3 +4 +3 +3 +3 +3 +3 +3 +4 +3 +3 +4 +4 +4
Clearwater −1 E +2 +2 +3 +3 +3 +3 +3 +3 +3 +3 +3 +3 +3 +4 +7 +8

Cumulative tournament scores, relative to par

Birdie Bogey Double bogey Triple bogey+

Source:[4]

References

  1. ^ a b "What they'll face at Olympic". Eugene Register-Guard. Associated Press. June 18, 1987. p. 5D.
  2. ^ Downey, Mike (June 21, 1987). "Watson leads, by one putt". Eugene Register-Guard. Los Angeles Times. p. 1B.
  3. ^ Parascenzo, Marino (June 22, 1987). "Simpson takes close Open". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. p. 11.
  4. ^ a b "Olympic magic taps Simpson's putter". Eugene Register-Guard. Associated Press. June 22, 1987. p. 1B.
  5. ^ Reilly, Rick (June 29, 1987). "An Open and Shut Case". Sports Illustrated. p. 20. Retrieved December 6, 2019.

37°42′32″N 122°29′42″W / 37.709°N 122.495°W / 37.709; -122.495