1974 U.S. Open (golf)

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1974 U.S. Open
Tournament information
DatesJune 13–16, 1974
LocationMamaroneck, New York
Course(s)Winged Foot Golf Club
West Course
Organized byUSGA
Tour(s)PGA Tour
Statistics
Par70
Length6,961 yards (6,365 m)[1]
Field150 players, 66 after cut
Cut153 (+13)
Prize fund$227,700[2]
Winner's share$35,000
Champion
United States Hale Irwin
287 (+7)
← 1973
1975 →
Mamaroneck is located in the United States
Mamaroneck
Mamaroneck
Location in the United States
Winged Foot Golf Club  is located in New York
Winged Foot Golf Club 
Winged Foot Golf Club 
Location in New York

The 1974 U.S. Open was the 74th U.S. Open, held June 13–16 at Winged Foot Golf Club in Mamaroneck, New York, a suburb northeast of New York City. In what became known as the "Massacre at Winged Foot," Hale Irwin's score of 287 (+7) was good enough for the first of his three U.S. Open titles, two strokes ahead of runner-up Forrest Fezler.[3][4][5][6]

Tom Watson shot a third-round 69 to hold a one-stroke lead over Irwin after 54 holes.[7][8] In the final round, Watson bogeyed holes 4, 5, and 8 on the front and six more on the back for a 79 (+9) and fell into a tie for fifth. Still at the beginning of his career, it was the first top ten finish in a major for the future U.S. Open champion. After making long par putts at 16 and 17, Fezler could not convert another par save at the last, missing from fifteen feet (4.6 m). Irwin bogeyed 15 and 16, and needed a 10-footer (3 m) to save par at 17. With a two-shot lead heading to the 18th, Irwin hit his approach to the center of the green and two-putted for par and the championship.

Winged Foot played extremely difficult throughout the tournament, leading sportswriter Dick Schaap to coin the phrase "The Massacre at Winged Foot," the title of his book.[6] Not a single player broke par in the first round, and Irwin's 7-over was the second-highest since World War II (Julius Boros was 9-over in 1963). Many complained that the USGA had intentionally made the course setup treacherous in response to Johnny Miller's record-breaking 63 the year before.

Arnold Palmer finished five strokes back in a tie for fifth, his final top-5 finish in a major championship. Ken Venturi, 1964 champion, played in his final major and missed the cut.

Sam Snead, age 62, broke a rib during practice on Wednesday and withdrew.[9][10]

This was the third of six U.S. Opens at Winged Foot's West Course; it previously hosted in 1929 and 1959, then returned in 1984, 2006, and 2020. It also hosted the PGA Championship in 1997.

Course layout[]

Hole 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Out 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 In Total
Yards 446 411 216 460 515 324 166 442 466 3,446 190 382 535 212 435 417 452 444 448 3,515 6,961
Par 4 4 3 4 5 4 3 4 4 35 3 4 5 3 4 4 4 4 4 35 70

Past champions in the field[]

Made the cut[]

Player Country Year(s) won R1 R2 R3 R4 Total To par Finish
Arnold Palmer  United States 1960 73 70 73 76 292 +12 T5
Gary Player  South Africa 1965 70 73 77 73 293 +13 T8
Jack Nicklaus  United States 1962, 1967, 1972 75 74 76 69 294 +14 T10
Johnny Miller  United States 1973 76 75 74 77 302 +22 T35

Source:[3][5][11]

Missed the cut[]

Player Country Year(s) won R1 R2 Total To par
Tony Jacklin  England 1970 78 76 154 +14
Gene Littler  United States 1961 80 75 155 +15
Billy Casper  United States 1959, 1966 80 76 156 +16
Lee Trevino  United States 1968, 1971 78 78 156 +16
Ken Venturi  United States 1964 84 81 165 +25
Julius Boros  United States 1952, 1963 78 WD

Source:[11][12]

Round summaries[]

First round[]

Thursday, June 13, 1974

Place Player Country Score To par
1 Gary Player  South Africa 70 E
T2 Lou Graham  United States 71 +1
Mike Reasor  United States
T4 Jim Colbert  United States 72 +2
Bruce Crampton  Australia
Raymond Floyd  United States
Bobby Nichols  United States
Barney Thompson  United States
T9 Arnold Palmer  United States 73 +3
Tom Watson  United States
Hale Irwin  United States
Rod Funseth  United States
Jerry Heard  United States
David Graham  Australia
Mark Hayes  United States
John Buczek  United States

Source:[12]

Second round[]

Friday, June 14, 1974

Place Player Country Score To par
T1 Arnold Palmer  United States 73-70=143 +3
Hale Irwin  United States 73-70=143
Raymond Floyd  United States 72-71=143
Gary Player  South Africa 70-73=143
T5 Tom Kite  United States 74-70=144 +4
Tom Watson  United States 73-71=144
T7 Bert Yancey  United States 76-69=145 +5
Forrest Fezler  United States 75-70=145
T9 Larry Ziegler  United States 78-68=146 +6
Frank Beard  United States 77-69=146
Eddie Pearce  United States 75-71=146
John Buczek  United States 73-73=146
Lou Graham  United States 71-75=146

