1977 U.S. Open (golf)


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 and a 279 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 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 4-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, and 2007.

Past champions in the field

Made the cut

Missed the cut

Source:

Round summaries

First round

Thursday, June 16, 1977
PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo par
T1Terry Diehl69−1
T1Rod Funseth69−1
T1Hubert Green69−1
T1Grier Jones69−1
T1Florentino Molina69−1
T1Larry Nelson69−1
T1Tom Purtzer69−1
T8Sam Adams70E
T8George Burns70E
T8Al Geiberger70E
T8Morris Hatalsky70E
T8Joe Inman70E
T8Steve Melnyk70E
T8Mike Morley70E
T8Don Padgett70E
T8Arnold Palmer70E
T8Bob E. Smith70E

Second round

Friday, June 17, 1977
PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo par
1Hubert Green69-67=136−4
2Terry Diehl69-68=137−3
3Tom Purtzer69-69=138−2
T4Sam Adams70-69=139−1
T4Rod Funseth69-70=139−1
T4Gary Player72-67=139−1
T7Jay Haas72-68=140E
T7Joe Inman70-70=140E
T9Wally Armstrong71-70=141+1
T9Andy Bean71-70=141+1
T9Al Geiberger70-71=141+1
T9Peter Oosterhuis71-70=141+1

Amateurs: Miller, Fought , Zabel, Sander, Choate, Sonnier, Cook, King, Gregg, Rheim.

Third round

Saturday, June 18, 1977
PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo par
1Hubert Green69-67-72=208−2
2Andy Bean71-70-68=209−1
T3Terry Diehl69-68-73=210E
T3Gary Jacobson73-70-67=210E
T3Don Padgett70-74-66=210E
T3Gary Player72-67-71=210E
T3Tom Purtzer69-69-72=210E
T3Tom Weiskopf71-71-68=210E
T9Wally Armstrong71-70-70=211+1
T9Rod Funseth69-70-72=211+1
T9Lou Graham72-71-68=211+1
T9Jay Haas72-68-71=211+1

Final round

Sunday, June 19, 1977
PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo parMoney
1Hubert Green69-67-72-70=278−245,000
2Lou Graham72-71-68-68=279−123,500
3Tom Weiskopf71-71-68-71=281+116,000
4Tom Purtzer69-69-72-72=282+213,000
T5Jay Haas72-68-71-72=283+310,875
T5Gary Jacobson73-70-67-73=283+310,875
T7Terry Diehl69-68-73-74=284+48,000
T7Lyn Lott73-73-68-70=284+48,000
T7Tom Watson74-72-71-67=284+48,000
T10Rod Funseth69-70-72-74=285+54,100
T10Al Geiberger70-71-75-69=285+54,100
T10Mike McCullough73-73-69-70=285+54,100
T10Jack Nicklaus74-68-71-72=285+54,100
T10Peter Oosterhuis71-70-74-70=285+54,100
T10Gary Player72-67-71-75=285+54,100

Amateurs: Lindy Miller, John Fought

Scorecard

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

Cumulative tournament scores, relative to par
BirdieBogeyDouble bogey

Source: