The U.S. Open's rich history at Oakmont – Part 3
By Josh Rowntree, Director of Communications • May 22, 2025
Oakmont Country Club holds a U.S. Open history unlike any other.
This June, one of the world’s most challenging courses — situated right in the heart of Western Pennsylvania — will once again welcome the world as it hosts its record tenth U.S. Open.
As the WPGA celebrates this momentous occasion, we will do so by reliving the illustrious history of the competition while also documenting the 125th U.S. Open this June.
We continue our look at the history of U.S. Opens played at Oakmont Country Club in a three-part series that chronicles the nine major national championships played in our own backyard.
Today, we detail the last three U.S. Open Championships to be contested in Oakmont, where weather, a rules controversy and a handful of intriguing and legendary figures all were part of the storylines.
For Part 1, click here. For part 2, click here.
1994: Through soaring temps, a lengthy playoff launches Els in stardom
Three decades after the event’s most memorable finish, the 1994 U.S. Open again brought late dramatics — and an extra day of competition.
It also punished the field and the spectators with extreme heat that clipped in triple digits.
But, locally, many remember how the competition began.
Arnold Palmer — the Western Pennsylvania golf legend and 1960 U.S. Open champion — played in his final U.S. Open after being given a special exemption by the USGA.
Palmer, 64 years old at the time, ended up missing the cut, finishing 16-over — one shot behind 1973 champion Johnny Miller.
But Palmer, ever the local fan favorite, received a gracious applause from the gallery as he walked the 18th hole for the final time as a U.S. Open competitor.
“I choked more coming up that 18th hole than I had in 40 years of golf,” Palmer said afterwards.
As the competition hit the weekend, the temperatures soared, and the scores were strong. Scotland’s Colin Montgomerie took a two-stroke lead to Saturday at 6-under.
But Ernie Else, a young, 24-year-old South African, made a charge on Saturday with a score of 66, taking the lead at 7-under to the final round.
Els struggled a bit Sunday, posting a 2-over final round score and ending up tied with Montgomerie and American Loren Roberts.
The three men, representing three countries, had to stay in Western Pennsylvania another day for Monday’s 18-hole playoff — the first three-man playoff for a U.S. Open in 31 years, and a fitting nod to Palmer, who famously battled Jack Nicklaus in a playoff at Oakmont three decades earlier.
Early on, Els seemed to fall behind the pack significantly, taking a triple bogey on the second playoff hole. But Montgomerie dipped to 4-over through three holes, and Roberts stumbled early on, as well.
Montgomerie slipped out of contention, shooting 7-over for the round. Els and Roberts both shot 3-over, with impressive birdies on the 17th hole. That set up a sudden-death playoff, which ended after two holes when Els made par and Roberts posted a bogey.
“For me, it was almost like a personal test of where I was with my game in regard to the rest of the world and on one of the best golf courses in the world,” said a reflective Els years later.
The first South African to win the U.S. Open since Gary Player in 1965, Els had his career take off after that, becoming one of the stars of the game.
The nickname “The Big Easy” followed, reflecting his calm demeanor and classic, buttery swing. And more and more wins started piling up, as well.
Now 55 years old, Els has posted 79 career wins, with 19 on the PGA Tour. He has won four major championships, including the 1997 U.S. Open and The Open Championship in 2002 and 2012. He was inducted into the Word Golf Hall of Fame in 2011.
In 2018, the USGA changed the playoff format from a full 18 holes to a two-hole aggregate scoring system.
2007: Cabrera fends off two crowd favorites for first major
The 107th edition of the U.S. Open welcomed one the game’s most polarizing and iconic figures, while going down as one of the most difficult U.S. Open’s in decades.
Tiger Woods took on Oakmont Country Club for the first and only time in a U.S. Open, and he very nearly claimed the trophy.
Instead, Woods finished second to Argentina’s Ángel Cabrera, who shot 5-over for the week to win his first major championship.
Preparations for the 2007 U.S. Open were unlike anything Oakmont Country Club had seen in the past, thanks in large part to the boom in the game’s popularity with Woods as the focal piece.
The event was completely sold out, with a lottery system used to determine ticketing after the general on-sale dried up.
Thanks to key renovations, including the addition of a second bridge over the Pennsylvania Turnpike, Oakmont was able to handle the increase in foot traffic better than it did in 1994.
On the course, conditions were as brutal as players had seen. The greens rolled so fast that Oakmont was reportedly asked by the USGA to slow them down, as players said they were like ‘putting on glass.’
Cabrera hung around the top of the leaderboard from start to finish. Only two players broke par in the first round — Cabrera and England’s Nick Dougherty. The Argentinian posted a 71 on Friday, entering the weekend as the outright leader at even par. The cut line was set at 10-over par.
That’s when Oakmont showed its teeth.
Scores climbed sharply, with Cabrera sinking back to a tie for seventh place due to a score of 76 in the third round. Woods shot a 69 and entered Sunday in second place, trailing Australian Aaron Baddeley.
Cabrera, however, came back strong in the final round. He shot a 69, finishing the week at 2-over. Jim Furyk — a Pennsylvania native and fan favorite — steadily rose up the leaderboard by shooting 70 in each of the last two rounds.
