1964 U.S. Open (golf)

The 1964 U.S. Open was the 64th U.S. Open, held June 18–20 at the Blue Course of Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Maryland, a suburb northwest of Washington, D.C. Ken Venturi won his only major title, four strokes ahead of runner-up Tommy Jacobs.[3][4][5][6]

1964 U.S. Open

Tournament information
Dates	June 18–20, 1964
Location	Bethesda, Maryland
Course(s)	Congressional Country Club Blue Course
Organized by	USGA
Tour(s)	PGA Tour
Statistics
Par	70
Length	7,053 yards (6,449 m)[1]
Field	150 players, 55 after cut
Cut	150 (+10)
Winner's share	$17,000[2]
Champion
Ken Venturi
278 (−2)

Congressional 
Country Club

Location in the United States

Congressional 
Country Club

Location in Maryland

Jacobs held the 36-hole lead after shooting a 64 (−6) in the second round,[7] tying the U.S. Open record at the time for a round, set by Lee Mackey in 1950.[8] In the third round on Saturday morning, he carded an even-par 70 and retained the lead after 54 holes, two strokes ahead of Venturi, who made up four shots with a 66 (−4). Masters champion Arnold Palmer had led after the first round,[9] but hopes of a grand slam faded with a 75 in the third.

Before the final round began on Saturday afternoon, Venturi was advised by doctors to withdraw from the tournament. He was suffering dehydration due to an oppressive heat wave and had to take treatments with tea and salt tablets in between rounds. To play the final round, doctors warned, was to risk heat stroke.[6] Venturi, however, ignored the advice and played on, then shot a 70 to Jacobs' 76 to claim a four-stroke victory. Venturi's score of 206 over the final 54 holes set a new U.S. Open record, as did his score of 136 over the last 36. The win was his first on tour in four years.

Future champion Raymond Floyd made his U.S. Open debut this year at age 21 and finished in 14th place. He played the final two rounds on Saturday with Venturi. This was the last time the championship was scheduled for three days (the final two rounds scheduled on Saturday); the next year it was expanded to four days, concluding on Sunday.

The Blue Course at Congressional was the longest in U.S. Open history to date, at 7,053 yards (6,449 m).[10] A lack of rainfall in the previous six weeks reduced its effective length, and it played firm and fast.[11]

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	405	195	459	423	408	456	168	362	599	3,475	459	399	188	448	434	564	211	410	465	3,578	7,053
Par	4	3	4	4	4	4	3	4	5	35	4	4	3	4	4	5	3	4	4	35	70

Source:[12][13]

Past champions in the field

Made the cut

Player	Country	Year won	R1	R2	R3	R4	Total	To par	Finish
Billy Casper	United States	1959	71	74	69	71	285	+5	4
Arnold Palmer	United States	1960	68	69	75	74	286	+6	T5
Gene Littler	United States	1961	73	71	74	73	291	+11	T11
Ed Furgol	United States	1954	72	74	72	74	292	+12	T14
Jack Nicklaus	United States	1962	72	73	77	73	295	+15	T23

Missed the cut

Player	Country	Year(s) won	R1	R2	Total	To par
Julius Boros	United States	1952, 1963	77	77	154	+14

Round summaries

First round

Thursday, June 18, 1964

Place	Player	Country	Score	To par
1	Arnold Palmer	United States	68	−2
2	Bill Collins	United States	70	E
T3	William Campbell (a)	United States	71	+1
	Billy Casper	United States
	Tony Lema	United States
	Johnny Pott	United States
	Joe Zakarian	United States
T8	Bob Charles	New Zealand	72	+2
	Bruce Crampton	Australia
	Richard Crawford	United States
	Ed Furgol	United States
	Labron Harris	United States
	Tommy Jacobs	United States
	Billy Martindale	United States
	Stan Mosel	United States
	Bobby Nichols	United States
	Jack Nicklaus	United States
	Bob Panasiuk	Canada
	Paul Scodeller	United States
	Charlie Sifford	United States
	Ken Venturi	United States

Source:[14]

Second round

Friday, June 19, 1964

Place	Player	Country	Score	To par
1	Tommy Jacobs	United States	72-64=136	−4
2	Arnold Palmer	United States	68-69=137	−3
3	Bill Collins	United States	70-71=141	+1
T4	Charlie Sifford	United States	72-70=142	+2
	Ken Venturi	United States	72-70=142
T6	Bruce Crampton	Australia	72-71=143	+3
	Raymond Floyd	United States	73-70=143
	Tony Lema	United States	71-72=143
T9	William Campbell (a)	United States	71-73=144	+4
	Bob Charles	New Zealand	72-72=144
	Al Geiberger	United States	74-70=144
	Gene Littler	United States	73-71=144
	Bobby Nichols	United States	72-72=144
	Johnny Pott	United States	71-73=144

