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1973 U.S. Open (golf)

Field	Value
name	1973 U.S. Open
dates	June 14–17, 1973
location	Oakmont, Pennsylvania
course	Oakmont Country Club
tour	PGA Tour
org	USGA
par	71
yardage	6921 yd
field	149 players,
65 after cut
cut	150 (+8)
purse	$219,400
winners_share	$35,000
champion	USA Johnny Miller
score	279 (−5)
previous	[1972](1972-u-s-open-golf)
next	[1974](1974-u-s-open-golf)
map	USA#USA Pennsylvania
map_relief	yes
map_label	Oakmont
map_caption	Location in the United States##Location in Pennsylvania
coordinates

65 after cut |USA |USA Pennsylvania The 1973 U.S. Open was the 73rd U.S. Open, held June 14–17 at Oakmont Country Club in Oakmont, Pennsylvania, a suburb northeast of Pittsburgh. In one of the finest performances in tournament history, Johnny Miller fired a record, 8-under-par 63 in the final round to win his first major championship, one stroke ahead of runner-up John Schlee.

Jack Nicklaus, the winner at Oakmont eleven years earlier, was the favorite entering the championship. Daily admission on the weekend was ten dollars.

Course layout

Main article: Oakmont Country Club

Hole	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Out	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	In	Total
Yards	469	343	425	549	379	195	395	244	480	3,479	462	371	603	185	360	453	230	322	456	3,442	6,921
Par	4	4	4	5	4	3	4	3	5	36	4	4	5	3	4	4	3	4	4	35	71

Source:

Lengths of the course for previous major championships:

6894 yd, par 71 - 1962 U.S. Open
6916 yd, par 72 - 1953 U.S. Open
6882 yd, par 72 - 1951 PGA Championship
6981 yd, par 72 - 1935 U.S. Open
6965 yd, par 72 - 1927 U.S. Open
6707 yd, par 74 - 1922 PGA Championship Before 1962, the first hole was played as a par 5.

Round summaries

First round

Thursday, June 14, 1973

Underweight from recent surgeries, 1965 champion Gary Player shot 67 to lead by three strokes.

Place	Player	Score	To par
1	ZAF Gary Player	67	−4
T2	USA Lee Trevino	70	−1
USA Jim Colbert
USA Raymond Floyd
T5	USA Jack Nicklaus	71	E
USA Johnny Miller
USA Arnold Palmer
USA Gene Littler
NZL Bob Charles
USA Ralph Johnston

Source:

Second round

Friday, June 15, 1973

Player shot 70 for 137 to lead by one at the midway point.

Place	Player	Score	To par
1	ZAF Gary Player	67-70=137	−5
2	USA Jim Colbert	70-68=138	−4
T3	USA Jack Nicklaus	71-69=140	−2
USA Johnny Miller	71-69=140
NZL Bob Charles	71-69=140
T6	USA Gene Borek	77-65=142	E
USA Julius Boros	73-69=142
USA Tom Weiskopf	73-69=142
USA Arnold Palmer	71-71=142
USA Lee Trevino	70-72=142

Source:

Third round

Saturday, June 16, 1973

Place	Player	Score	To par
T1		USA Jerry Heard	74-70-66=210	−3
USA John Schlee	73-70-67=210
USA Arnold Palmer	71-71-68=210
USA Julius Boros	73-69-68=210
5	USA Tom Weiskopf	73-69-69=211	−2
T6		USA Lee Trevino	70-72-70=212	−1
NZL Bob Charles	71-69-72=212
USA Jim Colbert	70-68-74=212
T9	USA Jack Nicklaus	71-69-74=214	+1
ZAF Gary Player	67-70-77=214

Source:

Final round

Sunday, June 17, 1973

Four players shared the 54-hole lead: Schlee, Jerry Heard, 1963 champion Julius Boros, and 1960 winner Arnold Palmer. After a 76 (+5) on Saturday, Miller started the final round six strokes back, in a four-way tie for 13th place at three strokes over par, and few gave him any chance of winning. Miller birdied the first four holes, but after a bogey at the eighth, it certainly did not appear like he was on the brink of the greatest round in U.S. Open history.

But he then birdied four of the next five holes, and after a par at 14 he was tied for the lead with Palmer, Boros, and Tom Weiskopf. At the 15th hole, Miller hit his approach to 10 ft and converted for birdie to take solo possession of the lead. After lipping out a 20 ft birdie putt at 18 (for a 62), Miller carded the first round of 63 in major championship history. Finishing over an hour ahead of the last pairing, Miller then waited to see if anyone would match him. Palmer fell out of contention with three consecutive bogeys to finish in a tie for fourth. Boros and Heard both shot 73 and finished in a tie for seventh. Despite John Schlee taking a double-bogey on the 1st hole of the final round by the time he got to the 18th Tee he was only player left on the course with a chance to tie Miller. After finding the fairway, Schlee's second shot into 18 went just over the green and he was left having to hole a 45-foot chip for birdie. Schlee's chip to tie stopped a foot short and he finished 2nd alone at 4-under par 280.

In shooting 63, Miller hit all 18 greens in regulation and needed 29 putts. Ten of his approach shots wound up within 15 ft, while five were within 6 ft. His score was even more remarkable given that only three other players managed to even break 70 on the day.

Place	Player	Score	To par	Money ($)
1	USA Johnny Miller	71-69-76-63=279	−5	35,000
2	USA John Schlee	73-70-67-70=280	−4	18,000
3	USA Tom Weiskopf	73-69-69-70=281	−3	13,000
T4	USA Jack Nicklaus	71-69-74-68=282	−2	9,000
USA Arnold Palmer	71-71-68-72=282
USA Lee Trevino	70-72-70-70=282
T7	USA Julius Boros	73-69-68-73=283	−1	6,000
USA Jerry Heard	74-70-66-73=283
USA Lanny Wadkins	74-69-75-65=283
10	USA Jim Colbert	70-68-74-72=284	E	4,000

Amateurs: Vinny Giles (+6), Gary Koch (+18) Source:

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	4	5	4	3	4	3	5	4	4	5	3	4	4	3	4	4
USA Miller	+2	+1	E	−1	−1	−1	−1	E	−1	−1	−2	−3	−4	−4	−5	−5	−5	−5
USA Schlee	−1	−1	−1	−3	−2	−3	−3	−2	−3	−3	−3	−4	−3	−3	−3	−4	−4	−4
USA Weiskopf	−2	−3	−3	−3	−3	−3	−3	−3	−4	−3	−3	−3	−3	−2	−2	−3	−3	−3
USA Nicklaus	+1	E	E	E	E	E	E	+1	E	E	E	E	E	E	E	−1	−2	−2
USA Palmer	−3	−3	−3	−4	−4	−3	−3	−3	−4	−4	−4	−3	−2	−1	−1	−1	−1	−2
USA Trevino	E	−1	−1	−2	−2	−2	−2	−2	−3	−3	−3	−3	−3	−3	−3	−3	−2	−2
USA Wadkins	+5	+4	+4	+2	+2	+3	+3	+3	+1	+1	+1	E	−1	−1	−1	−1	−2	−1

Cumulative tournament scores, relative to par :{|class="wikitable" span = 50 style="font-size:85%; |- |Eagle |Birdie |Bogey |Double bogey |Triple bogey+ -- |} Source:

Miller's final round

Johnny Miller's 63: club selection and results - June 17, 1973

Total	6,921	71		63		−8

Source:

Video

You Tube - Miller on 72nd hole - USGA (ABC broadcast)

References

(June 18, 1973). "Johnny Miller fires record 63 charging to U.S. Open victory". The Montreal Gazette.
"U.S. Open history: 1973". USGA.
Grimsley, Will. (June 18, 1973). "John Miller fires record 63 in scorching finish to take Open at Oakmont". Youngstown Vindicator.
Gundelfinger, Phil. (June 18, 1973). "Miller's record 63 wins Open". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
Tomashek, Tom. (June 18, 1973). "Miller wins U.S. Open on record 63". Chicago Tribune.
Jenkins, Dan. (June 25, 1973). "Battle of the Ages".
Dulac, Gerry. (June 9, 2007). "Johnny Miller: the best round ever". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
Grimsley, Will. (June 13, 1973). "Palmer aims to redeem himself". Reading Eagle.
(June 17, 1973). "Golf fans take beating". Reading Eagle.
(June 15, 1973). "Ailing Player grabs Open lead". Tuscaloosa News.
Green, Bob. (June 16, 1973). "Course the opponent, Player says". Tuscaloosa News.
Tomashek, Tom. (June 15, 1973). "Player keeps lead in Open". Chicago Tribune.
Tomashek, Tom. (June 17, 1973). "A wide-open Open - 4 tied for lead". Chicago Tribune.
Driscoll, Ron. (May 24, 2016). "1973: Fact and fiction in the U.S. Open's most famous final round". USGA.
(June 17, 1973). "The Open with one round left (scores)". Eugene Register-Guard.
Rapoport, Ron. (June 13, 1983). "Miracle round". Beaver County Times.
"1973 U.S. Open". databasegolf.com.
(June 18, 1973). "Open scores". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
(June 18, 1973). "How they finished". St. Petersburg Times.
Elling, Steve. (June 12, 2007). "Miller's magical 63 in '73 a round to remember". CBS Sports.

Info: Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

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