1974 U.S. Open (golf)

1974 U.S. Open
Tournament information
Dates June 13–16, 1974
Location Mamaroneck, New York
Course(s) Winged Foot Golf Club
West Course
Organized by USGA
Tour(s) PGA Tour
Statistics
Par 70
Length 6,961 yards (6,365 m)[1]
Field 150 players, 66 after cut
Cut 153 (+13)
Prize fund $227,700[2]
Winner's share $35,000
Champion
United States Hale Irwin
287 (+7)
Mamaroneck
Location in the United States
Winged Foot Golf Club 
Location in New York

The 1974 U.S. Open was the 74th U.S. Open, held June 13–16 at Winged Foot Golf Club in Mamaroneck, New York, a suburb northeast of New York City. In what became known as the "Massacre at Winged Foot," Hale Irwin's score of 287 (+7) was good enough for the first of his three U.S. Open titles, two strokes ahead of runner-up Forrest Fezler.[3][4][5][6]

Tom Watson shot a third-round 69 to hold a one-stroke lead over Irwin after 54 holes.[7][8] In the final round, Watson bogeyed holes 4, 5, and 8 on the front and six more on the back for a 79 (+9) and fell into a tie for fifth. Still at the beginning of his career, it was the first top ten finish in a major for the future U.S. Open champion. After making long par putts at 16 and 17, Fezler could not convert another par save at the last, missing from fifteen feet (4.6 m). Irwin bogeyed 15 and 16, and needed a 10-footer (3 m) to save par at 17. With a two-shot lead heading to the 18th, Irwin hit his approach to the center of the green and two-putted for par and the championship.

Winged Foot played extremely difficult throughout the tournament, leading sportswriter Dick Schaap to coin the phrase "The Massacre at Winged Foot," the title of his book.[6] Not a single player broke par in the first round, and Irwin's 7-over was the second-highest since World War II (Julius Boros was 9-over in 1963). Many complained that the USGA had intentionally made the course setup treacherous in response to Johnny Miller's record-breaking 63 the year before.

Arnold Palmer finished five strokes back in a tie for fifth, his final top-5 finish in a major championship. Ken Venturi, 1964 champion, played in his final major and missed the cut.

Sam Snead, age 62, broke a rib during practice on Wednesday and withdrew.[9][10]

Past champions in the field

Made the cut

PlayerCountryYear(s) wonR1R2R3R4TotalTo parFinish
Arnold Palmer United States196073707376292+12T5
Gary Player South Africa196570737773293+13T8
Jack Nicklaus United States1962, 1967, 197275747669294+14T10
Johnny Miller United States197376757477302+22T35

Source:[3][5][11]

Missed the cut

PlayerCountryYear(s) wonR1R2TotalTo par
Tony Jacklin England19707876154+14
Gene Littler United States19618075155+15
Billy Casper United States1959, 19668076156+16
Lee Trevino United States1968, 19717878156+16
Ken Venturi United States19648481165+25
Julius Boros United States1952, 196378WD

Source:[11][12]

Round summaries

First round

Thursday, June 13, 1974

PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo par
1Gary Player South Africa70E
T2Lou Graham United States71+1
Mike Reasor United States
T4Jim Colbert United States72+2
Bruce Crampton Australia
Raymond Floyd United States
Bobby Nichols United States
Barney Thompson United States
T9Arnold Palmer United States73+3
Tom Watson United States
Hale Irwin United States
Rod Funseth United States
Jerry Heard United States
David Graham Australia
Mark Hayes United States
John Buczek United States

Source:[12]

Second round

Friday, June 14, 1974

PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo par
T1Arnold Palmer United States73-70=143+3
Hale Irwin United States73-70=143
Raymond Floyd United States72-71=143
Gary Player South Africa70-73=143
T5Tom Kite United States74-70=144+4
Tom Watson United States73-71=144
T7Bert Yancey United States76-69=145+5
Forrest Fezler United States75-70=145
T9Larry Ziegler United States78-68=146+6
Frank Beard United States77-69=146
Eddie Pearce United States75-71=146
John Buczek United States73-73=146
Lou Graham United States71-75=146

