1977 U.S. Open (golf)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

1977 U.S. Open
Tournament information
DatesJune 16–19, 1977
LocationTulsa, Oklahoma
Course(s)Southern Hills Country Club
Organized byUSGA
Tour(s)PGA Tour
Statistics
Par70
Length6,873 yards (6,285 m)[1]
Field153 players, 60 after cut
Cut147 (+7) [2]
Winner's share$45,000
Champion
United States Hubert Green
278 (−2)
← 1976
1978 →
Southern Hills Country Club is located in the United States
Southern Hills Country Club
Southern Hills Country Club
class=notpageimage|
Location in the United States

The 1977 U.S. Open was the 77th U.S. Open, held June 16–19 at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Hubert Green won the first of his two major titles, one stroke ahead of runner-up Lou Graham, the 1975 champion.[1][3]

Green began the final round with the lead, but 11 players were within three shots. Graham made a charge on the back nine, collecting birdies at 12, 14, 15, and 16 en route to a 68 (−2) and a 279 (−1) total. With four holes to play, Green needed to play even-par to win the championship. As he stepped off the 14th green, however, he was approached by tournament officials and a lieutenant with the Tulsa police, who told him that they had received a phone call threatening to assassinate Green while he played the 15th hole.[4] Green decided to play on, then proceeded to hit his drive into a tree--which probably saved it from going out of bounds. He managed to hit his approach to 35 feet (11 m) and two-putt for par without incident. Green birdied the 16th and took a two-stroke lead to the 18th tee. Although he struggled on the hole, he managed to make a 4-footer for bogey and the victory.[5]

This year marked the final U.S. Open appearance by Sam Snead, two-time champion Julius Boros, and Tommy Bolt, who had won the 1958 Open at Southern Hills. All three received exemptions by the USGA, and all three missed the cut. This was the first time that the television broadcast of the U.S. Open covered all 18 holes of the final round.[6]

It was the third major championship at Southern Hills; it previously hosted the U.S. Open in 1958 and the PGA Championship in 1970. The U.S. Open returned in 2001 and the PGA Championship in 1982, 1994, and 2007.

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 447 459 406 366 614 175 383 215 373 3,438 375 165 444 465 207 407 569 354 449 3,435 6,873
Par 4 4 4 4 5 3 4 3 4 35 4 3 4 4 3 4 5 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
Lou Graham  United States 1975 72 71 68 68 279 −1 2
Jack Nicklaus  United States 1962, 1967, 1972 74 68 71 72 285 +5 T10
Gary Player  South Africa 1965 72 67 71 75 285 +5 T10
Arnold Palmer  United States 1960 70 72 73 72 287 +7 T19
Lee Trevino  United States 1968, 1971 74 70 73 73 290 +10 T27
Johnny Miller  United States 1973 71 73 70 76 290 +10 T27
Hale Irwin  United States 1974 73 71 77 72 293 +13 T41

Missed the cut[]

Player Country Year(s) won R1 R2 Total To par
Jerry Pate  United States 1976 72 76 148 +8
Julius Boros  United States 1952, 1963 77 76 153 +13
Tommy Bolt  United States 1958 75 78 153 +13
Jack Fleck  United States 1955 81 80 161 +21

Source:[7]

Round summaries[]

First round[]

Thursday, June 16, 1977

Place Player Country Score To par
T1 Terry Diehl  United States 69 −1
Rod Funseth  United States
Hubert Green  United States
Grier Jones  United States
Florentino Molina  Argentina
Larry Nelson  United States
Tom Purtzer  United States
T8 Sam Adams  United States 70 E
George Burns  United States
Al Geiberger  United States
Morris Hatalsky  United States
Joe Inman  United States
Steve Melnyk  United States
Mike Morley  United States
 United States
Arnold Palmer  United States
 United States

Second round[]

Friday, June 17, 1977

Place Player Country Score To par
1 Hubert Green  United States 69-67=136 −4
2 Terry Diehl  United States 69-68=137 −3
3 Tom Purtzer  United States 69-69=138 −2
T4 Sam Adams  United States 70-69=139 −1
Rod Funseth  United States 69-70=139
Gary Player  South Africa 72-67=139
T7 Jay Haas  United States 72-68=140 E
Joe Inman  United States 70-70=140
T9 Wally Armstrong  United States 71-70=141 +1
Andy Bean  United States 71-70=141
Al Geiberger  United States 70-71=141
Peter Oosterhuis  England 71-70=141

Amateurs: Miller (+6), Fought (+7), Zabel (+9), Sander (+14), Choate (+15), Sonnier (+15), Cook (+16), King (+16), Gregg (+20), Rheim (+29).

