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1961 U.S. Open (golf)

Field	Value
name	1961 U.S. Open
dates	June 15–17, 1961
location	Birmingham, Michigan
course	Oakland Hills Country Club, South Course
org	USGA
tour	PGA Tour
par	70
yardage	6907 yd
field	149 players, 57 after cut
cut	149 (+9)
purse	$60,500
winners_share	$14,000
champion	USA Gene Littler
score	281 (+1)
previous	[1960](1960-u-s-open-golf)
next	[1962](1962-u-s-open-golf)

|USA |USA Michigan The 1961 U.S. Open was the 61st U.S. Open, held June 15–17 at the South Course of Oakland Hills Country Club in Birmingham, Michigan, a suburb north of Detroit. Gene Littler shot a final round 68 for 281 (+1) to win his sole major title, one stroke ahead of runners-up Bob Goalby and Doug Sanders, the 54-hole leader.

Amateur Jack Nicklaus tied for fourth at age 21, the second of his three consecutive top-4 finishes at the U.S. Open. The runner-up the previous year, he turned professional in November and won the first of four U.S. Open titles the following year. Defending champion Arnold Palmer made the cut on the number at 149 (+9), then shot even-par twice and climbed into a tie for 14th place, eight strokes behind Littler. Four-time champion Ben Hogan also tied for 14th, the only time since 1940 that he was outside the top ten at this major. This course was the site of his third title a decade earlier in 1951, a rare successful defense. Hogan did not enter for five years and made his final U.S. Open appearances in 1966 and 1967.

The South Course previously hosted the U.S. Open in 1924, 1937, and 1951. It later hosted in 1985 and 1996, and the PGA Championship in 1972, 1979, and 2008.

Round summaries

First round

Thursday, June 15, 1961

Place	Player	Score	To par
1	USA Bobby Brue	69	−1
T2	USA Tommy Bolt	70	Even
USA Bob Goalby
T4	USA Rex Baxter	71	+1
AUS Bruce Crampton
USA Marty Furgol
USA Al Geiberger
USA Paul Harney
USA Ben Hogan
AUS Kel Nagle

Source:

Second round

Friday, June 16, 1961

Place	Player	Score	To par
T1		USA Bob Rosburg	72-67=139	−1
USA Doug Sanders	72-67=139
T3	USA Bobby Brue	69-72=141	+1
USA Gardner Dickinson	72-69=141
USA Doug Ford	72-69=141
USA Al Geiberger	71-70=141
USA Gene Littler	73-68=141
USA Eric Monti	74-67=141
T9	AUS Bruce Crampton	71-71=142	+2
USA Bob Goalby	70-72=141
AUS Kel Nagle	71-71=141
USA Bob Harris	75-67=141

Source:

Third round

Saturday, June 17, 1961 (morning)

Place	Player	Score	To par
1		USA Doug Sanders	72-67-71=210	Even
T2	USA Jacky Cupit	72-72-67=211	+1
USA Bob Goalby	70-72-69=211
USA Mike Souchak	73-70-68=211
T5	USA Gardner Dickinson	72-69-71=212	+2
USA Doug Ford	72-69-71=212
T7	USA Gene Littler	73-68-72=213	+3
USA Eric Monti	74-67-72=213
USA Bob Rosburg	72-67-74=213
T10	USA Bobby Brue	69-72-73=214	+4
USA Dow Finsterwald	72-71-71=214
USA Al Geiberger	71-70-73=214
USA Jack Nicklaus (a)	75-69-70=214

:(a) denotes amateur Source:

Final round

Saturday, June 17, 1961 (afternoon)

At the start of the final round on Saturday afternoon, Littler was at 213 (+3), three strokes behind 54-hole leader Sanders. After a 34 on the front-nine, Littler tied for the lead with a birdie at 11. With a birdie at 13 combined with a Sanders bogey at the same hole, Littler was two strokes ahead. Sanders rebounded with a birdie at 16 to move within one. As Littler and Sanders reached the 18th, Goalby had already posted a 282 total, two off the pace. Littler needed no worse than bogey to get in ahead of Goalby, and that is what he shot, recording his lone bogey of the round for a 68 and a 281 total. Sanders, meanwhile, narrowly missed a birdie putt at 17, then almost chipped in for birdie at the last that would have forced a Sunday playoff. Sanders' putter cost him the championship, as he three-putted five of the last 36 greens. (He later missed a short putt to win The Open Championship in 1970.) Littler was the only player to break par twice.

Place	Player	Score	To par	Money ($)
1	USA Gene Littler	73-68-72-68=281	+1	14,000
T2	USA Bob Goalby	70-72-69-71=282	+2	6,000
USA Doug Sanders	72-67-71-72=282
T4	USA Jack Nicklaus (a)	75-69-70-70=284	+4	0
USA Mike Souchak	73-70-68-73=284	4,000
T6	USA Dow Finsterwald	72-71-71-72=286	+6	2,616
USA Doug Ford	72-69-71-74=286
USA Eric Monti	74-67-72-73=286
T9	USA Jacky Cupit	72-72-67-76=287	+7	1,750
USA Gardner Dickinson	72-69-71-75=287
ZAF Gary Player	75-72-69-71=287

:(a) denotes amateur Source:

References

(June 15, 1961). "Palmer, Player top Open field". Milwaukee Sentinel.
(June 17, 1961). "Open lead's shared by Rosburg, Sanders". Spokesman-Review.
"U.S. Open history: 1961". USGA.
Bartlett, Charles. (June 18, 1961). "Gene Littler takes Open with 281". Chicago Sunday Tribune.
Weiss, Don. (June 18, 1961). "Gene Littler charges to U.S. Open victory". Spokesman-Review.
Wright, Alfred. (June 26, 1961). "Littler eases to a hard win".
Bartlett, Charles. (June 17, 1961). "Sanders ties Rosburg in U.S. Open". Chicago Daily Tribune.
(June 16, 1961). ""Little Boy Brue's" putter true; leads Open after scrambling 69". Spokesman-Review.
Bartlett, Charles. (June 16, 1961). "Bobby Brue takes Open lead". Chicago Daily Tribune.

Info: Wikipedia Source

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