1997 U.S. Open: Els' Second Trophy
The 1997 U.S. Open was the 97th edition of the tournament. And while it wasn't easy, The Big Easy earned another victory.
Winner: Ernie Els, 276
Where it was played: Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Maryland
Tournament dates: June 12-15, 1997
Leader after first round: Colin Montgomerie, 65
Leader after second round: Tom Lehman, 137
Leader after third round: Tom Lehman, 205
Notable Notes: Ernie Els won his second U.S. Open title by one stroke over Colin Montgomerie. Tom Lehman led after the second round, and took a 2-stroke edge into the final round. But Lehman fought through a round of 73, while Els and Montgomerie closed with 69s.
Final Scores
| Ernie Els | 71-67-69-69—276 |
| Colin Montgomerie | 65-76-67-69—277 |
| Tom Lehman | 67-70-68-73—278 |
| Jeff Maggert | 73-66-68-74—281 |
| Bob Tway | 71-71-70-70—282 |
| Jim Furyk | 74-68-69-71—282 |
| Olin Browne | 71-71-69-71—282 |
| Jay Haas | 73-69-68-72—282 |
| Tommy Tolles | 74-67-69-72—282 |
| Scott McCarron | 73-71-69-70—283 |
| Scott Hoch | 71-68-72-72—283 |
| David Ogrin | 70-69-71-73—283 |
| Loren Roberts | 72-69-72-71—284 |
| Stewart Cink | 71-67-74-72—284 |
| Billy Andrade | 75-67-69-73—284 |
| Bradley Hughes | 75-70-71-69—285 |
| Jose Maria Olazabal | 71-71-72-71—285 |
| Davis Love III | 75-70-69-71—285 |
| Nick Price | 71-74-71-70—286 |
| Lee Westwood | 71-71-73-71—286 |
| Tiger Woods | 74-67-73-72—286 |
| Paul Stankowski | 75-70-68-73—286 |
| Hal Sutton | 66-73-73-74—286 |
| Len Mattiace | 71-75-73-68—287 |
| Scott Dunlap | 75-66-75-71—287 |
| Edward Fryatt | 72-73-73-69—287 |
| Steve Elkington | 75-68-72-72—287 |
| Paul Goydos | 73-72-74-69—288 |
| Paul Azinger | 72-72-74-70—288 |
| Payne Stewart | 71-73-73-71—288 |
| Mark McNulty | 67-73-75-73—288 |
| Hideki Kase | 68-73-73-74—288 |
| Fuzzy Zoeller | 72-73-69-74—288 |
| Kelly Gibson | 72-69-72-75—288 |
| Jeff Sluman | 69-72-72-75—288 |
| Justin Leonard | 69-72-78-70—289 |
| Grant Waite | 72-74-72-71—289 |
| Steve Stricker | 66-76-75-72—289 |
| Mark O'Meara | 73-73-71-72—289 |
| Stuart Appleby | 71-75-70-73—289 |
| John Cook | 72-71-71-75—289 |
| Frank Nobilo | 71-74-70-74—289 |
| Darren Clarke | 73-74-73-70—290 |
| Phil Mickelson | 75-68-73-74—290 |
| Fred Funk | 73-70-72-75—290 |
| Chris Perry | 70-73-71-76—290 |
| Craig Parry | 70-74-69-77—290 |
| Jesper Parnevik | 72-75-73-71—291 |
| David Duval | 74-73-70-74—291 |
| Nick Faldo | 72-74-69-76—291 |
| David White | 70-72-73-77—292 |
| Lee Janzen | 72-73-75-73—293 |
| Jack Nicklaus | 73-71-75-74—293 |
| Hale Irwin | 70-73-76-74—293 |
| Fred Couples | 75-72-72-74—293 |
| Peter Teravainen | 71-73-74-75—293 |
| Paul Broadhurst | 77-69-72-75—293 |
| Larry Mize | 70-74-76-74—294 |
| Clarence Rose | 72-71-73-78—294 |
| Chris Smith | 77-69-74-75—295 |
| Duffy Waldorf | 73-73-73-76—295 |
| Rodney Butcher | 73-74-70-78—295 |
| Steve Jones | 72-75-69-79—295 |
| Tom Watson | 72-74-72-78—296 |
| Dave Schreyer | 68-73-82-74—297 |
| Ben Crenshaw | 73-74-76-74—297 |
| Brad Faxon | 72-74-76-75—297 |
| Tom Kite | 75-69-82-72—298 |
| Mike Hulbert | 73-73-77-75—298 |
| Greg Kraft | 77-69-76-76—298 |
| John Morse | 71-74-76-77—298 |
| Stephen Ames | 73-73-75-77—298 |
| Thomas Bjorn | 71-75-73-79—298 |
| Jimmy Green | 75-72-79-73—299 |
| Randy Wylie | 71-76-77-76—300 |
| Andrew Coltart | 74-71-76-79—300 |
| Dick Mast | 73-69-83-76—301 |
| Greg Towne | 71-73-83-74—301 |
| Vijay Singh | 71-76-77-77—301 |
| Perry Parker | 75-71-77-78—301 |
| Donnie Hammond | 75-71-76-79—301 |
| Jacob Ferenz | 72-75-80-76—303 |
| Marco Dawson | 75-71-80-78—304 |
| Slade Adams | 71-74-78-83—306 |
