1975 U.S. Open (golf)

The 1975 U.S. Open was the 75th U.S. Open, held June 19–23, at Medinah Country Club in Medinah, Illinois, a suburb northwest of Chicago. Lou Graham defeated John Mahaffey by two strokes in an 18-hole Monday playoff to win his only major championship.[3][4]

1975 U.S. Open

Tournament information
Dates	June 19–23, 1975
Location	Medinah, Illinois
Course(s)	Medinah Country Club, Course No. 3
Organized by	USGA
Tour(s)	PGA Tour
Statistics
Par	71
Length	7,032 yards (6,430 m)[1]
Field	150, 67 after cut
Cut	149 (+7)
Prize fund	$235,700[2]
Winner's share	$40,000
Champion
Lou Graham
287 (+3), playoff

Medinah

Location in the United States

Medinah

Location in Illinois

Tom Watson shot 135 (−7) to tie the U.S. Open record for the first 36 holes of play,[5] but 155 (+13) on the weekend forced him down the leaderboard, three shots out of the Graham-Mahaffey playoff.[6] It marked the second straight year Watson failed to maintain a weekend lead in the championship; he was the 54-hole leader in 1974 at Winged Foot. He won the next major a month later in Scotland at Carnoustie.

Arnold Palmer finished in a tie for ninth place, his final top-10 finish at the U.S. Open. Jerry Pate tied for 18th place and shared low amateur honors with Jay Haas; Pate won the following year as a tour rookie.

Paired with Palmer was Masters champion Jack Nicklaus, who was two-under in the final round and just missed a birdie putt on the 15th green. He carded three consecutive bogeys to finish and ended up two strokes back.[6][7] Nicklaus rebounded and won the PGA Championship in August at Firestone.

The quality of the play was generally regarded as poor. Despite the high scores Jack Nicklaus said it was the "easiest" U.S. Open he had ever remembered playing. Runner-up John Mahaffey stated at the end of the event, "This course was never as difficult as the scores looked. I agree with everybody who said it was the easiest Open in history to have won. At least 10 guys could have won it by five shots if they'd played golf." The sportswriter Dan Jenkins regularly panned the performance of the players in his Sport Illustrated cover profile, stating in his opening sentence that "it was a golf tournament that begged to be forgotten."[4]

Since moving to the four-day format in 1965, this is the only U.S. Open in which the final round was not scheduled for Father's Day, the third Sunday in June.

This was the second U.S. Open at Medinah, the first was held in 1949. It later hosted in 1990, also a playoff, and the PGA Championship in 1999 and 2006, both won by Tiger Woods. Medinah was the venue for the Ryder Cup in 2012.

This was the final year that players were not allowed to have their own caddies at the U.S. Open.[8][9] The other majors and some PGA Tour events had traditionally disallowed players from using their own caddies.[10][11][12] The Masters required club caddies from Augusta National through 1982.[13][14][15]

Past champions in the field

Made the cut

Player	Country	Year(s) won	R1	R2	R3	R4	Total	To par	Finish
Hale Irwin	United States	1974	74	71	73	70	288	+4	T3
Jack Nicklaus	United States	1962, 1967, 1972	72	70	75	72	289	+5	T7
Arnold Palmer	United States	1960	69	75	73	73	290	+6	T9
Lee Trevino	United States	1968, 1971	72	69	75	79	295	+11	T29
Julius Boros	United States	1952, 1963	72	77	72	75	296	+12	T38
Johnny Miller	United States	1973	75	72	76	73	296	+12	T38
Gary Player	South Africa	1965	75	73	72	77	297	+13	T43
Gene Littler	United States	1961	74	73	73	79	299	+15	T49

Source:[6][16][17]

Missed the cut

Player	Country	Year won	R1	R2	Total	To par
Tony Jacklin	United States	1970	76	74	150	+8
Orville Moody	United States	1969	76	73	152	+10

Source:[18][19]

Round summaries

First round

Thursday, June 19, 1975

Place	Player	Country	Score	To par
T1	Pat Fitzsimons	United States	67	−4
	Tom Watson	United States
3	Jim Wiechers	United States	68	−3
T4	Grier Jones	United States	69	−2
	Peter Oosterhuis	England
	Arnold Palmer	United States
	Lanny Wadkins	United States
8	Ben Crenshaw	United States	70	−1
T9	Jim Colbert	United States	71	E
	Dale Douglass	United States
	Marty Fleckman	United States
	David Graham	Australia
	Lynn Janson	United States
	Rik Massengale	United States
	Lance Ten Broeck (a)	United States

