1977 U.S. Open (golf)

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]

1977 U.S. Open

Tournament information
Dates	June 16–19, 1977
Location	Tulsa, Oklahoma
Course(s)	Southern Hills Country Club
Organized by	USGA
Tour(s)	PGA Tour
Statistics
Par	70
Length	6,873 yards (6,285 m)[1]
Field	153 players, 60 after cut
Cut	147 (+7) [2]
Winner's share	$45,000
Champion
Hubert Green
278 (−2)

Southern Hills Country Club

Location in the United States

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
	Don Padgett	United States
	Arnold Palmer	United States
	Bob E. Smith	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
	Don Padgett	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
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. "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

• 1977 U.S. Open
• USGA Championship Database
• USOpen.com - 1977