1979 U.S. Open (golf)
The 1979 U.S. Open was the 79th U.S. Open, held June 14–17, at Inverness Club in Toledo, Ohio. Hale Irwin won his second U.S. Open title, two strokes ahead of former champions Jerry Pate and Gary Player.[2][3]
| Tournament information | |
|---|---|
| Dates | June 14–17, 1979 |
| Location | Toledo, Ohio |
| Course(s) | Inverness Club |
| Organized by | USGA |
| Tour(s) | PGA Tour |
| Statistics | |
| Par | 71 |
| Length | 6,982 yards (6,384 m)[1] |
| Field | 153 players, 63 after cut |
| Cut | 151 (+9) |
| Winner's share | $50,000 |
| Champion | |
 | |
| 284 (E) | |
Club
Hale Irwin, the 1974 champion, held a three-stroke lead over Tom Weiskopf going to the final round. Irwin did not play particularly well, recording bogeys at 11, 14, and 18, and a double-bogey at 17. His final-round 75 tied the post-World War II tournament record for highest final round score by the champion. Jerry Pate, the 1976 champion, began the day five behind Irwin and carded a 72 to finish two back. 1965 champion Gary Player, nine behind at the start of the round, fired a 68 to tie Pate for 2nd. Weiskopf struggled on his way to a 76 and finished in 4th.
During the first round a mini controversy sprung up when Lon Hinkle purposefully hit his tee shot on the par 5 8th hole on to the fairway of hole 17, dramatically shortening the hole by cutting off the dogleg. Hinkle reached the green in two with an iron, two putted for birdie and shared the first-round lead. USGA officials were not pleased by Hinkle's ingenuity and the following morning planted a tree off the side of the 8th tee so that players would not be able to take Hinkle's shortcut again.[4]
Player's runner-up finish was his final top-10 in a U.S. Open. Fred Couples, age 19, played in his first major championship and was low amateur.
This was the fourth U.S. Open at Inverness, which hosted in 1920, 1931, and 1957. It later hosted the PGA Championship in 1986 and 1993.
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 | 398 | 385 | 185 | 446 | 401 | 220 | 452 | 528 | 420 | 3,455 | 363 | 378 | 167 | 523 | 448 | 458 | 405 | 431 | 354 | 3,527 | 6,982 |
| Par | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 35 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 36 | 71 |
Lengths of the course for previous major championships:
|
Past champions in the field
Made the cut
| Player | Country | Year(s) won | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | Total | To par | Finish |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hale Irwin | | 1974 | 74 | 68 | 67 | 75 | 284 | E | 1 |
| Gary Player | .svg.png){kind=small} | 1965 | 73 | 73 | 72 | 68 | 286 | +2 | T2 |
| Jerry Pate | | 1976 | 71 | 74 | 69 | 72 | 286 | +2 | T2 |
| Jack Nicklaus | | 1962, 1967, 1972 | 74 | 77 | 72 | 68 | 291 | +7 | T9 |
| Andy North | | 1978 | 77 | 74 | 68 | 74 | 293 | +9 | T11 |
| Lee Trevino | | 1968, 1971 | 77 | 73 | 73 | 72 | 295 | +11 | T19 |
| Hubert Green | | 1977 | 74 | 77 | 73 | 72 | 296 | +12 | 24 |
| Lou Graham | | 1975 | 70 | 75 | 77 | 75 | 297 | +13 | T25 |
| Arnold Palmer | | 1960 | 76 | 73 | 75 | 81 | 305 | +21 | T59 |
Missed the cut
| Player | Country | Year won | R1 | R2 | Total | To par |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Johnny Miller | | 1973 | 74 | 78 | 152 | +10 |
| Gene Littler | | 1961 | 79 | 74 | 153 | +11 |
Source:[7]
Round summaries
First round
Thursday, June 14, 1979
Second round
Friday, June 15, 1979
| Place | Player | Country | Score | To par |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| T1 | Larry Nelson | | 71-68=139 | −3 |
| Tom Purtzer | | 70-69=139 | ||
| 3 | Hale Irwin | | 74-68=142 | E |
| 4 | Bill Rogers | | 71-72=143 | +1 |
| T5 | Jim Colbert | | 71-74=145 | +3 |
| Lou Graham | | 70-75=145 | ||
| Jerry Pate | | 71-74=145 | ||
| Ed Sneed | | 72-73=145 | ||
| Dave Stockton | | 75-70=145 | ||
| Tom Weiskopf | | 71-74=145 |
Amateurs: Couples (+8), Rassett (+8), Cook (+9), Britton (+11), Clampett (+11), Ogrin (+13), McGough (+16), Gusmus (+18), Inskeep (+21), Kemp (+21), Peddy (+21), Rentz (+21), Clements (+22), Nordling (+24), Taylor (+26), Marrello (WD).
