Skip to content
Surf Wiki
Save to docs
sports

From Surf Wiki (app.surf) — the open knowledge base

1977 U.S. Open (golf)


FieldValue
name1977 U.S. Open
datesJune 16–19, 1977
locationTulsa, Oklahoma
courseSouthern Hills Country Club
orgUSGA
tourPGA Tour
par70
yardage6873 yd
field153 players, 60 after cut
cut147 (+7)
purse
winners_share$45,000
championUSA Hubert Green
score278 (−2)
previous[1976](1976-u-s-open-golf)
next[1978](1978-u-s-open-golf)
mapUSA#USA Oklahoma
map_reliefyes
map_labelSouthern Hills CC
map_captionLocation in the United States##Location in Oklahoma
coordinates

|USA The 1977 U.S. Open was the 77th U.S. Open, held June 16–19 at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Hubert Green won the first of his two major titles, one stroke ahead of runner-up Lou Graham, the 1975 champion.

Green began the final round with the lead, but 11 players were within three shots. Graham made a charge on the back nine, collecting birdies at 12, 14, 15, and 16 en route to a 68 (−2) and a 279 (−1) total. With four holes to play, Green needed to play even-par to win the championship. As he stepped off the 14th green, however, he was approached by tournament officials and a lieutenant with the Tulsa police, who told him that they had received a phone call threatening to assassinate Green while he played the 15th hole. Green decided to play on, then proceeded to hit his drive into a tree—which probably saved it from going out of bounds. He managed to hit his approach to 35 ft and two-putt for par without incident. Green birdied the 16th and took a two-stroke lead to the 18th tee. Although he struggled on the hole, he managed to make a four-footer for bogey and the victory.

This year marked the final U.S. Open appearance by Sam Snead, two-time champion Julius Boros, and Tommy Bolt, who had won the 1958 Open at Southern Hills. All three received exemptions by the USGA, and all three missed the cut. This was the first time that the television broadcast of the U.S. Open covered all 18 holes of the final round.

It was the third major championship at Southern Hills; it previously hosted the U.S. Open in 1958 and the PGA Championship in 1970. The U.S. Open returned in 2001 and the PGA Championship in 1982, 1994, 2007, and 2022.

Course layout

hole123456789Out101112131415161718InTotal
Yards447459406366614175383215373**3,438**375165444465207407569354449**3,435****6,873**
Par444453434**35**434434544**35****70**

Round summaries

First round

Thursday, June 16, 1977

PlacePlayerScoreTo par
T1USA Terry Diehl69−1
USA Rod Funseth
USA Hubert Green
USA Grier Jones
ARG Florentino Molina
USA Larry Nelson
USA Tom Purtzer
T8USA Sam Adams70E
USA George Burns
USA Al Geiberger
USA Morris Hatalsky
USA Joe Inman
USA Steve Melnyk
USA Mike Morley
USA Don Padgett
USA Arnold Palmer
USA Bob E. Smith

Second round

Friday, June 17, 1977

PlacePlayerScoreTo par
1USA Hubert Green69-67=136−4
2USA Terry Diehl69-68=137−3
3USA Tom Purtzer69-69=138−2
T4USA Sam Adams70-69=139−1
USA Rod Funseth69-70=139
ZAF Gary Player72-67=139
T7USA Jay Haas72-68=140E
USA Joe Inman70-70=140
T9USA Wally Armstrong71-70=141+1
USA Andy Bean71-70=141
USA Al Geiberger70-71=141
ENG Peter Oosterhuis71-70=141

Amateurs: Miller (+6), Fought (+7), Zabel (+9), Sander (+14), Choate (+15), Sonnier (+15), Cook (+16), King (+16), Gregg (+20), Rheim (+29).

Third round

Saturday, June 18, 1977

PlacePlayerScoreTo par
1USA Hubert Green69-67-72=208−2
2USA Andy Bean71-70-68=209−1
T3USA Terry Diehl69-68-73=210E
USA Gary Jacobson73-70-67=210
USA Don Padgett70-74-66=210
ZAF Gary Player72-67-71=210
USA Tom Purtzer69-69-72=210
USA Tom Weiskopf71-71-68=210
T9USA Wally Armstrong71-70-70=211+1
USA Rod Funseth69-70-72=211
USA Lou Graham72-71-68=211
USA Jay Haas72-68-71=211

Final round

Sunday, June 19, 1977

PlacePlayerScoreTo parMoney ($)
**1**USA **Hubert Green**69-67-72-70=278−245,000
2USA Lou Graham72-71-68-68=279−123,500
3USA Tom Weiskopf71-71-68-71=281+116,000
4USA Tom Purtzer69-69-72-72=282+213,000
T5USA Jay Haas72-68-71-72=283+310,875
USA Gary Jacobson73-70-67-73=283
T7USA Terry Diehl69-68-73-74=284+48,000
USA Lyn Lott73-73-68-70=284
USA Tom Watson74-72-71-67=284
T10USA Rod Funseth69-70-72-74=285+54,100
USA Al Geiberger70-71-75-69=285
USA Mike McCullough73-73-69-70=285
USA Jack Nicklaus74-68-71-72=285
ENG Peter Oosterhuis71-70-74-70=285
ZAF Gary Player72-67-71-75=285

Amateurs: Lindy Miller (+19), John Fought (+22)

Scorecard

Final round

Hole123456789101112131415161718
Par444453434434434544
USA Green−2−2−3−4−4−4−4−4−3−2−2−2−2−2−2−3−3−2
USA Graham+2+3+3+2+3+3+3+3+3+3+3+2+2+1E−1−1−1
USA WeiskopfE+1+1+1+1+1+2+2+2+2+3+3+3+2+1EE+1
USA PurtzerEEEEEEE−1−1−1−1−1−1+1+1+1+1+2
USA Haas+2+2+2+2+2+2+2+2+2+1+1+2+2+2+3+2+3+3
USA Jacobson+1+1+1+2+2+2+2+2+2+2+2+2+2+1+2+2+2+3
USA BeanEEEEE+1+2+2+2+2+3+5+6+6+6+7+7+8

Cumulative tournament scores, relative to par

Double EagleEagle --BirdieBogeyDouble bogeyTriple bogey+ --

Source:

References

References

  1. (June 20, 1977). "Green meets pressure test en route to first major win". Spokesman-Review.
  2. (June 18, 1977). "U.S. open results (second round)". Deseret News.
  3. (June 20, 1977). "Green beats real pressure". Eugene Register-Guard.
  4. Bunch, Ken. (June 20, 1977). "Green beats threats in Open". Milwaukee Sentinel.
  5. Grimsley, Will. (June 17, 1977). "Analysis: Green death threat macabre and warped". Nashua Telegraph.
  6. Jenkins, Dan. (June 27, 1977). "Talk about total pressure". Sports Illustrated.
  7. Lasswell, Doug. (June 17, 1977). "U.S. Open coverage to include all 18 holes". Sarasota Herald-Tribune.
  8. "U.S. Open History". USGA.
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.

Want to explore this topic further?

Ask Mako anything about 1977 U.S. Open (golf) — get instant answers, deeper analysis, and related topics.

Research with Mako

Free with your Surf account

Content sourced from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

This content may have been generated or modified by AI. CloudSurf Software LLC is not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of AI-generated content. Always verify important information from primary sources.

Report