1974 U.S. Open (golf)
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]
| 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 | |
 | |
| 287 (+7) | |
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
| Player | Country | Year(s) won | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | Total | To par | Finish |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arnold Palmer | | 1960 | 73 | 70 | 73 | 76 | 292 | +12 | T5 |
| Gary Player | .svg.png){kind=small} | 1965 | 70 | 73 | 77 | 73 | 293 | +13 | T8 |
| Jack Nicklaus | | 1962, 1967, 1972 | 75 | 74 | 76 | 69 | 294 | +14 | T10 |
| Johnny Miller | | 1973 | 76 | 75 | 74 | 77 | 302 | +22 | T35 |
Missed the cut
| Player | Country | Year(s) won | R1 | R2 | Total | To par |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tony Jacklin |  | 1970 | 78 | 76 | 154 | +14 |
| Gene Littler | | 1961 | 80 | 75 | 155 | +15 |
| Billy Casper | | 1959, 1966 | 80 | 76 | 156 | +16 |
| Lee Trevino | | 1968, 1971 | 78 | 78 | 156 | +16 |
| Ken Venturi | | 1964 | 84 | 81 | 165 | +25 |
| Julius Boros | | 1952, 1963 | 78 | WD | ||
Round summaries
First round
Thursday, June 13, 1974
| Place | Player | Country | Score | To par |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gary Player | | 70 | E |
| T2 | Lou Graham | | 71 | +1 |
| Mike Reasor | | |||
| T4 | Jim Colbert | | 72 | +2 |
| Bruce Crampton | .svg.png){kind=small} | |||
| Raymond Floyd | | |||
| Bobby Nichols | | |||
| Barney Thompson | | |||
| T9 | Arnold Palmer | | 73 | +3 |
| Tom Watson | | |||
| Hale Irwin | | |||
| Rod Funseth | | |||
| Jerry Heard | | |||
| David Graham | | |||
| Mark Hayes | | |||
| John Buczek | |
Source:[12]
Second round
Friday, June 14, 1974
| Place | Player | Country | Score | To par |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| T1 | Arnold Palmer | | 73-70=143 | +3 |
| Hale Irwin | | 73-70=143 | ||
| Raymond Floyd | | 72-71=143 | ||
| Gary Player | | 70-73=143 | ||
| T5 | Tom Kite | | 74-70=144 | +4 |
| Tom Watson | | 73-71=144 | ||
| T7 | Bert Yancey | | 76-69=145 | +5 |
| Forrest Fezler | | 75-70=145 | ||
| T9 | Larry Ziegler | | 78-68=146 | +6 |
| Frank Beard | | 77-69=146 | ||
| Eddie Pearce | | 75-71=146 | ||
| John Buczek | | 73-73=146 | ||
| Lou Graham | | 71-75=146 |
Source:[12]
Third round
Saturday, June 15, 1974
| Place | Player | Country | Score | To par |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tom Watson | | 73-71-69=213 | +3 |
| 2 | Hale Irwin | | 73-70-71=214 | +4 |
| 3 | Arnold Palmer | | 73-70-73=216 | +6 |
| T4 | Frank Beard | | 77-69-72=218 | +8 |
| Bert Yancey | | 76-69-73=218 | ||
| Jim Colbert | | 72-77-69=218 | ||
| 7 | Forrest Fezler | | 75-70-74=219 | +9 |
| T8 | Lou Graham | | 71-75-74=220 | +10 |
| Gary Player | | 70-73-77=220 | ||
| T10 | Raymond Floyd | | 72-71-78=221 | +11 |
| Buddy Allin | | 76-71-74=221 | ||
| Tom Kite | | 74-70-77=221 | ||
| Dale Douglass | | 77-72-72=221 | ||
| Tom Weiskopf | | 76-73-72=221 |
Source:[7]
Final round
Sunday, June 16, 1974
| Place | Player | Country | Score | To par | Money ($) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hale Irwin | | 73-70-71-73=287 | +7 | 35,000 |
| 2 | Forrest Fezler | | 75-70-74-70=289 | +9 | 18,000 |
| T3 | Lou Graham | | 71-75-74-70=290 | +10 | 11,500 |
| Bert Yancey | | 76-69-73-72=290 | |||
| T5 | Jim Colbert | | 72-77-69-74=292 | +12 | 8,000 |
| Arnold Palmer | | 73-70-73-76=292 | |||
| Tom Watson | | 73-71-69-79=292 | |||
| T8 | Tom Kite | | 74-70-77-72=293 | +13 | 5,500 |
| Gary Player | | 70-73-77-73=293 | |||
| T10 | Buddy Allin | | 76-71-74-73=294 | +14 | 3,750 |
| Jack Nicklaus | | 75-74-76-69=294 |
Scorecard
| Hole | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Par | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| +4 | +4 | +4 | +5 | +5 | +5 | +5 | +6 | +5 | +6 | +5 | +5 | +6 | +5 | +6 | +7 | +7 | +7 |
| +9 | +10 | +10 | +10 | +10 | +10 | +10 | +9 | +9 | +9 | +9 | +8 | +8 | +8 | +8 | +8 | +8 | +9 |
| +10 | +10 | +11 | +11 | +10 | +10 | +10 | +10 | +10 | +10 | +10 | +11 | +12 | +11 | +11 | +10 | +10 | +10 |
| +8 | +7 | +7 | +7 | +7 | +7 | +8 | +8 | +8 | +9 | +8 | +8 | +10 | +10 | +10 | +10 | +10 | +10 |
| +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 |
References
- "For you nostalgia fans – it's the Palmer of old!". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. June 15, 1975. p. 12.
- "U.S. Open history: 1974". USGA. Archived from the original on May 11, 2012. Retrieved June 20, 2012.
- Tomashek, Tom (June 17, 1974). "Hail! Irwin wins Open by 2". Chicago Tribune. p. 1, sec. 3.
- Jenkins, Dan (June 24, 1974). "Hale Irwin, sole survivor". Sports Illustrated. p. 18.
- "Irwin finishes with 287, gains two-stroke victory in U.S. Open". Youngstown Vindicator. (Ohio). Associated Press. June 17, 1974. p. 17.
- McCleery, Peter (June 8, 2006). "The Massacre of '74 still lingers". ESPN. (Golf Digest). Retrieved May 20, 2014.
- Tomashek, Tom (June 16, 1974). "Watson leads by 1 in Open; Arnie 3d". Chicago Tribune. p. 1, sec. 3.
- "Watson takes lead as Arnie, Gary fade". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. June 16, 1974. p. 1B.
- "Broken rib costs Snead Open berth". Bangor Daily News. (Maine). Associated Press. June 13, 1974. p. 27.
- "Sam slammed by Open jinx". The Age. (Melbourne, Australia). June 14, 1974. p. 27.
- "1974 U.S. Open". databasegolf.com. Retrieved June 20, 2012.
- "Arnie's back as he takes share of lead". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. June 15, 1974. p. 1B.
- "Irwin's final card". Youngstown Vindicator. (Ohio). Associated Press. June 17, 1974. p. 17.