1977 U.S. Open (golf)

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
Hubert Green
278 (−2)
Location map
Southern Hills CC
Location in the United States
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

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

Round summaries

First round

Thursday, June 16, 1977

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

Second round

Friday, June 17, 1977

Place Player Score To par
1 Hubert Green 69-67=136 −4
2 Terry Diehl 69-68=137 −3
3 Tom Purtzer 69-69=138 −2
T4 Sam Adams 70-69=139 −1
Rod Funseth 69-70=139
Gary Player 72-67=139
T7 Jay Haas 72-68=140 E
Joe Inman 70-70=140
T9 Wally Armstrong 71-70=141 +1
Andy Bean 71-70=141
Al Geiberger 70-71=141
Peter Oosterhuis 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 Score To par
1 Hubert Green 69-67-72=208 −2
2 Andy Bean 71-70-68=209 −1
T3 Terry Diehl 69-68-73=210 E
Gary Jacobson 73-70-67=210
Don Padgett 70-74-66=210
Gary Player 72-67-71=210
Tom Purtzer 69-69-72=210
Tom Weiskopf 71-71-68=210
T9 Wally Armstrong 71-70-70=211 +1
Rod Funseth 69-70-72=211
Lou Graham 72-71-68=211
Jay Haas 72-68-71=211

Final round

Sunday, June 19, 1977

Place Player Score To par Money ($)
1 Hubert Green 69-67-72-70=278 −2 45,000
2 Lou Graham 72-71-68-68=279 −1 23,500
3 Tom Weiskopf 71-71-68-71=281 +1 16,000
4 Tom Purtzer 69-69-72-72=282 +2 13,000
T5 Jay Haas 72-68-71-72=283 +3 10,875
Gary Jacobson 73-70-67-73=283
T7 Terry Diehl 69-68-73-74=284 +4 8,000
Lyn Lott 73-73-68-70=284
Tom Watson 74-72-71-67=284
T10 Rod Funseth 69-70-72-74=285 +5 4,100
Al Geiberger 70-71-75-69=285
Mike McCullough 73-73-69-70=285
Jack Nicklaus 74-68-71-72=285
Peter Oosterhuis 71-70-74-70=285
Gary Player 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
Green −2 −2 −3 −4 −4 −4 −4 −4 −3 −2 −2 −2 −2 −2 −2 −3 −3 −2
Graham +2 +3 +3 +2 +3 +3 +3 +3 +3 +3 +3 +2 +2 +1 E −1 −1 −1
Weiskopf E +1 +1 +1 +1 +1 +2 +2 +2 +2 +3 +3 +3 +2 +1 E E +1
Purtzer E E E E E E E −1 −1 −1 −1 −1 −1 +1 +1 +1 +1 +2
Haas +2 +2 +2 +2 +2 +2 +2 +2 +2 +1 +1 +2 +2 +2 +3 +2 +3 +3
Jacobson +1 +1 +1 +2 +2 +2 +2 +2 +2 +2 +2 +2 +2 +1 +2 +2 +2 +3
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. ^ "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. Archived from the original on May 2, 2014.
  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.
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