1991 U.S. Senior Open Winner and Scores

The 1991 U.S. Senior Open was the 12th time this major championship of men's senior professional golf was played. Jack Nicklaus earned the first of his two wins in this tournament, but needed an 18-hole playoff to do it.

Winner: Jack Nicklaus, 282

Where it was played: Oakland Hills Country Club (South Course) in Birmingham, Michigan

Tournament dates: July 25-29, 1991

Leader after first round: Mike Hill, 68

Leader after second round: J.C. Snead, 140

Leader after third round: Lee Trevino, 210

What Happened in the 1991 U.S. Senior Open

In the 1990 U.S. Senior Open, Jack Nicklaus led Lee Trevino going into the final round, but Trevino won the tournament. But this year, Nicklaus passed Trevino in the final round, then won an 18-hole playoff against Chi Chi Rodriguez for the victory.

Nicklaus also won the Senior PGA Championship in 1991, becoming the second golfer to win the Senior PGA and the U.S. Senior Open in the same calendar year. And he won another senior major, The Tradition, in 1991, too, also the first golfer to win both the USSO and The Tradition in the same year (and obviously the first to win all three in the same year).

With this victory, Nicklaus also became just the second golfer — after Arnold Palmer — to win all three of the U.S. Amateur, U.S. Open and U.S. Senior Open. (And into the 2020s, no other golfer had done it.)

Nicklaus was one stroke off J.C. Snead's lead following the second round. And he was still one off the lead after the third round, only it was Trevino on top of the leaderboard. Chi Chi Rodriguez and Snead were tied with Nicklaus in second going into the final round.

And in that final round, Nicklaus and Rodriguez scored 71s to tied for first place at 282. Trevino had a 74 and slipped to fourth place, while Snead shot 79.

But Nicklaus saved his best for last, the 18-hole playoff against Rodriguez. He won that playoff by four strokes, scoring 65 to Chi Chi's 69. Nicklaus' 65 was two strokes lower than anyone else scored during any round of the tournament, and it tied the then-course record on the South Course at Oakland Hills Country Club. Nicklaus pretty much put the playoff in his pocket by making five birdies on the front nine.

Seventy-five-year-old Jerry Barber made the cut, breaking his own record as oldest golfer to play the weekend in a U.S. Senior Open. (And he broke his own record one more time in the 1992 USSO.)

1991 U.S. Senior Open Final Scores

Jack Nicklaus	72-69-70-71—282 (65)
Chi Chi Rodriguez	73-68-70-71—282 (69)
Al Geiberger	71-70-72-70—283
Jim Dent	73-72-72-67—284
Lee Trevino	70-72-68-74—284
Charles Coody	78-68-69-71—286
Don Bies	72-69-72-73—286
Bob Charles	72-70-73-72—287
Mike Hill	68-74-71-74—287
Gary Player	69-73-73-72—287
Bobby Nichols	71-73-74-71—289
Harold Henning	73-73-70-73—289
Bruce Crampton	75-69-72-73—289
Ken Still	76-71-72-70—289
J.C. Snead	71-69-71-79—290
Babe Hiskey	73-72-71-74—290
Frank Beard	73-74-74-70—291
Jack Kiefer	75-72-69-75—291
Joe Jimenez	77-74-73-68—292
Jim Colbert	74-70-74-74—292
Bruce Devlin	71-73-72-76—292
Don Massengale	75-72-75-71—293
Chick Evans	75-75-73-70—293
Rocky Thompson	73-76-72-73—294
Gibby Gilbert	73-73-75-73—294
Dale Douglass	73-70-73-78—294
Miller Barber	75-77-71-71—294
Brian Waites	75-76-70-73—294
Tommy Aaron	73-73-71-78—295
Jim Albus	75-76-70-74—295
Dick Rhyan	73-74-76-72—295
Snell Lancaster	72-74-74-75—295
Mike Joyce	77-73-74-72—296
Walter Zembriski	76-74-66-81—297
Ben Smith	75-74-74-74—297
a-Jim Patti	78-68-73-78—297
a-Dick Siderowf	71-80-72-75—298
Larry Ziegler	79-73-75-71—298
J.C. Goosie	78-74-74-72—298
Orville Moody	77-71-70-81—299
Phil Rodgers	71-77-74-77—299
Steve Spray	76-75-73-75—299
Tom Shaw	74-73-74-78—299
Jack Rule	73-76-72-78—299
Walter Morgan	77-75-73-74—299
Paul Moran	72-77-78-73—300
John Paul Cain	73-73-79-75—300
John Brodie	73-73-75-79—300
Jerry Barber	74-74-75-78—301
Al Kelley	77-74-70-80—301
Deray Simon	74-76-74-77—301
Bill Majure	73-75-76-78—302
a-Hunter McDonald	71-81-72-78—302
Gay Brewer	74-74-76-80—304
Doug Ford	75-76-77-76—304
Doug Dalziel	73-77-73-81—304
a-David King	77-74-75-79—305
Ray Vanyo	76-75-76-79—306
a-Richard Goerlich	73-78-77-78—306
Billy Lively	73-77-77-80—307
Robert Gaona	74-78-80-75—307
Willie Felker	77-72-80-79—308
Charlie Moore	77-75-81-78—311

Sources:
Klonke, Chuck. "Nicklaus wins U.S. Senior Open with course record," United Press International, July 29, 1991, https://www.upi.com/Archives/1991/07/29/Nicklaus-wins-US-Senior-Open-with-course-record/8058680760000/.
PGA Tour. Senior PGA Tour Book 1992, Tournament Summaries, U.S. Senior Open.
PGATour.com. Champions Tour, Tournaments, U.S. Senior Open, Past Results, 1991, https://www.pgatour.com/pgatour-champions/tournaments/2026/u.s-senior-open-championship/S2026512/past-results.
United States Golf Association. U.S. Senior Open, Tournament Records, https://championships.usga.org/content/championships/ussenioropen/u-s--senior-open-records.html.