Source:[12]

Third round[]

Saturday, June 15, 1974

Place Player Country Score To par
1 Tom Watson  United States 73-71-69=213 +3
2 Hale Irwin  United States 73-70-71=214 +4
3 Arnold Palmer  United States 73-70-73=216 +6
T4 Frank Beard  United States 77-69-72=218 +8
Bert Yancey  United States 76-69-73=218
Jim Colbert  United States 72-77-69=218
7 Forrest Fezler  United States 75-70-74=219 +9
T8 Lou Graham  United States 71-75-74=220 +10
Gary Player  South Africa 70-73-77=220
T10 Raymond Floyd  United States 72-71-78=221 +11
Buddy Allin  United States 76-71-74=221
Tom Kite  United States 74-70-77=221
Dale Douglass  United States 77-72-72=221
Tom Weiskopf  United States 76-73-72=221

Source:[7]

Final round[]

Sunday, June 16, 1974

Place Player Country Score To par Money ($)
1 Hale Irwin  United States 73-70-71-73=287 +7 35,000
2 Forrest Fezler  United States 75-70-74-70=289 +9 18,000
T3 Lou Graham  United States 71-75-74-70=290 +10 11,500
Bert Yancey  United States 76-69-73-72=290
T5 Jim Colbert  United States 72-77-69-74=292 +12 8,000
Arnold Palmer  United States 73-70-73-76=292
Tom Watson  United States 73-71-69-79=292
T8 Tom Kite  United States 74-70-77-72=293 +13 5,500
Gary Player  South Africa 70-73-77-73=293
T10 Buddy Allin  United States 76-71-74-73=294 +14 3,750
Jack Nicklaus  United States 75-74-76-69=294

Source:[3][5][11]

Scorecard[]

Hole 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18
Par 4 4 3 4 5 4 3 4 4 3 4 5 3 4 4 4 4 4
United States Irwin +4 +4 +4 +5 +5 +5 +5 +6 +5 +6 +5 +5 +6 +5 +6 +7 +7 +7
United States Fezler +9 +10 +10 +10 +10 +10 +10 +9 +9 +9 +9 +8 +8 +8 +8 +8 +8 +9
United States Graham +10 +10 +11 +11 +10 +10 +10 +10 +10 +10 +10 +11 +12 +11 +11 +10 +10 +10
United States Yancey +8 +7 +7 +7 +7 +7 +8 +8 +8 +9 +8 +8 +10 +10 +10 +10 +10 +10
United States Watson +3 +3 +3 +4 +5 +5 +5 +6 +6 +7 +7 +8 +9 +9 +10 +10 +11 +12

Cumulative tournament scores, relative to par

Birdie Bogey Double bogey

Source:[3][13]

References[]

  1. ^ "For you nostalgia fans – it's the Palmer of old!". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. June 15, 1975. p. 12.
  2. ^ "U.S. Open history: 1974". USGA. Archived from the original on May 11, 2012. Retrieved June 20, 2012.
  3. ^ a b c d Tomashek, Tom (June 17, 1974). "Hail! Irwin wins Open by 2". Chicago Tribune. p. 1, sec. 3.
  4. ^ Jenkins, Dan (June 24, 1974). "Hale Irwin, sole survivor". Sports Illustrated. p. 18.
  5. ^ a b c "Irwin finishes with 287, gains two-stroke victory in U.S. Open". Youngstown Vindicator. (Ohio). Associated Press. June 17, 1974. p. 17.
  6. ^ a b McCleery, Peter (June 8, 2006). "The Massacre of '74 still lingers". ESPN. (Golf Digest). Retrieved May 20, 2014.
  7. ^ a b Tomashek, Tom (June 16, 1974). "Watson leads by 1 in Open; Arnie 3d". Chicago Tribune. p. 1, sec. 3.
  8. ^ "Watson takes lead as Arnie, Gary fade". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. June 16, 1974. p. 1B.
  9. ^ "Broken rib costs Snead Open berth". Bangor Daily News. (Maine). Associated Press. June 13, 1974. p. 27.
  10. ^ "Sam slammed by Open jinx". The Age. (Melbourne, Australia). June 14, 1974. p. 27.
  11. ^ a b c "1974 U.S. Open". databasegolf.com. Retrieved June 20, 2012.
  12. ^ a b c "Arnie's back as he takes share of lead". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. June 15, 1974. p. 1B.
  13. ^ "Irwin's final card". Youngstown Vindicator. (Ohio). Associated Press. June 17, 1974. p. 17.

External links[]

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