Source:[12]

Third round

Saturday, June 15, 1974

PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo par
1Tom Watson United States73-71-69=213+3
2Hale Irwin United States73-70-71=214+4
3Arnold Palmer United States73-70-73=216+6
T4Frank Beard United States77-69-72=218+8
Bert Yancey United States76-69-73=218
Jim Colbert United States72-77-69=218
7Forrest Fezler United States75-70-74=219+9
T8Lou Graham United States71-75-74=220+10
Gary Player South Africa70-73-77=220
T10Raymond Floyd United States72-71-78=221+11
Buddy Allin United States76-71-74=221
Tom Kite United States74-70-77=221
Dale Douglass United States77-72-72=221
Tom Weiskopf United States76-73-72=221

Source:[7]

Final round

Sunday, June 16, 1974

PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo parMoney ($)
1Hale Irwin United States73-70-71-73=287+735,000
2Forrest Fezler United States75-70-74-70=289+918,000
T3Lou Graham United States71-75-74-70=290+1011,500
Bert Yancey United States76-69-73-72=290
T5Jim Colbert United States72-77-69-74=292+128,000
Arnold Palmer United States73-70-73-76=292
Tom Watson United States73-71-69-79=292
T8Tom Kite United States74-70-77-72=293+135,500
Gary Player South Africa70-73-77-73=293
T10Buddy Allin United States76-71-74-73=294+143,750
Jack Nicklaus United States75-74-76-69=294

Source:[3][5][11]

Scorecard

Hole123456789101112131415161718
Par443454344345344444
United States Irwin+4+4+4+5+5+5+5+6+5+6+5+5+6+5+6+7+7+7
United States Fezler+9+10+10+10+10+10+10+9+9+9+9+8+8+8+8+8+8+9
United States Graham+10+10+11+11+10+10+10+10+10+10+10+11+12+11+11+10+10+10
United States Yancey+8+7+7+7+7+7+8+8+8+9+8+8+10+10+10+10+10+10
United States Watson+3+3+3+4+5+5+5+6+6+7+7+8+9+9+10+10+11+12

Cumulative tournament scores, relative to par

Birdie Bogey Double bogey

Source:[3][13]

References

  1. ↑ "For you nostalgia fans – it's the Palmer of old!". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. June 15, 1975. p. 12.
  2. ↑ "U.S. Open history: 1974". USGA. Retrieved June 20, 2012.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Tomashek, Tom (Jun 17, 1974). "Hail! Irwin wins Open by 2". Chicago Tribune. p. 1, sec. 3.
  4. ↑ Jenkins, Dan (June 24, 1974). "Hale Irwin, sole survivor". Sports Illustrated. p. 18.
  5. 1 2 3 "Irwin finishes with 287, gains two-stroke victory in U.S. Open". Youngstown Vindicator. (Ohio). Associated Press. June 17, 1974. p. 17.
  6. 1 2 McCleery, Peter (June 8, 2006). "The Massacre of '74 still lingers". ESPN. (Golf Digest). Retrieved May 20, 2014.
  7. 1 2 Tomashek, Tom (June 16, 1974). "Watson leads by 1 in Open; Arnie 3d". Chicago Tribune. p. 1, sec. 3.
  8. ↑ "Watson takes lead as Arnie, Gary fade". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. June 16, 1974. p. 1B.
  9. ↑ "Broken rib costs Snead Open berth". Bangor Daily News. (Maine). Associated Press. June 13, 1974. p. 27.
  10. ↑ "Sam slammed by Open jinx". The Age. (Melbourne, Australia). June 14, 1974. p. 27.
  11. 1 2 3 "1974 U.S. Open". databasegolf.com. Retrieved June 20, 2012.
  12. 1 2 3 "Arnie's back as he takes share of lead". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. June 15, 1974. p. 1B.
  13. ↑ "Irwin's final card". Youngstown Vindicator. (Ohio). Associated Press. June 17, 1974. p. 17.
Preceded by
1974 Masters		 Major Championships Succeeded by
1974 Open Championship

Coordinates: 40°57′29″N 73°45′14″W / 40.958°N 73.754°W / 40.958; -73.754

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