Has the US Open ever gone to a Monday finish?
Last updated:
The playoff used to be 18 holes the day after the tournament concluded, but has regulation play ever spilled over? Here’s a complete list of US Open Monday finishes…
With weather causing havoc at Oakmont, it got us wondering. How many US Open Monday finishes have there been?
Now, of course, the answer is more complicated than you might think. That’s mainly because the US Open schedule has been played around with a lot over the years. Notably pre-World War II, when the tournament would often conclude with both the third and fourth rounds played on Saturday.
Then there’s the added complication of the previous playoff format being 18 holes played the day after the conclusion of 72 holes – and you can read about that right here – but this is about regulation play spilling into Monday.
So, with a little bit of help from the USGA and our old friend Wikipedia, this is what we’ve dug up.
US Open Monday finishes
It turns out that, according to the USGA, there have been just two US Open Monday finishes in which there was not a playoff.
They were in 1983 at Oakmont Country Club, and 2009 at Bethpage State Park.
1983
A storm came through the Pittsburgh area at around 5.30pm local time which postponed play until the following day.
Tom Watson, on the 14th green when the horn went, and Larry Nelson, on the 16th tee, were tied for the lead at 4-under-par.
When play resumed on the Monday morning, Nelson holed a 62-foot birdie putt at the par-3 16th before three-putting the 18th to take the clubhouse lead at 4-under.
Watson then failed to save par from the bunker at 17, before flying the green at the last. When he failed to hole his chip shot, Nelson was declared the winner. It was the second of his three major championships.
2009
The 2009 US Open was only three hours old when rain stopped play for the first time on Thursday morning and blighted the entire tournament to the point where all four rounds were played across two separate days.
On Sunday evening, leaders Lucas Glover and Ricky Barnes were only on the second hole when play was suspended due to darkness.
When the tournament resumed on Monday morning, Glover held off the challenge of not only Barnes but David Duval and a charging Phil Mickelson to win by two over Bethpage State Park’s notorious Black course.
