1979 U.S. Open (golf)


The 1979 U.S. Open was the 79th U.S. Open, held June 14–17, at Inverness Club in Toledo, Ohio. Hale Irwin won his second U.S. Open title, two strokes ahead of former champions Jerry Pate and Gary Player.
Hale Irwin, the 1974 champion, held a three-stroke lead over Tom Weiskopf going to the final round. Irwin did not play particularly well, recording bogeys at 11, 14, and 18, and a double-bogey at 17. His final-round 75 tied the post-World War II tournament record for highest final round score by the champion. Jerry Pate, the 1976 champion, began the day five behind Irwin and carded a 72 to finish two back. 1965 champion Gary Player, nine behind at the start of the round, fired a 68 to tie Pate for 2nd. Weiskopf struggled on his way to a 76 and finished in 4th.
During the first round a mini controversy sprung up when Lon Hinkle purposefully hit his tee shot on the par 5 8th hole on to the fairway of hole 17, dramatically shortening the hole by cutting off the dogleg. Hinkle reached the green in two with an iron, two putted for birdie and shared the first-round lead. USGA officials were not pleased by Hinkle's ingenuity and the following morning planted a tree off the side of the 8th tee so that players would not be able to take Hinkle's shortcut again.
Player's runner-up finish was his final top-10 in a U.S. Open. Fred Couples, age 19, played in his first major championship and was low amateur.
This was the fourth U.S. Open at Inverness, which hosted in 1920, 1931, and 1957. It later hosted the PGA Championship in 1986 and 1993.

Course layout

Hole123456789Out101112131415161718InTotal
Yards3983851854464012204525284203,4553633781675234484584054313543,5276,982
Par443443454354435444443671

Lengths of the course for previous major championships:

Past champions in the field

Made the cut

Missed the cut

Source:

Round summaries

First round

Thursday, June 14, 1979
PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo par
T1Andy Bean70−1
T1Keith Fergus70−1
T1Lou Graham70−1
T1Lon Hinkle70−1
T1Tom Purtzer70−1
T6Jim Colbert71E
T6John Cook 71E
T6Larry Nelson71E
T6Jerry Pate71E
T6Dana Quigley71E
T6Bill Rogers71E
T6Tom Weiskopf71E

Second round

Friday, June 15, 1979
PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo par
T1Larry Nelson71-68=139−3
T1Tom Purtzer70-69=139−3
3Hale Irwin74-68=142E
4Bill Rogers71-72=143+1
T5Jim Colbert71-74=145+3
T5Lou Graham70-75=145+3
T5Jerry Pate71-74=145+3
T5Ed Sneed72-73=145+3
T5Dave Stockton75-70=145+3
T5Tom Weiskopf71-74=145+3

Amateurs: Couples, Rassett, Cook , Britton, Clampett, Ogrin, McGough, Gusmus, Inskeep, Kemp, Peddy, Rentz, Clements, Nordling, Taylor, Marrello.

Third round

Saturday, June 16, 1979
PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo par
1Hale Irwin74-68-67=209−4
2Tom Weiskopf71-74-67=212−1
T3Jerry Pate71-74-69=214+1
T3Tom Purtzer70-69-75=214+1
T5Lee Elder74-72-69=215+2
T5Larry Nelson71-68-76=215+2
T7Bob Gilder77-70-69=216+3
T7David Graham73-73-70=216+3
T7Bill Rogers71-72-73=216+3
T10Andy Bean70-76-71=217+4
T10Al Geiberger74-74-69=217+4
T10Bob E. Smith77-71-69=217+4
T10Bobby Walzel74-72-71=217+4

Final round

Sunday, June 17, 1979
PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo parMoney
1Hale Irwin74-68-67-75=284E50,000
T2Jerry Pate71-74-69-72=286+222,250
T2Gary Player73-73-72-68=286+222,250
T4Larry Nelson71-68-76-73=288+413,733
T4Bill Rogers71-72-73-72=288+413,733
T4Tom Weiskopf71-74-67-76=288+413,733
7David Graham73-73-70-73=289+510,000
8Tom Purtzer70-69-75-76=290+69,000
T9Keith Fergus70-77-72-72=291+77,500
T9Jack Nicklaus74-77-72-68=291+77,500

Amateurs: Fred Couples, John Cook, Joey Rassett.

Scorecard

Final round
Hole123456789101112131415161718
Par443443454443544444
Irwin−4−5−4−4−3−3−3−4−4−4−3−4−4−3−3−3−1E
Pate+1E−1−1+1+1+1+1+3+2+2+2+3+2+2+2+3+2
Player+6+6+6+6+6+5+5+4+4+4+4+4+3+4+4+4+3+2