1978 U.S. Open (golf)

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1978 U.S. Open
Tournament information
DatesJune 15–18, 1978
LocationCherry Hills Village, Colorado
Course(s)Cherry Hills Country Club
Organized byUSGA
Tour(s)PGA Tour
Statistics
Par71
Length7,083 yards (6,477 m)[1]
Field153 players, 63 after cut
Cut150 (+8) [2]
Winner's share$45,000
Champion
United States Andy North
285 (+1)
← 1977
1979 →
Cherry Hills Country Club is located in the United States
Cherry Hills Country Club
Cherry Hills Country Club
Location in the United States
Cherry Hills Country Club is located in Colorado
Cherry Hills Country Club
Cherry Hills Country Club
Location in Colorado

The 1978 U.S. Open was the 78th U.S. Open, held June 15–18 at Cherry Hills Country Club in Cherry Hills Village, Colorado, a suburb south of Denver. Andy North held on for a one-stroke victory over runners-up Dave Stockton and J. C. Snead to claim the first of his two U.S. Open titles.[3][4]

The strength in North's game was putting, and he needed only 114 putts over 72 holes, tying the record set by Billy Casper in 1966. This was North's second win on the PGA Tour, but he would not win again until the 1985 U.S. Open; of North's three career PGA Tour wins, two of them came at the U.S. Open.

This was the third U.S. Open at Cherry Hills, which previously hosted in 1938 and 1960. It was also the site of the PGA Championship in 1941, and later hosted in 1985. The average elevation of the course exceeds 5,300 feet (1,620 m) above sea level.

Three players received special exemptions into the field. They were Billy Casper, Seve Ballesteros, and Arnold Palmer.[5]

Forty-three golfers received an exemption from the qualifying process. The PGA Tour felt this was too few players. To protest, the PGA Tour staged the Buick Open the same week to compete with the U.S. Open.[5]

Course layout[]

Main article: Cherry Hills Country Club
Hole 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Out 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 In Total
Yards 399 419 323 429 543 166 384 229 432 3,324 437 594 203 382 486 208 419 550 480 3,759 7,083
Par 4 4 4 4 5 3 4 3 4 35 4 5 3 4 4 3 4 5 4 36 71

Source:[6]

Lengths of the course for previous major championships:

Past champions in the field[]

Made the cut[]

Player Country Year(s) won R1 R2 R3 R4 Total To par Finish
Hale Irwin  United States 1974 69 74 75 70 288 +4 T4
Jack Nicklaus  United States 1962, 1967, 1972 73 69 74 73 289 +5 T6
Gary Player  South Africa 1965 71 71 70 77 289 +5 T6
Johnny Miller  United States 1973 78 69 68 74 289 +5 T6
Lee Trevino  United States 1968, 1971 72 71 75 73 291 +7 T12
Jerry Pate  United States 1976 73 72 74 73 292 +8 T16
Billy Casper  United States 1959, 1966 71 76 73 77 297 +13 T30
Lou Graham  United States 1975 78 72 74 74 298 +14 T35
Gene Littler  United States 1961 73 75 77 73 298 +14 T35

Missed the cut[]

Player Country Year won R1 R2 Total To par
Arnold Palmer  United States 1960 76 75 151 +9
Hubert Green  United States 1977 76 76 152 +10

Source:[2]

Round summaries[]

First round[]

Thursday, June 15, 1978

Place Player Country Score To par
1 Hale Irwin  United States 69 −2
T2 Bobby Clampett (a)  United States 70 −1
Andy North  United States
J. C. Snead  United States
T5 Bill Brask  United States 71 E
Billy Casper  United States
Al Geiberger  United States
Phil Hancock  United States
Gary Player  South Africa
Dave Stockton  United States
Bobby Wadkins  United States

Second round[]

Friday, June 16, 1978

Place Player Country Score To par
1 Andy North  United States 70-70=140 −2
T2 Jack Nicklaus  United States 73-69=142 E
Gary Player  South Africa 71-71=142
J. C. Snead  United States 70-72=142
T5 Bobby Clampett (a)  United States 70-73=143 +1
Mark Hayes  United States 73-70=143
Hale Irwin  United States 69-74=143
Lee Trevino  United States 72-71=143
T9 Seve Ballesteros  Spain 75-69=144 +2
Andy Bean  United States 72-72=144
Phil Hancock  United States 71-73=144
Joe Inman  United States 72-72=144
Peter Oosterhuis  England 72-72=144
Dave Stockton  United States 71-73=144

Amateurs: Clampett (+1), Holtgrieve (+8), Heafner (+9), Miller (+9), Edwards (+11), Choate (+16), Hodge (+17), Lewis (+21), Pomerantz (+25).

