1972 U.S. Open (golf)

The 1972 U.S. Open was the 72nd U.S. Open, held June 15–18 at Pebble Beach Golf Links in Pebble Beach, California. Jack Nicklaus, age 32, captured his third U.S. Open title, three strokes ahead of runner-up Bruce Crampton.[3][4][5][6] This was the first of six major championships held to date at Pebble Beach: five U.S. Opens and the PGA Championship in 1977.

1972 U.S. Open
Tournament information
DatesJune 15–18, 1972
LocationPebble Beach, California
36.568°N 121.950°W / 36.568; -121.950
Course(s)Pebble Beach Golf Links
Organized byUSGA
Tour(s)PGA Tour
Statistics
Par72
Length6,812 yards (6,229 m)[1]
Field150 players, 70 after cut
Cut154 (+10)
Prize fund$194,600[2]
Winner's share$30,000
Champion
Jack Nicklaus
290 (+2)
Location Map
Pebble Beach
Location in the United States
Pebble Beach
Location in California

Scoring conditions during the final round were extremely difficult;[7] the average was 78.8, the highest in post-war U.S. Open history. Nicklaus' 290 (+2) was the second-highest winning score during that span. It was Nicklaus' eleventh career major championship as a professional, tying the record of Walter Hagen. When combined with his two U.S. Amateur wins, it was his thirteenth major, equaling Bobby Jones for most all-time.[5][8]

Defending champion Lee Trevino had been hospitalized in Texas for several days for bronchitis and pneumonia; he was released on Tuesday, two days before the first round,[9][10][11][12] and tied for fourth.[3][5]

It was the second consecutive major title for Nicklaus, who won the Masters in April. Previous winners of the first two majors of the year were Craig Wood (1941), Ben Hogan (1951, 1953), and Arnold Palmer (1960); later champions of both were Tiger Woods (2002) and Jordan Spieth (2015). In addition, Nicklaus held the PGA Championship title from February 1971; four weeks later, he was the runner-up by a single stroke at the Open Championship at Muirfield, Scotland.

Nicklaus won seven additional majors, the last at the Masters fourteen years later in 1986 at age 46.

Course layout
Main article: Pebble Beach Golf Links
Hole123456789Out101112131415161718InTotal
Yards3855043683251805151204254503,2724363802054005554064002185403,5406,812
Par454435344364434544353672

Past champions in the field
PlayerCountryYear(s) wonR1R2R3R4TotalTo parFinish
Jack Nicklaus United States1962, 196771737274290+21
Arnold Palmer United States196077687376294+63
Lee Trevino United States1968, 197174727178295+7T4
Billy Casper United States1959, 196674737974300+12T11
Orville Moody United States196971777974301+13T15
Gary Player South Africa196572747580301+13T15
Julius Boros United States1952, 196377777477305+17T29
Tony Jacklin England197075787183307+19T40
  • Note: all eight former champions in the field made the cut.[13]

Round summaries

First round

Thursday, June 15, 1972

PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo par
T1Jack Nicklaus United States71−1
Orville Moody United States
Chi-Chi Rodríguez United States
Mason Rudolph United States
Tom Shaw United States
Kermit Zarley United States
T7Bobby Cole South Africa72E
Don Massengale United States
Gary Player South Africa
Cesar Sanudo Mexico

Source:[14]

Second round

Friday, June 16, 1972

PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo par
T1Jack Nicklaus United States71-73=144E
Bruce Crampton Australia74-70=144
Kermit Zarley United States71-73=144
Lanny Wadkins United States76-68=144
Homero Blancas United States74-70=144
Cesar Sanudo Mexico72-72=144
7Arnold Palmer United States77-68=145+1
T8Lee Trevino United States74-72=146+2
Lee Elder United States75-71=146
Ralph Johnston United States74-72=146
Rod Funseth United States73-73=146
Gary Player South Africa72-74=146
Chi-Chi Rodríguez United States71-75=146

Source:[15]

Third round

Saturday, June 17, 1972

PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo par
1Jack Nicklaus United States71-73-72=216E
T2Bruce Crampton Australia74-70-73=217+1
Kermit Zarley United States71-73-73=217
Lee Trevino United States74-72-71=217
T5Arnold Palmer United States77-68-73=218+2
Johnny Miller United States74-73-71=218
T7Homero Blancas United States74-70-76=220+4
Tom Weiskopf United States73-74-73=220
T9Don January United States76-71-74=221+5
Gary Player South Africa72-74-75=221

Source:[16]

Final round

Sunday, June 18, 1972

In high winds, Nicklaus was even par on the front nine; after a double-bogey at the tenth, Arnold Palmer and Bruce Crampton trailed by just two shots. Palmer had a chance to tie Nicklaus at the 14th, but he missed a 10-footer (3 m) for birdie. Down by one stroke, Palmer bogeyed the next two holes and finished with a final-round 76, four shots behind.

