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1977 U.S. Open (golf)

Coordinates: 36°04′12″N 95°56′46″W / 36.070°N 95.946°W / 36.070; -95.946
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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
← 1976
1978 →

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

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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

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First round

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Thursday, June 16, 1977

Place Player Score To par
T1 United States Terry Diehl 69 −1
United States Rod Funseth
United States Hubert Green
United States Grier Jones
Argentina Florentino Molina
United States Larry Nelson
United States Tom Purtzer
T8 United States Sam Adams 70 E
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

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Friday, June 17, 1977

Place Player Score To par
1 United States Hubert Green 69-67=136 −4
2 United States Terry Diehl 69-68=137 −3
3 United States Tom Purtzer 69-69=138 −2
T4 United States Sam Adams 70-69=139 −1
United States Rod Funseth 69-70=139
South Africa Gary Player 72-67=139
T7 United States Jay Haas 72-68=140 E
United States Joe Inman 70-70=140
T9 United States Wally Armstrong 71-70=141 +1
United States Andy Bean 71-70=141
United States Al Geiberger 70-71=141
England 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

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Saturday, June 18, 1977

Place Player Score To par
1 United States Hubert Green 69-67-72=208 −2
2 United States Andy Bean 71-70-68=209 −1
T3 United States Terry Diehl 69-68-73=210 E
United States Gary Jacobson 73-70-67=210
United States Don Padgett 70-74-66=210
South Africa Gary Player 72-67-71=210
United States Tom Purtzer 69-69-72=210
United States Tom Weiskopf 71-71-68=210
T9 United States Wally Armstrong 71-70-70=211 +1
United States Rod Funseth 69-70-72=211
United States Lou Graham 72-71-68=211
United States Jay Haas 72-68-71=211

Final round

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Sunday, June 19, 1977

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

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

Scorecard

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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
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 +1 E −1 −1 −1
United States Weiskopf E +1 +1 +1 +1 +1 +2 +2 +2 +2 +3 +3 +3 +2 +1 E E +1
United States Purtzer E E E E E E E −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 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

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  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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