Source:[8][7]

Third round

Saturday, June 20, 1964  (morning)

Place	Player	Country	Score	To par
1	Tommy Jacobs	United States	72-64-70=206	−4
2	Ken Venturi	United States	72-70-66=208	−2
3	Arnold Palmer	United States	68-69-75=212	+2
4	Billy Casper	United States	71-74-69=214	+4
T5	Bob Charles	New Zealand	72-72-71=215	+5
	Bill Collins	United States	70-71-74=215
	Raymond Floyd	United States	73-70-72=215
T8	Dow Finsterwald	United States	73-72-71=216	+6
	Bob Rosburg	United States	73-73-70=216
10	Johnny Pott	United States	71-73-73=217	+7

Source:[3][4]

Final round

Saturday, June 20, 1964  (afternoon)

Place	Player	Country	Score	To par	Money ($)
1	Ken Venturi	United States	72-70-66-70=278	−2	17,000
2	Tommy Jacobs	United States	72-64-70-76=282	+2	8,500
3	Bob Charles	New Zealand	72-72-71-68=283	+3	6,000
4	Billy Casper	United States	71-74-69-71=285	+5	5,000
T5	Gay Brewer	United States	76-69-73-68=286	+6	3,750
	Arnold Palmer	United States	68-69-75-74=286
7	Bill Collins	United States	70-71-74-72=287	+7	3,000
8	Dow Finsterwald	United States	73-72-71-72=288	+8	2,500
T9	Johnny Pott	United States	71-73-73-72=289	+9	1,950
	Bob Rosburg	United States	73-73-70-73=289

Source:[3][4][5]

Scorecard

Final round

Hole	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18
Par	4	3	4	4	4	4	3	4	5	4	4	3	4	4	5	3	4	4
Venturi	−2	−2	−2	−2	−2	−1	−1	−1	−2	−2	−2	−2	−3	−2	−2	−2	−2	−2
Jacobs	−4	−2	−2	−1	−1	−1	−1	−1	E	+1	E	E	+1	+2	+3	+2	+2	+2
Palmer	+1	+1	+1	+2	+2	+3	+3	+2	+2	+2	+2	+2	+3	+4	+4	+5	+6	+6

Cumulative tournament scores, relative to par

Birdie

Bogey

Double bogey

Source:[15]

Video

• USGA: 1964 U.S. Open win by Venturi

References

1. Wright, Alfred (June 29, 1964). "'Poor Ken' hits it rich again". Sports Illustrated. p. 12.
2. Gundelfinger, Phil, Jr. (June 22, 1964). "Ken Venturi fulfills golfdom's prophecy". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. p. 23.
3. "Venturi wins Open tourney on comeback". Eugene Register-Guard. Associated Press. June 21, 1964. p. 2B.
4. Bartlett, Charles (June 21, 1964). "Exhausted Ken Venturi Open champ". Chicago Tribune. p. 1, section 2.
5. "Venturi beats heats, wins U.S. Open". Sunday Star-News. Wilmington, North Carolina. UPI. June 21, 1964. p. 1C.
6. Shedloski, Dave (May 29, 2011). "Californian overcomes heat exhaustion on steamy 36-hole marathon final day at Congressional C.C." USGA. Retrieved June 29, 2020.
7. Bartlett, Charles (June 20, 1964). "Jacobs passes Palmer on 64 in Open!". Chicago Tribune. p. 1, section 2.
8. Gundelfinger, Phil (June 20, 1964). "Jacobs passes Arnie, shoots blistering 64". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. p. 1.
9. Gundelfinger, Phil (June 19, 1964). "Palmer fires 2-under 68, leads Open". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. p. 1.
10. "Palmer 198 holes from golf's Slam". Eugene Register-Guard. Oregon. Associated Press. June 19, 1964. p. 2B.
11. Gundelfinger, Phil (June 18, 1964). "Congressional set to resist golfing fraternity in 'Open'". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. p. 30.
12. Bartlett, Charles (June 14, 1964). "Hole-by-hole of U.S. Open site". Chicago Tribune. p. 3, section 2.
13. Wright, Alfred (June 15, 1964). "Congressional: where a small splash will cost big money". Sports Illustrated. p. 38.
14. "National Open scoreboard". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. June 19, 1964. p. 21.
15. "U.S. Open History". USGA. Retrieved April 4, 2020.

External links

• About.com: 1964 U.S. Open
• USOpen.com - 1964
• USGA – Looking back: Venturi wins 1964 U.S. Open