1974 U.S. Open (golf)


The 1974 U.S. Open was the 74th U.S. Open, held June 13–16 at Winged Foot Golf Club in Mamaroneck, New York, a suburb northeast of New York City. In what became known as the "Massacre at Winged Foot," Hale Irwin's score of 287 was good enough for the first of his three U.S. Open titles, two strokes ahead of runner-up Forrest Fezler.
Tom Watson shot a third-round 69 to hold a one-stroke lead over Irwin after 54 holes. In the final round, Watson bogeyed holes 4, 5, and 8 on the front and six more on the back for a 79 and fell into a tie for fifth. Still at the beginning of his career, it was the first top ten finish in a major for the future U.S. Open champion. After making long par putts at 16 and 17, Fezler could not convert another par save at the last, missing from. Irwin bogeyed 15 and 16, and needed a 10-footer to save par at 17. With a two-shot lead heading to the 18th, Irwin hit his approach to the center of the green and two-putted for par and the championship.
Winged Foot played extremely difficult throughout the tournament, leading sportswriter Dick Schaap to coin the phrase "The Massacre at Winged Foot," the title of his book. Not a single player broke par in the first round, and Irwin's 7-over was the second-highest since World War II. Many complained that the USGA had intentionally made the course setup treacherous in response to Johnny Miller's record-breaking 63 the year before.
Arnold Palmer finished five strokes back in a tie for fifth, his final top-5 finish in a major championship. Ken Venturi, 1964 champion, played in his final major and missed the cut.
Sam Snead, age 62, broke a rib during practice on Wednesday and withdrew.

Past champions in the field

Made the cut

Source:

Missed the cut

Source:

Round summaries

First round

Thursday, June 13, 1974
PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo par
1Gary Player70E
T2Lou Graham71+1
T2Mike Reasor71+1
T4Jim Colbert72+2
T4Bruce Crampton72+2
T4Raymond Floyd72+2
T4Bobby Nichols72+2
T4Barney Thompson72+2
T9Arnold Palmer73+3
T9Tom Watson73+3
T9Hale Irwin73+3
T9Rod Funseth73+3
T9Jerry Heard73+3
T9David Graham73+3
T9Mark Hayes73+3
T9John Buczek73+3

Source:

Second round

Friday, June 14, 1974
PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo par
T1Arnold Palmer73-70=143+3
T1Hale Irwin73-70=143+3
T1Raymond Floyd72-71=143+3
T1Gary Player70-73=143+3
T5Tom Kite74-70=144+4
T5Tom Watson73-71=144+4
T7Bert Yancey76-69=145+5
T7Forrest Fezler75-70=145+5
T9Larry Ziegler78-68=146+6
T9Frank Beard77-69=146+6
T9Eddie Pearce75-71=146+6
T9John Buczek73-73=146+6
T9Lou Graham71-75=146+6

Source:

Third round

Saturday, June 15, 1974
PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo par
1Tom Watson73-71-69=213+3
2Hale Irwin73-70-71=214+4
3Arnold Palmer73-70-73=216+6
T4Frank Beard77-69-72=218+8
T4Bert Yancey76-69-73=218+8
T4Jim Colbert72-77-69=218+8
7Forrest Fezler75-70-74=219+9
T8Lou Graham71-75-74=220+10
T8Gary Player70-73-77=220+10
T10Raymond Floyd72-71-78=221+11
T10Buddy Allin76-71-74=221+11
T10Tom Kite74-70-77=221+11
T10Dale Douglass77-72-72=221+11
T10Tom Weiskopf76-73-72=221+11

Source:

Final round

Sunday, June 16, 1974
PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo parMoney
1Hale Irwin73-70-71-73=287+735,000
2Forrest Fezler75-70-74-70=289+918,000
T3Lou Graham71-75-74-70=290+1011,500
T3Bert Yancey76-69-73-72=290+1011,500
T5Jim Colbert72-77-69-74=292+128,000
T5Arnold Palmer73-70-73-76=292+128,000
T5Tom Watson73-71-69-79=292+128,000
T8Tom Kite74-70-77-72=293+135,500
T8Gary Player70-73-77-73=293+135,500
T10Buddy Allin76-71-74-73=294+143,750
T10Jack Nicklaus75-74-76-69=294+143,750

Source:

Scorecard

Cumulative tournament scores, relative to par
BirdieBogeyDouble bogey

Source: