1977 U.S. Open
Tournament information
DatesJune 16–19, 1977
LocationTulsa, Oklahoma
36°04′12″N 95°56′46″W / 36.070°N 95.946°W / 36.070; -95.946
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)
Location Map
Southern Hills CC is located in the United States
Southern Hills CC
Southern Hills CC
Location in the United States
Southern Hills CC is located in Oklahoma
Southern Hills CC
Southern Hills CC
Location in Oklahoma

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][4]

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.[5] 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 four-footer for bogey and the victory.[6]

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.[7]

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, 2007, and 2022.

Course layout

hole123456789Out101112131415161718InTotal
Yards4474594063666141753832153733,4383751654444652074075693544493,4356,873
Par444453434354344345443570

Round summaries

First round

Thursday, June 16, 1977

PlacePlayerScoreTo par
T1United States Terry Diehl69−1
United States Rod Funseth
United States Hubert Green
United States Grier Jones
Argentina Florentino Molina
United States Larry Nelson
United States Tom Purtzer
T8United States Sam Adams70E
United States George Burns
United States Al Geiberger
United States Morris Hatalsky
United States Joe Inman
United States Steve Melnyk
United States Mike Morley
United States Don Padgett
United States Arnold Palmer
United States Bob E. Smith

Second round

Friday, June 17, 1977

PlacePlayerScoreTo par
1United States Hubert Green69-67=136−4
2United States Terry Diehl69-68=137−3
3United States Tom Purtzer69-69=138−2
T4United States Sam Adams70-69=139−1
United States Rod Funseth69-70=139
South Africa Gary Player72-67=139
T7United States Jay Haas72-68=140E
United States Joe Inman70-70=140
T9United States Wally Armstrong71-70=141+1
United States Andy Bean71-70=141
United States Al Geiberger70-71=141
England Peter Oosterhuis71-70=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

PlacePlayerScoreTo par
1United States Hubert Green69-67-72=208−2
2United States Andy Bean71-70-68=209−1
T3United States Terry Diehl69-68-73=210E
United States Gary Jacobson73-70-67=210
United States Don Padgett70-74-66=210
South Africa Gary Player72-67-71=210
United States Tom Purtzer69-69-72=210
United States Tom Weiskopf71-71-68=210
T9United States Wally Armstrong71-70-70=211+1
United States Rod Funseth69-70-72=211
United States Lou Graham72-71-68=211
United States Jay Haas72-68-71=211

Final round

Sunday, June 19, 1977

PlacePlayerScoreTo parMoney ($)
1United States Hubert Green69-67-72-70=278−245,000
2United States Lou Graham72-71-68-68=279−123,500
3United States Tom Weiskopf71-71-68-71=281+116,000
4United States Tom Purtzer69-69-72-72=282+213,000
T5United States Jay Haas72-68-71-72=283+310,875
United States Gary Jacobson73-70-67-73=283
T7United States Terry Diehl69-68-73-74=284+48,000
United States Lyn Lott73-73-68-70=284
United States Tom Watson74-72-71-67=284
T10United States Rod Funseth69-70-72-74=285+54,100
United States Al Geiberger70-71-75-69=285
United States Mike McCullough73-73-69-70=285
United States Jack Nicklaus74-68-71-72=285
England Peter Oosterhuis71-70-74-70=285
South Africa Gary Player72-67-71-75=285

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

Scorecard

Final round

Hole123456789101112131415161718
Par444453434434434544
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+1E−1−1−1
United States WeiskopfE+1+1+1+1+1+2+2+2+2+3+3+3+2+1EE+1
United States PurtzerEEEEEEE−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 BeanEEEEE+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. 1 2 "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. ↑ "Green beats real pressure". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). UPI. June 20, 1977. p. 1D.
  4. ↑ Bunch, Ken (June 20, 1977). "Green beats threats in Open". Milwaukee Sentinel. p. 1, part 2.
  5. ↑ Grimsley, Will (June 17, 1977). "Analysis: Green death threat macabre and warped". Nashua Telegraph. (New Hampshire). Associated Press. p. 22.
  6. ↑ Jenkins, Dan (June 27, 1977). "Talk about total pressure". Sports Illustrated. p. 14.
  7. ↑ Lasswell, Doug (June 17, 1977). "U.S. Open coverage to include all 18 holes". Sarasota Herald-Tribune. (Florida). p. 3E.
  8. ↑ "U.S. Open History". USGA. Retrieved May 1, 2019.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.