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
DatesJune 19–23, 1975
LocationMedinah, Illinois
Course(s)Medinah Country Club,
Course No. 3
Organized byUSGA
Tour(s)PGA Tour
Statistics
Par71
Length7,032 yards (6,430 m)[1]
Field150, 67 after cut
Cut149 (+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]

Course layout

Hole123456789Out101112131415161718InTotal
Yards3901874214465274425942054353,6475834023844531673184522204063,3857,032
Par434454534365444344343571

Past champions in the field

Made the cut

PlayerCountryYear(s) wonR1R2R3R4TotalTo parFinish
Hale Irwin United States197474717370288+4T3
Jack Nicklaus United States1962, 1967, 197272707572289+5T7
Arnold Palmer United States196069757373290+6T9
Lee Trevino United States1968, 197172697579295+11T29
Julius Boros United States1952, 196372777275296+12T38
Johnny Miller United States197375727673296+12T38
Gary Player South Africa196575737277297+13T43
Gene Littler United States196174737379299+15T49

Source:[6][16][17]

Missed the cut

PlayerCountryYear wonR1R2TotalTo par
Tony Jacklin United States19707674150+8
Orville Moody United States19697673152+10

Source:[18][19]

Round summaries

First round

Thursday, June 19, 1975

PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo par
T1Pat Fitzsimons United States67−4
Tom Watson United States
3Jim Wiechers United States68−3
T4Grier Jones United States69−2
Peter Oosterhuis England
Arnold Palmer United States
Lanny Wadkins United States
8Ben Crenshaw United States70−1
T9Jim Colbert United States71E
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

PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo par
1Tom Watson United States67-68=135−7
2Ben Crenshaw United States70-68=138−4
3Pat Fitzsimons United States67-73=140−2
T4Terry Dill United States72-69=141−1
Lee Trevino United States72-69=141
Jim Wiechers United States68-73=141
T7Grier Jones United States69-73=142E
Jack Nicklaus United States72-70=142
Peter Oosterhuis England69-73=142
T10Frank Beard United States74-69=143+1
Jay Haas (a) United States74-69=143

Source:[18][21]

Third round

Saturday, June 21, 1975

PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo par
1Frank Beard United States74-69-67=210−3
T2Pat Fitzsimons United States67-73-73=213E
Tom Watson United States67-68-78=213
T4Ben Crenshaw United States70-68-76=214+1
Lou Graham United States74-72-68=214
Peter Oosterhuis England69-73-72=214
T7Hubert Green United States74-69-72=215+2
Jay Haas (a) United States74-69-72=215
Joe Inman United States72-72-71=215
T10Miller Barber United States74-71-71=216+3
John Mahaffey United States73-71-72=216
Rik Massengale United States71-74-71=216
Eddie Pearce United States75-71-70=216
Lee Trevino United States72-69-75=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.

PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo parMoney ($)
T1Lou Graham United States74-72-68-73=287+3Playoff
John Mahaffey United States73-71-72-71=287
T3Frank Beard United States74-69-67-78=288+410,875
Ben Crenshaw United States70-68-76-74=288
Hale Irwin United States74-71-73-70=288
Bob Murphy United States74-73-72-69=288
T7Jack Nicklaus United States72-70-75-72=289+57,500
Peter Oosterhuis England69-73-72-75=289
T9Pat Fitzsimons United States67-73-73-77=290+65,000
Arnold Palmer United States69-75-73-73=290
Tom Watson United States67-68-78-77=290

Source:[6][16][17]

Scorecard

Hole 1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9 101112131415161718
Par434454534544434434
GrahamE+1+1EEEE+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−3−2−2−2−2−1E+1+1+1+1+2+2+2+2+3+4+4
Crenshaw+1+1+1+1E+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.

PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo parMoney ($)
1Lou Graham United States71E40,000
2John Mahaffey United States73+220,000

Scorecard

Hole 1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9 101112131415161718
Par434454534544434434
GrahamEE+1E−1−1−1−1−1−2−2−2−2−1−1−1EE
MahaffeyE+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.
Preceded by
1975 Masters
Major Championships Succeeded by
1975 Open Championship

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