1967 U.S. Open (golf)


The 1967 U.S. Open was the 67th U.S. Open, held June 15–18 at Baltusrol Golf Club in Springfield, New Jersey, west of New York City. Jack Nicklaus shot a final round 65 and established a new U.S. Open record of 275, four strokes ahead of runner-up Arnold Palmer, the 1960 champion. It was the second of Nicklaus' four U.S. Open titles and the seventh of his eighteen major championships.
Nicklaus' record score surpassed the 276 of Ben Hogan in 1948 at Riviera. His final round 65 tied the U.S. Open record for lowest final 18 holes, broken six years later by Johnny Miller at Oakmont. The 275 record stood for thirteen years, when Nicklaus broke it on the same course in 1980. For Palmer, it was his fourth runner-up finish at the U.S. Open in six years; the earlier three were in playoffs. Hogan, age 54, played in his final major; he shot 72 in each of the first two rounds and tied for 34th place.
After winning the Masters in 1965 and 1966, Nicklaus missed the cut there two months earlier, which also kept him off the first Ryder Cup team for which he was eligible..
Lee Trevino, then a club pro from El Paso, finished fifth at Baltusrol in only his second major championship; he made the cut in his debut in 1966 at Olympic in San Francisco. The fifth place earnings of $6,000 allowed him to play in enough tournaments the rest of the 1967 season to earn his tour card for 1968. The high finish gave Trevino an exemption into the U.S. Open in 1968 at Oak Hill, which he won.
This was the fifth U.S. Open at Baltusrol and the second on the Lower Course; it previously hosted in 1954. The Upper Course was the site in 1936 and the defunct Old Course in 1903 and 1915. The U.S. Open returned in 1980, also won by Nicklaus, and its most recent appearance was in 1993. The PGA Championship was held at the Lower Course in 2005 and 2016.
With his seventh major won at age 27, Nicklaus went over three years before his next, at The Open Championship in 1970.

Course layout

Lower Course
Hole123456789Out101112131415161718InTotal
Yards4693904381943884704703652063,3904494101933833994192146235423,6327,022
Par444344443344434443553670

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Lengths of the course for previous major championships:

Made the cut

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Round summaries

First round

Thursday, June 15, 1967
Marty Fleckman, a 23-year-old amateur from Port Arthur, Texas, shot an opening round 67 to lead the field by two in his first U.S. Open.
PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo par
1Marty Fleckman 67−3
T2Deane Beman69−1
T2Billy Casper69−1
T2Don January69−1
T2Arnold Palmer69−1
T2Gary Player69−1
T2Chi-Chi Rodríguez69−1
T2Art Wall Jr.69−1
T9George Archer70E
T9Gardner Dickinson70E
T9Dutch Harrison70E
T9Dave Marr70E
T9Kel Nagle70E

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Second round

Friday, June 16, 1967
PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo par
1Arnold Palmer69-68=137−3
2Jack Nicklaus71-67=138−2
3Billy Casper69-70=139−1
T4Deane Beman69-71=140E
T4Bruce Devlin72-68=140E
T4Marty Fleckman 67-73=140E
7Don January69-72=141+1
T8George Archer70-72=142+2
T8Miller Barber71-71=142+2
T8Bob Hold71-71=142+2
T8Kel Nagle70-72=142+2
T8Gary Player69-73=142+2
T8Lee Trevino72-70=142+2
T8Art Wall Jr.69-73=142+2

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Third round

Saturday, June 17, 1967
With a one-under 69 on Saturday, amateur Fleckman was the surprise 54-hole leader, a stroke ahead of defending champion Billy Casper and former champions Nicklaus and Palmer.
PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo par
1Marty Fleckman 67-73-69=209−1
T2Billy Casper69-70-71=210E
T2Jack Nicklaus71-67-72=210E
T2Arnold Palmer69-68-73=210E
T5Miller Barber71-71-69=211+1
T5Deane Beman69-71-71=211+1
T5Gardner Dickinson70-73-68=211+1
T5Don January69-72-70=211+1
T9Wes Ellis74-69-70=213+3
T9Bob Goalby72-71-70=213+3
T9Lee Trevino72-70-71=213+3
T9----

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Final round

Sunday, June 18, 1967
Fleckman wilted under the pressure, shot a final round 80, and tied for 18th place. Alongside in the final pairing, Casper carded a 72 for 282, seven strokes behind in fourth place. The championship became a duel between Nicklaus and Palmer, in the penultimate pairing. Nicklaus birdied five of his first eight holes to open up a four-stroke advantage over Palmer, and that is how they finished. At the par-5 18th, Nicklaus played safe with a 1-iron off the tee, but it went right and required a recovery shot from the rough. The third shot was an uphill from the fairway with another 1-iron, then he sank the birdie putt from for the record. Fleckman held on for low amateur by a stroke over Bob Murphy, who shot 69.
PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo parMoney
1Jack Nicklaus71-67-72-65=275−530,000
2Arnold Palmer69-68-73-69=279−115,000
3Don January69-72-70-70=281+110,000
4Billy Casper69-70-71-72=282+27,500
5Lee Trevino72-70-71-70=283+36,000
T6Deane Beman69-71-71-73=284+44,166
T6Gardner Dickinson70-73-68-73=284+44,166
T6Bob Goalby72-71-70-71=284+44,166
T9Dave Marr70-74-70-71=285+52,566
T9Kel Nagle70-72-72-71=285+52,566
T9Art Wall, Jr.69-73-72-71=285+52,566

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Scorecard

Final round
Hole 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 101112131415161718
Par444344443443444355
NicklausE+1E−1−2−1−2−3−3−2−2−2−3−4−4−4−4−5
PalmerEEEEEEE+1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1E−1

Cumulative tournament scores, relative to par
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