1986 U.S. Open: One for the Old(ish) Guys
The 1986 U.S. Open was the 86th time the tournament was played. The winner was a major champion in his 40s, and his victory here established what was, at the time, the U.S. Open tournament record for oldest champion.
Winner: Raymond Floyd, 279
Where it was played: Shinnecock Hills Golf Club in Shinnecock Hills, New York
Tournament dates: June 12-15, 1986
Leader after first round: Bob Tway, 70
Leader after second round: Greg Norman, 139
Leader after third round: Greg Norman, 210
What Happened in the 1986 U.S. Open
Forty-three-year-old Raymond Floyd won his only U.S. Open title at Shinnecock Hills in 1986, displacing Ted Ray, winner of the 1920 U.S. Open, atop the list of oldest U.S. Open winners. Floyd himself got knocked off the top of that list by Hale Irwin just four years later.This was career win No. 20 on the PGA Tour for Floyd, and he won only twice more after this. It was the fourth of his four wins in major championships.
A 68 in the second round moved Floyd into a tie for fourth place. In the third round, Floyd had a steady 70, and he stood tied for fifth place, three strokes off Greg Norman's lead, going into the final round.
But in that final round, Floyd had his best score of the tournament, a 66. That included a birdie on the 11th hole that moved Floyd into a 9-way tie for the lead. He was one behind again after the 12th, but another birdie on the 13th put Floyd back into a first-place tie. But Floyd had one more back-nine birdie left, on the 16th hole, that gave him a two-stroke edge, and he took that into the clubhouse.
The golfers who finished second, Lanny Wadkins and Chip Beck, both started the final round farther back than Floyd but climbed the leaderboard with 65s. Third-round leader Greg Norman shot 75 and finished outside the Top 10. Norman held or shared the 54-hole lead at all four majors in 1986, but won just one of them, the British Open.
Jack Nicklaus, coming off his 1986 Masters win at age 46, opened with a 77. But he closed with rounds of 67 and 68 on the weekend to finish tied for eighth place. It was Nicklaus' 18th and last Top 10 finish in a U.S. Open. Lee Trevino began the final round one stroke off the lead and shot 71 to tie for fourth place. It was Trevino's final Top 10 finish in any of the four majors.
At the other end of his career was 19-year-old amateur John Daly, who played in his first major championship here. But he shot 88 in the first round and finished near the bottom after two rounds, missing the cut.
1986 U.S. Open Final Scores
| Raymond Floyd | 75-68-70-66—279 |
| Lanny Wadkins | 74-70-72-65—281 |
| Chip Beck | 75-73-68-65—281 |
| Lee Trevino | 74-68-69-71—282 |
| Hal Sutton | 75-70-66-71—282 |
| Payne Stewart | 76-68-69-70—283 |
| Ben Crenshaw | 76-69-69-69—283 |
| Bob Tway | 70-73-69-72—284 |
| Mark McCumber | 74-71-68-71—284 |
| Bernhard Langer | 74-70-70-70—284 |
| Jack Nicklaus | 77-72-67-68—284 |
| Denis Watson | 72-70-71-72—285 |
| Greg Norman | 71-68-71-75—285 |
| Mark Calcavecchia | 75-75-72-65—287 |
| Gary Koch | 73-73-71-71—288 |
| Craig Stadler | 74-71-74-69—288 |
| Jodie Mudd | 73-75-69-71—288 |
| Scott Verplank | 75-72-67-74—288 |
| Bobby Wadkins | 75-69-72-72—288 |
| Fuzzy Zoeller | 75-74-71-68—288 |
| David Graham | 76-71-69-72—288 |
| David Frost | 72-72-77-67—288 |
| Joey Sindelar | 81-66-70-71—288 |
| Tom Watson | 72-71-71-75—289 |
| Lennie Clements | 75-72-67-75—289 |
| Seve Ballesteros | 75-73-68-73—289 |
| Larry Mize | 75-71-73-70—289 |
| Don Pooley | 75-71-74-69—289 |
| Mike Reid | 74-73-66-76—289 |
| Andy Bean | 76-72-73-68—289 |
| Larry Rinker | 77-71-70-71—289 |
| Calvin Peete | 77-73-70-69—289 |
| Dave Eichelberger | 80-70-72-67—289 |
| Paul Azinger | 78-72-70-70—290 |
| Tom Kite | 74-74-73-70—291 |
| Tom Cook | 75-73-70-73—291 |
| Larry Nelson | 75-73-70-73—291 |
| Phil Blackmar | 75-75-70-71—291 |
| Mark McNulty | 75-72-68-76—291 |
| a-Sam Randolph | 79-71-68-73—291 |
| Doug Tewell | 74-73-71-74—292 |
| Roger Maltbie | 76-70-73-73—292 |
| Bruce Fleisher | 76-73-71-72—292 |
| Mark O'Meara | 76-73-71-72—292 |
| Dave Barr | 75-73-73-72—293 |
| Kenny Knox | 72-76-74-71—293 |
| Johnny Miller | 76-72-71-74—293 |
| Sandy Lyle | 78-71-72-72—293 |
| Mark Lye | 80-70-70-73—293 |
| Barry Jaeckel | 75-74-71-74—294 |
| David Hobby | 76-74-71-73—294 |
| Mac O'Grady | 75-69-73-77—294 |
| Bill Glasson | 76-74-69-76—295 |
| Tommy Nakajima | 72-72-78-73—295 |
| Hubert Green | 75-75-75-71—296 |
| Wayne Levi | 77-70-74-75—296 |
| David Israelson | 79-71-72-74—296 |
| Greg Powers | 80-70-72-74—296 |
| Peter Jacobsen | 76-72-73-76—297 |
| T.C. Chen | 76-72-75-74—297 |
| Frank Conner | 75-73-77-72—297 |
| Jeff Sluman | 75-74-75-74—298 |
| David Ogrin | 76-73-74-75—298 |
| Rick Fehr | 72-77-75-74—298 |
| Dick Mast | 76-74-76-74—300 |
| Howard Twitty | 79-71-75-76—301 |
| Andy North | 79-71-77-75—302 |
| Mike Malaska | 74-74-80-75—303 |
| Peter Oosterhuis | 78-70-78-78—304 |
| Brad Greer | 78-72-79-76—305 |
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