1973 U.S. Open (golf)

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.[3][4][5][6][7]

1973 U.S. Open

Tournament information
Dates	June 14–17, 1973
Location	Oakmont, Pennsylvania
Course(s)	Oakmont Country Club
Organized by	USGA
Tour(s)	PGA Tour
Statistics
Par	71
Length	6,921 yards (6,329 m)[1]
Field	149 players, 65 after cut
Cut	150 (+8)
Prize fund	$219,400[2]
Winner's share	$35,000
Champion
Johnny Miller
279 (–5)

Oakmont 

Location in the United States

Oakmont

Location in Pennsylvania

Jack Nicklaus, the winner at Oakmont eleven years earlier, was the favorite entering the championship.[8] Daily admission on the weekend was ten dollars.[9]

Course layout

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:[10]

Lengths of the course for previous major championships:

6,894 yards (6,304 m), par 71 - 1962 U.S. Open 6,916 yards (6,324 m), par 72 - 1953 U.S. Open 6,882 yards (6,293 m), par 72 - 1951 PGA Championship

6,981 yards (6,383 m), par 72 - 1935 U.S. Open 6,965 yards (6,369 m), par 72 - 1927 U.S. Open 6,707 yards (6,133 m), par 74 - 1922 PGA Championship

Before 1962, the first hole was played as a par 5.

Past champions in the field

Made the cut

Player	Country	Year(s) won	R1	R2	R3	R4	Total	To par	Finish
Jack Nicklaus	United States	1962, 1967, 1972	71	69	74	68	282	−2	T4
Arnold Palmer	United States	1960	71	71	68	72	282	−2	T4
Lee Trevino	United States	1968, 1971	70	72	70	70	282	−2	T4
Julius Boros	United States	1952, 1963	73	69	68	73	283	−1	T7
Gary Player	South Africa	1965	67	70	77	73	287	+3	12
Gene Littler	United States	1961	71	74	70	76	291	+7	T18
Tony Jacklin	England	1970	75	75	73	77	300	+16	T52

Source:[4][5]

Missed the cut

Player	Country	Year(s) won	R1	R2	Total	To par
Orville Moody	United States	1969	78	73	151	+9
Billy Casper	United States	1959, 1966	79	79	158	+16

Source:[11][12]

Round summaries

First round

Thursday, June 14, 1973

Underweight from recent surgeries, 1965 champion Gary Player shot 67 to lead by three strokes.[13]

Place	Player	Country	Score	To par
1	Gary Player	South Africa	67	−4
T2	Lee Trevino	United States	70	−1
	Jim Colbert	United States
	Raymond Floyd	United States
T5	Jack Nicklaus	United States	71	E
	Johnny Miller	United States
	Arnold Palmer	United States
	Gene Littler	United States
	Bob Charles	New Zealand
	Ralph Johnston	United States

Source:[13]

Second round

Friday, June 15, 1973

Player shot 70 for 137 to lead by one at the midway point.[14]

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

Source:[11]

Third round

Saturday, June 16, 1973

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

Source:[15][16]

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,[17][16][15] and few gave him any chance of winning. Miller birdied the first four holes,[18] 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 ten feet (3 m) and converted for birdie to take solo possession of the lead. After lipping out a twenty-foot (6 m) 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.[18] 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. Only Schlee had a chance to tie Miller, but his 40-footer (12 m) for birdie at the last stayed out; he opened his round with a double bogey.

In shooting 63, Miller hit all 18 greens in regulation and needed 29 putts. Ten of his approach shots wound up within 15 feet (4.6 m), while five were within 6 feet (1.8 m). His score was even more remarkable given that only three other players managed to even break 70 on the day.[7]

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

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

Source:[1][5][12]

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

Eagle

Birdie

Bogey

Double bogey

Source:[3][19][20]