Both Furyk and Woods were unable to birdie the 18th hole, however, handing the title to Cabrera, who had to wait around 40 minutes for the final group to finish.
Cabrera became the first Argentinian and South American to win the U.S. Open.
"It is very difficult to describe at the moment," he said afterwards. "Probably tomorrow, when I wake up with this trophy beside me, I will realize I won the U.S. Open.
Cabrera infamously smoked cigarettes throughout his round, a habit that brought with it a split reaction from fans and commentators — many of which were more intrigued by Woods and Furyk than the eventual winner. Today, there sits one of Cabrera’s used cigarette butts in a trophy case in Oakmont’s clubhouse.
The 5-over winning card was tied for the highest score in a U.S. Open since Hale Irwin’s 7-over mark in 1974. A year earlier, Geoff Ogilvy won the 2006 U.S. Open with a 5-over mark at Winged Foot.
There have only been three U.S. Open’s since where the winner has been over par and, for that week, only eight players broke par in any single round.
Cabrera’s career — and life — took interesting turns following that U.S. Open. He won the 2009 Masters Tournament and just one other PGA Tour event.
In January 2021, Cabrera was arrested in Brazil, extradited and later convicted for assault and threats against a former domestic partner. He received a two-year sentence in prison. He was later convicted of more charges in relation to another relationship and served 30 months in prisons in Argentina and Brazil before his release. Cabrera was reinstated to the PGA Tour is December 2023.
Woods, meanwhile, quickly bounced back from his close second-place finish. He won the 2008 U.S. Open at Torrey Pines, topping Greensburg native Rocco Mediate in a playoff.
2016: Despite rain, some controversy, Johnson wins comfortably
From a winning score standpoint, the ninth U.S. Open hosted at Oakmont was much different than its predecessor.
Due to heavy rains during the week, the course’s lightning-fast greens became a touch more manageable, allowing the winning score to be nine strokes better than Ángel Cabrera’s top mark nine years prior.
That said, only four players were able to shoot under par for the week, with Dustin Johnson securing his first major championship by posting a four-under score.
Once again, Jim Furyk ended up high on the leaderboard, tying for second with Ireland’s Shane Lowry and American Scott Piercy.
Oakmont took on three inches of rain between Wednesday and Friday, suspending the opening round as dangerous weather rolled through the region.
While not many players were able to finish their round, a 19-year-old amateur shot an opening round 69, allowing him to be the leader in the clubhouse when play concluded Thursday. His name was Scottie Scheffler.
An accordion affect took place with the starting times and groups until Sunday, with darkness factoring in multiple times throughout the week.
When the final round began, Lowry was atop the leaderboard at 7-under, with Johnson and American Andrew Landry four shots back.
But Lowry struggled Sunday, posting a 76. Johnson shot a 69, while Furyk carded the best round of the week at 66.
Johnson’s finish, however, did include a rules controversy that gained immense attention. On the fifth green, he was retroactively penalized for moving his ball. He had initially been absolved of the infraction, but upon review was assessed one penalty stroke.
"It doesn't matter now and I'm glad it didn't matter because that would have been bad,” Johnson said afterwards.
For the first time, social media was in existence during a U.S. Open at Oakmont, opening the door for fans and players to be critical of the ruling. Luckily, the decision ended up being of no consequence. Johnson won the tournament decisively, by three strokes. But the backlash altered the way that the USGA dealt with similar rules situations going forward, allowing for more clarity and immediacy in such circumstances.
Regardless of that blip, Johnson, his wife — NHL legend Wayne Gretzky’s daughter Paulina Gretzky — and their young son celebrated the monumental victory on the 18th green.
“Feels good, feels really good, feels well deserved,” Johnson said after the victory. “I’ve had a lot of opportunities that I didn’t quite get done, so this one’s definitely really sweet."
Johnson, at that time, was certainly an established player. But that victory kickstarted a successful run for him. He won the Masters Tournament in 2020 — his last victory on the PGA Tour — and finished runner-up in the PGA Championship in 2019 and 2020.
In addition to his strong play, Johnson has become somewhat of a polarizing figure himself.
In 2014, he stepped away from competitive play due to self-described ‘personal challenges’ in his life. While rumors circulated that he was suspended, the PGA Tour announced that his leave was instead voluntary.
Eight years later, he left the PGA Tour entirely, joining LIV Golf at the height of the newly-formed league’s controversies. He has posted three victories with LIV and is currently ranked 801st in the OWGR rankings.
Johnson finished 10th in the U.S. Open in 2023 but has missed the cut in five of his last seven majors and not finished inside of the top 30 in any of those events.
Despite the weather, the economic impact on Western Pennsylvania was significant, hauling in nearly $170 million for the region.
For any media inquiries, please contact WPGA Director of Communications Josh Rowntree.
About the WPGA
Founded in 1899, the Western Pennsylvania Golf Association is the steward of amateur golf in the region. Started by five Member Clubs, the association now has nearly 200 Member Clubs and over 41,000 members. The WPGA conducts 14 individual competitions and 10 team events, and administers the WPGA Scholarship Fund and Western Pennsylvania Golf Hall of Fame.