2000 U.S. Senior Open Winner and Scores
The 2000 U.S. Senior Open was the 21st time this USGA championship for senior men (50-and-over) was played. Hale Irwin won this title for the second time, and with a new scoring record.
Winner: Hale Irwin, 267
Where it was played: Saucon Valley Country Club (Old Course) in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
Tournament dates: June 29-July 2, 2000
Leader after first round: Bruce Fleisher, 64
Leader after second round: Bruce Fleisher, 133
Leader after third round: Bruce Fleisher, 200
What Happened in the 2000 U.S. Senior Open
Hale Irwin became a 2-time U.S. Senior Open champion, winning the trophy in 2000 by three strokes over runner-up Bruce Fleisher. Irwin's winning total of 267 established a new 72-hole scoring record for this event, lowering the previous mark (set by Gary Player in the 1987 U.S. Senior Open) by three strokes. Irwin's 267 held as the tournament record until 2017.The tournament started with a scoring record, too: Fleisher's first-round 64 was the very first 64 in USSO history.
Just as in Irwin's first victory in the 1998 U.S. Senior Open, when Raymond Floyd led each of the first three rounds, someone else led after each of the first three rounds here but failed to win: Fleisher. Fleisher's lead over second-place Irwin following the third round was two strokes.
But on the par-5 opening hole of the final round, Irwin birdied and Fleisher bogeyed, and they were even. Irwin led by one after the seventh hole, and from that point Fleisher played in in even-par while Irwin played in in 2-under.
This was the last of Irwin's tournament-record streak of six consecutive (1995-2000) Top 5 finishes, which remains the record today. This win was Irwin's 28th on the Senior PGA Tour, and it was the sixth of his seven career wins in senior majors.
A golfer named Bob Rawlins missed the cut, but set a tournament record. At age 71 years, four months, 23 days old, Rawlins was the oldest golfer to play his way into the U.S. Senior Open through a qualifier. His record stood for 24 years.
2000 U.S. Senior Open Final Scores
| Hale Irwin | 66-71-65-65—267 |
| Bruce Fleisher | 64-69-67-70—270 |
| Tom Kite | 72-65-66-69—272 |
| Raymond Floyd | 70-69-68-67—274 |
| Hubert Green | 65-70-69-72—276 |
| Dave Stockton | 66-72-70-69—277 |
| Jim Thorpe | 69-65-72-71—277 |
| Christy O'Connor | 68-72-72-67—279 |
| Allen Doyle | 70-68-67-74—279 |
| John Jacobs | 69-73-73-66—281 |
| Tom Jenkins | 74-70-68-69—281 |
| Tom Watson | 71-69-71-70—281 |
| Jim Colbert | 71-70-70-70—281 |
| Jose Maria Canizares | 69-69-71-72—281 |
| Ed Sabo | 72-73-71-66—282 |
| Vicente Fernandez | 72-71-70-69—282 |
| Gil Morgan | 69-72-69-72—282 |
| Stewart Ginn | 68-74-69-72—283 |
| Larry Nelson | 73-70-74-67—284 |
| Graham Marsh | 71-71-74-68—284 |
| Jack Nicklaus | 67-75-73-70—285 |
| Doug Tewell | 71-69-73-72—285 |
| Fred Gibson | 69-74-70-72—285 |
| Chuck Moran | 74-69-69-73—285 |
| John Bland | 71-70-70-74—285 |
| Bob Murphy | 72-75-72-67—286 |
| Dana Quigley | 76-71-70-69—286 |
| Randy Erskine | 74-71-71-70—286 |
| Leonard Thompson | 68-72-75-71—286 |
| Bob Charles | 68-72-72-74—286 |
| Lee Trevino | 74-72-70-71—287 |
| Butch Sheehan | 69-71-75-72—287 |
| Joe Inman | 75-69-70-73—287 |
| Dave Eichelberger | 72-72-77-67—288 |
| Tom Wargo | 74-71-73-70—288 |
| Walter Hall | 70-72-71-75—288 |
| Ed Dougherty | 71-76-72-70—289 |
| Greg Edwards | 67-73-75-74—289 |
| Chi Chi Rodriguez | 70-71-74-74—289 |
| John Mahaffey | 75-72-66-76—289 |
| Gary McCord | 74-70-76-70—290 |
| Pete Oakley | 74-72-72-72—290 |
| Burt Baine | 76-71-71-72—290 |
| Hugh Baiocchi | 75-72-70-73—290 |
| Bill Brask | 71-73-77-70—291 |
| Dale Douglass | 73-73-71-74—291 |
| a-Kemp Richardson | 71-75-74-72—292 |
| Frank Conner | 70-75-72-75—292 |
| Simon Hobday | 72-74-71-75—292 |
| David Graham | 69-75-71-77—292 |
| Jim Albus | 75-69-70-78—292 |
| Isao Aoki | 66-72-71-83—292 |
| Jerry Bruner | 67-78-75-73—293 |
| Terry Dill | 72-73-71-77—293 |
| Will Sowles | 71-72-76-76—295 |
| a-David Strawn | 74-72-75-75—296 |
| Tommy Horton | 74-72-72-78—296 |
| a-Rick McArdle | 70-74-79-74—297 |
| Ben Lantz | 75-72-76-74—297 |
| Brian Barnes | 73-73-76-75—297 |
| J.C. Snead | 73-70-78-76—297 |
| Blair Lacy | 69-78-78-74—299 |
| Doug Steffen | 76-71-77-75—299 |
| Bill Tindall | 70-76-80-74—300 |
| a-John Olive | 70-77-79-74—300 |
| Ross Bartschy | 73-74-79-75—301 |
| Dan Wood | 69-75-79-79—302 |
Sources:
espn.com. Golf Leaderboard, U.S. Senior Open Championship, 2000, https://www.espn.com/golfonline/tours/s/2000/0702/615552.html.
PGATour.com. U.S. Senior Open Championship, Past Results, https://www.pgatour.com/pgatour-champions/tournaments/2026/u.s-senior-open-championship/S2026512/past-results.
Sweda, George. "Determined Irwin closes the Open with record effort," The Cleveland (Ohio) Plain Dealer, July 3, 2000.
United States Golf Association. U.S. Senior Open, Champions, https://championships.usga.org/ussenioropen/u-s--senior-open-champions.html.
United States Golf Association. U.S. Senior Open, Tournament Records, https://championships.usga.org/content/championships/ussenioropen/u-s--senior-open-records.html.