Miller's final round

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

Hole	Yards	Par	Club selections	Score	Result	To par
1	469	4	Driver, 3-iron to 5 feet	3	birdie	−1
2	343	4	Driver, 9-iron to 1 foot	3	birdie	−2
3	425	4	Driver, 5-iron to 25 feet	3	birdie	−3
4	549	5	Driver, 3-wood, bunker shot to 6 inches	4	birdie	−4
5	379	4	Driver, 6-iron to 25 feet, 2 putts	4	par	−4
6	195	3	3-iron to 25 feet, 2 putts	3	par	−4
7	395	4	Driver, 9-iron to 6 feet, 2 putts	4	par	−4
8	244	3	4-wood to 30 feet, 3 putts	4	bogey	−3
9	480	5	Driver, 2-iron to 40 feet, 2 putts	4	birdie	−4
Out	3,479	36		32		−4
10	462	4	Driver, 5-iron to 25 feet, 2 putts	4	par	−4
11	371	4	Driver, wedge to 14 feet	3	birdie	−5
12	603	5	Driver, 7-iron, 4-iron to 15 feet	4	birdie	−6
13	185	3	4-iron to 5 feet	2	birdie	−7
14	360	4	Driver, wedge to 12 feet, 2 putts	4	par	−7
15	453	4	Driver, 4-iron to 10 feet	3	birdie	−8
16	230	3	2-iron to 45 feet, 2 putts	3	par	−8
17	322	4	1-iron, wedge to 10 feet, 2 putts	4	par	−8
18	456	4	Driver, 5-iron to 20 feet, 2 putts	4	par	−8
In	3,442	35		31		−4
Total	6,921	71		63		−8

Source:[10][17][18]

Video

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

References

1. "Johnny Miller fires record 63 charging to U.S. Open victory". The Montreal Gazette. Associated Press. June 18, 1973. p. 32.
2. "U.S. Open history: 1973". USGA. Archived from the original on June 18, 2013. Retrieved June 20, 2012.
3. Grimsley, Will (June 18, 1973). "John Miller fires record 63 in scorching finish to take Open at Oakmont". Youngstown Vindicator. Ohio. Associated Press. p. 14.
4. Gundelfinger, Phil (June 18, 1973). "Miller's record 63 wins Open". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. p. 1.
5. Tomashek, Tom (June 18, 1973). "Miller wins U.S. Open on record 63". Chicago Tribune. p. 1, section 3.
6. Jenkins, Dan (June 25, 1973). "Battle of the Ages". Sports Illustrated. p. 16.
7. Dulac, Gerry (June 9, 2007). "Johnny Miller: the best round ever". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved April 28, 2018.
8. Grimsley, Will (June 13, 1973). "Palmer aims to redeem himself". Reading Eagle. (Pennsylvania). Associated Press. p. 63.
9. "Golf fans take beating". Reading Eagle. (Pennsylvania). Associated Press. June 17, 1973. p. 64.
10. Elling, Steve (June 12, 2007). "Miller's magical 63 in '73 a round to remember". CBS Sports. Archived from the original on March 9, 2012. Retrieved June 2, 2012.
11. Tomashek, Tom (June 15, 1973). "Player keeps lead in Open". Chicago Tribune. p. 1, section 2.
12. "1973 U.S. Open". databasegolf.com. Retrieved June 19, 2012.
13. "Ailing Player grabs Open lead". Tuscaloosa News. (Alabama). Associated Press. June 15, 1973. p. 11.
14. Green, Bob (June 16, 1973). "Course the opponent, Player says". Tuscaloosa News. (Alabama). Associated Press. p. 5.
15. "The Open with one round left (scores)". Eugene Register-Guard. Associated Press. June 17, 1973. p. 7C.
16. Tomashek, Tom (June 17, 1973). "A wide-open Open - 4 tied for lead". Chicago Tribune. p. 1, section 3.
17. Driscoll, Ron (May 24, 2016). "1973: Fact and fiction in the U.S. Open's most famous final round". USGA. Archived from the original on May 28, 2016. Retrieved June 14, 2016.
18. Rapoport, Ron (June 13, 1983). "Miracle round". Beaver County Times. Pennsylvania. (Chicago Sun Times). p. B1.
19. "Open scores". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. June 18, 1973. p. 18.
20. "How they finished". St. Petersburg Times. Florida. June 18, 1973. p. 1C.

External links

• About.com – 1973 U.S. Open
• USGA Championship Database
• USGA – A Round for the Ages: Johnny Miller in 1973 U.S. Open