Third round[]

Saturday, June 18, 1977

Place Player Country Score To par
1 Hubert Green  United States 69-67-72=208 −2
2 Andy Bean  United States 71-70-68=209 −1
T3 Terry Diehl  United States 69-68-73=210 E
Gary Jacobson  United States 73-70-67=210
 United States 70-74-66=210
Gary Player  South Africa 72-67-71=210
Tom Purtzer  United States 69-69-72=210
Tom Weiskopf  United States 71-71-68=210
T9 Wally Armstrong  United States 71-70-70=211 +1
Rod Funseth  United States 69-70-72=211
Lou Graham  United States 72-71-68=211
Jay Haas  United States 72-68-71=211

Final round[]

Sunday, June 19, 1977

Place Player Country Score To par Money ($)
1 Hubert Green  United States 69-67-72-70=278 −2 45,000
2 Lou Graham  United States 72-71-68-68=279 −1 23,500
3 Tom Weiskopf  United States 71-71-68-71=281 +1 16,000
4 Tom Purtzer  United States 69-69-72-72=282 +2 13,000
T5 Jay Haas  United States 72-68-71-72=283 +3 10,875
Gary Jacobson  United States 73-70-67-73=283
T7 Terry Diehl  United States 69-68-73-74=284 +4 8,000
Lyn Lott  United States 73-73-68-70=284
Tom Watson  United States 74-72-71-67=284
T10 Rod Funseth  United States 69-70-72-74=285 +5 4,100
Al Geiberger  United States 70-71-75-69=285
Mike McCullough  United States 73-73-69-70=285
Jack Nicklaus  United States 74-68-71-72=285
Peter Oosterhuis  England 71-70-74-70=285
Gary Player  South Africa 72-67-71-75=285

Amateurs: Lindy Miller (+19), John Fought (+22)

Scorecard[]

Final round

Hole 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18
Par 4 4 4 4 5 3 4 3 4 4 3 4 4 3 4 5 4 4
United States Green −2 −2 −3 −4 −4 −4 −4 −4 −3 −2 −2 −2 −2 −2 −2 −3 −3 −2
United States Graham +2 +3 +3 +2 +3 +3 +3 +3 +3 +3 +3 +2 +2 +1 E −1 −1 −1
United States Weiskopf E +1 +1 +1 +1 +1 +2 +2 +2 +2 +3 +3 +3 +2 +1 E E +1
United States Purtzer E E E E E E E −1 −1 −1 −1 −1 −1 +1 +1 +1 +1 +2
United States Haas +2 +2 +2 +2 +2 +2 +2 +2 +2 +1 +1 +2 +2 +2 +3 +2 +3 +3
United States Jacobson +1 +1 +1 +2 +2 +2 +2 +2 +2 +2 +2 +2 +2 +1 +2 +2 +2 +3
United States Bean E E E E E +1 +2 +2 +2 +2 +3 +5 +6 +6 +6 +7 +7 +8

Cumulative tournament scores, relative to par

Birdie Bogey Double bogey

Source:[8]

References[]

  1. ^ a b "Green meets pressure test en route to first major win". Spokesman-Review. Spokane, Washington. Associated Press. June 20, 1977. p. 13.
  2. ^ "U.S. open results (second round)". Deseret News. Salt Lake City, Utah. Associated Press. June 18, 1977. p. 8A.
  3. ^ Bunch, Ken (June 20, 1977). "Green beats threats in Open". Milwaukee Sentinel. p. 1, part 2.
  4. ^ Grimsley, Will (June 17, 1977). "Analysis: Green death threat macabre and warped". Nashua Telegraph. New Hampshire. Associated Press. p. 22.
  5. ^ Jenkins, Dan (June 27, 1977). "Talk about total pressure". Sports Illustrated. p. 14.
  6. ^ Lasswell, Doug (June 17, 1977). "U.S. Open coverage to include all 18 holes". Sarasota Herald-Tribune. Florida. p. 3E.
  7. ^ "1977 U.S. Open". databasegolf.com. Retrieved June 17, 2012.
  8. ^ "U.S. Open History". USGA. Retrieved May 1, 2019.

External links[]

Preceded by Major Championships Succeeded by

Coordinates: 36°04′12″N 95°56′46″W / 36.070°N 95.946°W / 36.070; -95.946

Retrieved from ""