Source:[20]

Second round

Friday, June 20, 1975

Place	Player	Country	Score	To par
1	Tom Watson	United States	67-68=135	−7
2	Ben Crenshaw	United States	70-68=138	−4
3	Pat Fitzsimons	United States	67-73=140	−2
T4	Terry Dill	United States	72-69=141	−1
	Lee Trevino	United States	72-69=141
	Jim Wiechers	United States	68-73=141
T7	Grier Jones	United States	69-73=142	E
	Jack Nicklaus	United States	72-70=142
	Peter Oosterhuis	England	69-73=142
T10	Frank Beard	United States	74-69=143	+1
	Jay Haas (a)	United States	74-69=143

Source:[18][21]

Third round

Saturday, June 21, 1975

Place	Player	Country	Score	To par
1	Frank Beard	United States	74-69-67=210	−3
T2	Pat Fitzsimons	United States	67-73-73=213	E
	Tom Watson	United States	67-68-78=213
T4	Ben Crenshaw	United States	70-68-76=214	+1
	Lou Graham	United States	74-72-68=214
	Peter Oosterhuis	England	69-73-72=214
T7	Hubert Green	United States	74-69-72=215	+2
	Jay Haas (a)	United States	74-69-72=215
	Joe Inman	United States	72-72-71=215
T10	Miller Barber	United States	74-71-71=216	+3
	John Mahaffey	United States	73-71-72=216
	Rik Massengale	United States	71-74-71=216
	Eddie Pearce	United States	75-71-70=216
	Lee Trevino	United States	72-69-75=216

Source:[22][23]

Final round

Sunday, June 22, 1975

Frank Beard began the final round with a three-stroke lead, four over Graham and six ahead of Mahaffey.[24] But after bogeys at 16 and 17, he staggered home with a 78 (+7) to finish a shot behind. Mahaffey holed a 40-foot (12 m) putt for birdie at 14, then parred out the rest of the way to post an even-par 71 and 287 total. Graham went to the 18th with a one-stroke lead and a chance to win in regulation, but he hit his approach into a bunker and failed to save par and fell into a tie with Mahaffey. Several other players had an opportunity to join the playoff. Bob Murphy was tied until a bogey at 18 dropped him a shot out of the playoff, and Ben Crenshaw found the water on 17 and also finished a stroke out, as did defending champion Hale Irwin. Second round leader Tom Watson had another difficult day and fell into a tie for ninth. Jack Nicklaus bogeyed the last three holes and finished two strokes out of the playoff.

Place	Player	Country	Score	To par	Money ($)
T1	Lou Graham	United States	74-72-68-73=287	+3	Playoff
	John Mahaffey	United States	73-71-72-71=287
T3	Frank Beard	United States	74-69-67-78=288	+4	10,875
	Ben Crenshaw	United States	70-68-76-74=288
	Hale Irwin	United States	74-71-73-70=288
	Bob Murphy	United States	74-73-72-69=288
T7	Jack Nicklaus	United States	72-70-75-72=289	+5	7,500
	Peter Oosterhuis	England	69-73-72-75=289
T9	Pat Fitzsimons	United States	67-73-73-77=290	+6	5,000
	Arnold Palmer	United States	69-75-73-73=290
	Tom Watson	United States	67-68-78-77=290

Source:[6][16][17]

Scorecard

Hole	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18
Par	4	3	4	4	5	4	5	3	4	5	4	4	4	3	4	4	3	4
Graham	E	+1	+1	E	E	E	E	+1	+1	+2	+2	+2	+3	+2	+2	+2	+2	+3
Mahaffey	+3	+4	+4	+4	+3	+4	+4	+4	+4	+3	+3	+3	+4	+3	+3	+3	+3	+3
Beard	−3	−2	−2	−2	−2	−1	E	+1	+1	+1	+1	+2	+2	+2	+2	+3	+4	+4
Crenshaw	+1	+1	+1	+1	E	+1	+1	+1	+1	+1	+1	+1	+2	+2	+2	+2	+4	+4
Irwin	+4	+4	+4	+4	+3	+2	+2	+2	+3	+4	+4	+4	+4	+3	+3	+4	+4	+4
Murphy	+6	+6	+6	+6	+5	+6	+6	+5	+5	+4	+4	+4	+5	+5	+4	+3	+3	+4
Nicklaus	+3	+4	+4	+4	+3	+3	+3	+3	+2	+2	+2	+2	+2	+2	+2	+3	+4	+5
Oosterhuis	+1	+1	+2	+2	+1	+1	+1	+1	+2	+3	+4	+5	+5	+5	+5	+5	+5	+5