Third round
Saturday, June 16, 1979
| Place | Player | Country | Score | To par |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hale Irwin | | 74-68-67=209 | −4 |
| 2 | Tom Weiskopf | | 71-74-67=212 | −1 |
| T3 | Jerry Pate | | 71-74-69=214 | +1 |
| Tom Purtzer | | 70-69-75=214 | ||
| T5 | Lee Elder | | 74-72-69=215 | +2 |
| Larry Nelson | | 71-68-76=215 | ||
| T7 | Bob Gilder | | 77-70-69=216 | +3 |
| David Graham | .svg.png){kind=small} | 73-73-70=216 | ||
| Bill Rogers | | 71-72-73=216 | ||
| T10 | Andy Bean | | 70-76-71=217 | +4 |
| Al Geiberger | | 74-74-69=217 | ||
| Bob E. Smith | | 77-71-69=217 | ||
| Bobby Walzel | | 74-72-71=217 |
Final round
Sunday, June 17, 1979
| Place | Player | Country | Score | To par | Money ($) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hale Irwin | | 74-68-67-75=284 | E | 50,000 |
| T2 | Jerry Pate | | 71-74-69-72=286 | +2 | 22,250 |
| Gary Player | | 73-73-72-68=286 | |||
| T4 | Larry Nelson | | 71-68-76-73=288 | +4 | 13,733 |
| Bill Rogers | | 71-72-73-72=288 | |||
| Tom Weiskopf | | 71-74-67-76=288 | |||
| 7 | David Graham | | 73-73-70-73=289 | +5 | 10,000 |
| 8 | Tom Purtzer | | 70-69-75-76=290 | +6 | 9,000 |
| T9 | Keith Fergus | | 70-77-72-72=291 | +7 | 7,500 |
| Jack Nicklaus | | 74-77-72-68=291 |
Amateurs: Fred Couples (+18), John Cook (+20), Joey Rassett (+20).
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 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| −4 | −5 | −4 | −4 | −3 | −3 | −3 | −4 | −4 | −4 | −3 | −4 | −4 | −3 | −3 | −3 | −1 | E |
| +1 | E | −1 | −1 | +1 | +1 | +1 | +1 | +3 | +2 | +2 | +2 | +3 | +2 | +2 | +2 | +3 | +2 |
| +6 | +6 | +6 | +6 | +6 | +5 | +5 | +4 | +4 | +4 | +4 | +4 | +3 | +4 | +4 | +4 | +3 | +2 |
- Cumulative tournament scores, relative to par
Birdie Bogey Double bogey - Source:[2]
References
- "Golf: U.S. Open finish". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. June 18, 1979. p. 21.
- "A bit of a tussle, but hearty at the end". Toledo Blade. (Ohio). June 18, 1979. p. 13.
- Jenkins, Dan (June 25, 1979). "Up a tree in Toledo". Sports Illustrated. p. 20.
- Raley, DAn (May 18, 2001). "Hinkle linked to tree for 25 years". Seattle Post-Intelligencer.
- "Map: 79th U.S. Open Championship". Toledo Blade. (Ohio). Associated Press. June 9, 1979. p. 18.
- "Inverness statistics". Toledo Blade. (Ohio). June 14, 1979. p. 40.
- "U.S. Open scores - second round". Milwaukee Sentinel. June 16, 1982. p. 8-part 2.
External links
- About.com – 1979 U.S. Open
- USGA Championship Database
- USOpen.com – 1979
| Preceded by 1979 Masters |
Major Championships | Succeeded by 1979 Open Championship |