With a three-shot lead over Crampton on the tee of the par-3 17th, Nicklaus hit one of his most famous shots. His 1-iron went directly at the pin, bounced once, struck the flagstick, and settled inches from the hole for a tap-in birdie.[17] With the lead at four strokes on the final tee, he bogeyed for 74 (+2) and the win.[5][18]

PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo parMoney ($)
1Jack Nicklaus United States71-73-72-74=290+230,000
2Bruce Crampton Australia74-70-73-76=293+515,000
3Arnold Palmer United States77-68-73-76=294+610,000
T4Homero Blancas United States74-70-76-75=295+77,500
Lee Trevino United States74-72-71-78=295
6Kermit Zarley United States71-73-73-79=296+86,000
7Johnny Miller United States74-73-71-79=297+95,000
8Tom Weiskopf United States73-74-73-78=298+104,000
T9Chi-Chi Rodríguez United States71-75-78-75=299+113,250
Cesar Sanudo Mexico72-72-78-77=299

Source:[4][13][18]

Scorecard
Hole123456789101112131415161718
Par454435344443454435
NicklausE−1−1E+1+1EEE+2+2+3+3+3+2+2+1+2
Crampton+1E+2+2+2+3+3+3+3+4+5+5+5+6+5+5+5+5
Palmer+2+2+1+1+1+2+2+3+3+4+4+4+4+4+5+6+6+6
Blancas+4+3+3+3+2+2+2+2+2+3+3+5+5+5+5+6+6+7
Trevino+1+2+3+3+3+4+4+4+4+5+6+6+7+6+6+6+7+7
Zarley+1+1+1+1+1+1+2+3+4+5+5+6+6+9+9+9+8+8
Miller+1+1+1+3+3+3+4+6+7+7+7+7+7+8+9+9+9+9
Weiskopf+5+4+4+6+5+5+5+6+6+8+8+8+8+9+8+7+8+10
Rodriguez+8+8+9+8+8+9+9+9+10+10+10+10+10+10+10+11+12+11
Sanudo+12+11+11+12+12+12+11+10+11+11+10+10+10+10+11+11+11+11

Cumulative tournament scores, relative to par

Birdie Bogey Double bogey Triple bogey+

Source:[6][7]

References
  1. "Nicklaus breaks U.S. Open logjam". Toledo Blade. Ohio. Associated Press. June 18, 1972. p. E1.
  2. "U.S. Open history: 1972". USGA. Archived from the original on August 7, 2016. Retrieved June 19, 2012.
  3. Tomashek, Tom (June 19, 1972). "Nicklaus scores U.S. Open victory". Chicago Tribune. p. 1, sec. 3.
  4. "Nicklaus wins US Open by 3". Milwaukee Sentinel. UPI. June 19, 1972. p. 1, part 2.
  5. Jenkins, Dan (June 26, 1972). "The glorius quest". Sports Illustrated. p. 22.
  6. "Jack Opens his way to a Slam". St. Petersburg Times. (Florida). UPI. June 19, 1972. p. 1C.
  7. Green, Bob (June 19, 1972). "'Super sweep' half complete as Nicklaus wins U.S. Open". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. p. 10.
  8. "Nicklaus a wizard in US Open wind". Milwaukee Journal. press dispatches. June 19, 1972. p. 8, part 2.
  9. "(photo)". Chicago Tribune. UPI. June 13, 1972. p. 2, sec. 3.
  10. "Lee ready for Open". Pittsburgh Press. UPI. June 14, 1972. p. 38.
  11. "Golf's greats hobble along to U.S. Open". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Associated Press. June 14, 1972. p. 25.
  12. "Ailing Lee Trevino arrives to defend U.S. Open title". Sarasota Herald-Tribune. (Florida). Associated Press. June 15, 1972. p. 1D.
  13. "1972 U.S. Open". databasegolf.com. Retrieved June 19, 2012.
  14. Tomashek, Tom (June 16, 1972). "Nicklaus shares lead in U.S. Open". Chicago Tribune. p. 1, sec. 3.
  15. Tomashek, Tom (June 17, 1972). "Logjam at Open: six share first". Chicago Tribune. p. 1, sec. 2.
  16. Tomashek, Tom (June 18, 1972). "Even-par Nicklaus leading Open by 1". Chicago Tribune. p. 1, sec. 3.
  17. Green, Bob (June 19, 1972). "'Super Sweep' half complete as Nicklaus wins U.S. Open". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. p. 10.
  18. Loomis, Tom (June 19, 1972). "Jack's mettle stands test on crotchety Pebble Beach". Toledo Blade. (Ohio). p. 16.
Preceded by
1972 Masters		 Major Championships Succeeded by
1972 Open Championship
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.