Cumulative tournament scores, relative to par

Birdie

Bogey

Double bogey

Source:[16]

Playoff

Monday, June 23, 1975

Graham jumped out to an early advantage in the playoff, recording birdies at 4, 5, and 10 en route to a 71 and a two-stroke win over Mahaffey.

Place	Player	Country	Score	To par	Money ($)
1	Lou Graham	United States	71	E	40,000
2	John Mahaffey	United States	73	+2	20,000

Scorecard

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

Source:[25]

References

1. "Deadlock at Medinah". Daytona Beach Morning Journal. (Florida). Associated Press. June 23, 1975. p. 4B.
2. "U.S. Open history: 1975". USGA. Archived from the original on May 11, 2012. Retrieved June 22, 2012.
3. Tomashek, Tom (June 24, 1975). "Graham wins Open title by 2 in playoff". Chicago Tribune. p. 1, sec. 4.
4. Jenkins, Dan (June 30, 1975). "It was madness at Medinah". Sports Illustrated. p. 18. Retrieved December 7, 2019.
5. "Tom Watson leading US Open by 3 shots". Bryan Times. (Ohio). UPI. June 21, 1975. p. 9.
6. Loomis, Tom (June 23, 1975). "Two escape Medinah stranglehold". Toledo Blade. (Ohio). p. 19.
7. Parascenzo, Marino (June 23, 1975). "Jack's Slam dream went 'Thrrrp'". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. p. 16.
8. "Open golfers to pick own caddies in 1976". Toledo Blade. (Ohio). Associated Press. November 15, 1975. p. 17.
9. "Break for some". Rome News-Tribune. (Georgia). Associated Press. January 18, 1976. p. 3B.
10. Loomis, Tom (April 6, 1973). "Chi Chi prefers own caddy". Toledo Blade. Associated Press. p. 30.
11. "Westchester winner may bypass events". Victoria Advocate. (Texas). Associated Press. August 26, 1974. p. 1B.
12. "Touring golf pros prefer their own caddies". Reading Eagle. Associated Press. May 5, 1974. p. 76.
13. "Tour caddies at Augusta?". Times-News. (Hendersonville, North Carolina). November 12, 1982. p. 14.
14. Wade, Harless (April 6, 1983). "Tradition bagged at Masters". Spokane Chronicle. (Washington). p. C1.
15. Anderson, Dave (April 10, 1983). "New Masters caddies collide". Sunday Star-News. (Wilmington, North Carolina). p. 6D.
16. Tomashek, Tom (June 23, 1975). "Graham, Mahaffey in Open playoff". Chicago Tribune. p. 1, sec. 4.
17. "Medinah showdown". Tuscaloosa News. (Alabama). Associated Press. June 23, 1975. p. 9.
18. Tomashek, Tom (June 21, 1975). "Watson grabs open lead". Chicago Tribune. p. 1, sec. 2.
19. "1975 U.S. Open". databasegolf.com. Retrieved April 14, 2014.
20. Tomashek, Tom (June 20, 1975). "Watson, Fitzsimons share Open lead". Chicago Tribune. p. 1, sec. 4.
21. "U.S. Open results". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). June 21, 1975. p. 48.
22. Tomashek, Tom (June 22, 1975). "Beard swings into U.S. Open lead". Chicago Tribune. p. 1, sec. 3.
23. "Beard's back in a big way". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. June 22, 1975. p. 1B.
24. "Beard's back in a big way". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. June 22, 1975. p. 1B.
25. Loomis, Tom (June 24, 1975). "Graham just aims for par: Lou's 71 wins Open playoff". Toledo Blade. (Ohio). p. 28.

External links

• 1975 U.S. Open
• USGA Championship Database
• USOpen.com - 1975

Preceded by 1975 Masters	Major Championships	Succeeded by 1975 Open Championship