1989 U.S. Senior Open Winner and Scores
Winner: Orville Moody, 279
Where it was played: Laurel Valley Country Club in Ligonier, Pennsylvania
Tournament dates: June 29-July 2, 1989
Leader after first round: Al Geiberger, 68
Leader after second round: Frank Beard, 139
Leaders after third round: Frank Beard, Orville Moody, 209
What Happened in the 1989 U.S. Senior Open
Twenty years after his only PGA Tour victory — the 1969 U.S. Open — Orville Moody won another USGA national championship, the 1989 U.S. Senior Open. He was the fourth golfer to win both those trophies.Moody was six strokes off Frank Beard's 36-hole lead. But in the third round, Moody scored 64 (the lowest third-round score in the tournament's history to this point) to Beard's 70, leaving them tied for the third-round lead at 209. They were four ahead of the next-closest golfers.
Beard led Moody by one following the first five holes of the final round. But Moody jumped ahead with an eagle on the sixth hole, sinking a 30-foot putt. And Moody never gave up the lead after that, closing out the victory with a short par putt on the final green. He finished two strokes ahead of runner-up Beard.
The win happened three weeks after Moody's victory in another senior major, the 1989 Senior Players Championship. Moody was the second golfer to win both those majors in the same year. Those were the only two majors of Moody's senior career, and the Senior Open was the ninth of his 11 career wins on the senior tour.
1989 U.S. Senior Open Final Scores
| Orville Moody | 72-73-64-70—279 |
| Frank Beard | 70-69-70-72—281 |
| Jim Dent | 71-73-70-70—284 |
| Dale Douglass | 71-70-76-67—284 |
| Charles Coody | 72-72-71-70—285 |
| Bobby Nichols | 70-70-74-71—285 |
| Harold Henning | 69-74-71-72—286 |
| Al Geiberger | 68-72-76-70—286 |
| Bob Charles | 73-74-73-67—287 |
| Bruce Crampton | 72-72-69-74—287 |
| Gary Player | 72-73-73-69—287 |
| Jimmy Powell | 74-71-73-69—287 |
| Larry Mowry | 71-73-73-71—288 |
| Mike Hill | 72-72-73-72—289 |
| Don Bies | 74-66-77-73—290 |
| Butch Baird | 73-72-69-76—290 |
| Terry Dill | 70-76-72-74—292 |
| Dave Hill | 70-72-73-79—294 |
| Chi Chi Rodriguez | 75-72-75-72—294 |
| Lou Graham | 77-74-75-69—295 |
| Rives McBee | 73-71-78-74—296 |
| Peter Thomson | 74-74-76-72—296 |
| Ben Smith | 74-74-77-71—296 |
| Al Kelley | 77-74-72-74—297 |
| Don Massengale | 74-74-74-77—299 |
| Al Chandler | 76-76-74-73—299 |
| Doug Dalziel | 73-73-72-81—299 |
| Agim Bardha | 80-72-73-75—300 |
| Dick Hendrickson | 72-74-82-72—300 |
| a-Jim McMurtrey | 73-77-77-73—300 |
| Bob Rawlins | 76-68-78-79—301 |
| Dick Rhyan | 75-79-76-71—301 |
| Jim Cochran | 73-74-77-78—302 |
| Mike Joyce | 78-75-72-77—302 |
| Jim O'Hern | 76-76-76-75—303 |
| Bob Brue | 76-75-82-70—303 |
| Miller Barber | 75-79-74-76—304 |
| Jack Fleck | 77-73-79-75—304 |
| Carl Lohren | 76-80-76-73—305 |
| Quinton Gray | 76-80-78-71—305 |
| a-Ron Eulenfeld | 74-77-79-75—305 |
| a-Frank Boydston | 69-76-78-82—305 |
| a-Charles Ebner | 77-76-79-73—305 |
| Gene Borek | 78-77-74-77—306 |
| Dudley Wysong | 73-79-77-77—306 |
| J.C. Goosie | 77-74-83-72—306 |
| Charles Mehok | 76-78-74-80—308 |
| Tom Shaw | 74-76-78-82—310 |
| Bob Boldt | 78-75-77-80—310 |
| a-Curtis Wagner | 75-76-76-83—310 |
| a-Bo Williams | -76-79-77-78—310 |
| Dave Ragan | 80-75-79-77—311 |
| Arnold Palmer | 76-77-82-77—312 |
| Charlie Lee | 76-76-83-77—312 |
| Ronald Weber | 77-76-77-82—312 |
| Joe Campbell | 78-78-80-78—314 |
| Joe Carr | 80-74-80-80—314 |
| Dow Finsterwald | 73-81-81-80—315 |
| Bobby Greenwood | 79-77-79-80—315 |
| a-Richard Sucher | 79-76-81-79—315 |
| a-Dave Finley | 76-76-83-80—315 |
| Donald Fox | 78-78-83-77—316 |
| Ab Justice | 78-78-80-85—321 |
| a-Bob Lowry | 76-79-84-82—321 |
| Joe Little | 80-76-80-89—325 |
Previous and next:
1988 U.S. Senior Open - 1990 U.S. Senior Open
Sources:
The Kansas City (Mo.) Times. "Eagle lifts Moody past Beard, to title in U.S. Seniors Open," The Associated Press, July 3, 1989.
PGA Tour. 1989 Senior PGA Tour Media Guide, 1989 Tournament Summaries, USGA Senior Open.
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.
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.
United States Golf Association. Official USGA Record Book, 1895-1990 (affiliate link), Triumph Books, 1992.