Third round[]

Saturday, June 17, 1978

Place Player Country Score To par
1 Andy North  United States 70-70-71=211 −2
2 Gary Player  South Africa 71-71-70=212 −1
T3 J. C. Snead  United States 70-72-72=214 +1
Dave Stockton  United States 71-73-70=214
T5 Seve Ballesteros  Spain 75-69-71=215 +2
Andy Bean  United States 72-72-71=215
Johnny Miller  United States 78-69-68=215
T8 Tom Kite  United States 73-73-70=216 +3
Billy Kratzert  United States 72-74-70=216
Jack Nicklaus  United States 73-69-74=216

Final round[]

Sunday, June 18, 1978

North began the final round with a one-stroke lead over Gary Player. Two months earlier, Player had won the Masters with a blistering 64 in the final round. History, however, would not repeat itself, as this time around Player struggled to a 77 (+6) and finished in a tie for 6th. North owned a four-shot lead over Snead heading to the back-nine, and after birdies at 11 and 13 he appeared to have the championship wrapped up. A bogey at 14, however, combined with a double-bogey at 15 and a birdie by Dave Stockton at the same hole dropped his lead to just one. Stockton, however, missed an 18-footer (5.5 m) for par at 18, increasing North's lead to two.

Snead had a chance for birdie at the last after his tee shot skipped off the water and onto the fairway, but he missed the birdie putt. Needing just a bogey at 18 to win, North's drive found the rough. He hit his second shot into the fairway, then his third found a greenside bunker. Needing to get up-and-down, he played his sand shot to five feet (1.5 m), and after backing off twice, sank the bogey putt for the one-stroke win.[7][8]

Place Player Country Score To par Money ($)
1 Andy North  United States 70-70-71-74=285 +1 45,000
T2 J. C. Snead  United States 70-72-72-72=286 +2 19,750
Dave Stockton  United States 71-73-70-72=286
T4 Hale Irwin  United States 69-74-75-70=288 +4 13,000
Tom Weiskopf  United States 77-73-70-68=288
T6 Andy Bean  United States 72-72-71-74=289 +5 7,548
Billy Kratzert  United States 72-74-70-73=289
Johnny Miller  United States 78-69-68-74=289
Jack Nicklaus  United States 73-69-74-73=289
Gary Player  South Africa 71-71-70-77=289
Tom Watson  United States 74-75-70-70=289

Amateurs: Bobby Clampett (+13), Jim Holtgrieve (+20)

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 5 3 4 4 3 4 5 4
United States North −2 −2 −2 −3 −4 −4 −4 −3 −2 −1 −2 −2 −3 −2 E E E +1
United States Snead +1 +1 +1 +1 +1 E E +1 +2 +2 +2 +2 +2 +2 +2 +2 +2 +2
United States Stockton +1 +2 +2 +2 +2 +2 +2 +2 +2 +2 +1 +1 +1 +2 +1 +1 +1 +2
United States Irwin +6 +6 +6 +6 +5 +4 +4 +5 +4 +5 +4 +4 +4 +4 +4 +4 +3 +4
United States Weiskopf +7 +7 +7 +7 +6 +6 +6 +6 +7 +6 +5 +5 +5 +5 +5 +5 +4 +4
South Africa Player −1 E +1 +1 +1 +1 +1 +2 +3 +3 +3 +4 +4 +4 +5 +5 +4 +5

Cumulative tournament scores, relative to par

Birdie Bogey Double bogey

Source:[9]

References[]

  1. ^ Parascenzo, Marino (June 16, 1978). "Hale fires hearty 69 in Open". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. p. 11.
  2. ^ a b "U.S. Open results: Second round". Spokesman-Review. Spokane, Washington. Associated Press. June 17, 1978. p. 15.
  3. ^ Bunch, Ken. "North holds on to win US Open". Milwaukee Sentinel. p. 1, part 2.
  4. ^ Jenkins, Dan (June 26, 1978). "The bogey that won the Open". Sports Illustrated. p. 14.
  5. ^ a b "34 U.S. Open Spots Up For Grabs Here". The Charlotte Observer. June 4, 1978. p. 33. Retrieved June 22, 2021.
  6. ^ "Cherry Hills CC hole by hole". Lakeland Ledger. Florida. Associated Press. June 11, 1978. p. 8D.
  7. ^ "North's Open winner: makes critical putt". Spokesman-Review. Spokane, Washington. Associated Press. June 19, 1978. p. 17.
  8. ^ Parascenzo, Marino (June 19, 1978). "North stubles to Open title by stroke". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. p. 13.
  9. ^ "U.S. Open History". USGA. Retrieved April 24, 2019.

External links[]

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Coordinates: 39°38′35″N 104°57′47″W / 39.643°N 104.963°W / 39.643; -104.963

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