1971 U.S. Open (golf)

Thursday, June 17, 1971

Place	Player	Score	To par
1	Labron Harris Jr.	67	−3
T2	Bob Goalby	68	−2
	Doug Sanders
	Lanny Wadkins (a)
T5	Jim Colbert	69	−1
	Jack Nicklaus
	Bobby Nichols
T8	Gay Brewer	70	E
	Charles Coody
	Dale Douglass
	Ralph Johnston
	Johnny Miller
	Chi-Chi Rodríguez
	John Schlee
	Leonard Thompson
	Lee Trevino
	Tom Weiskopf

Source:[12]

Friday, June 18, 1971

Place	Player	Score	To par
T1	Jim Colbert	69-69=138	−2
	Bob Erickson	71-67=138
3	Jerry McGee	72-67=139	−1
4	Gay Brewer	70-70=140	E
T5	Arnold Palmer	73-68=141	+1
	Bruce Devlin	72-69=141
	George Archer	71-70=141
	Chi-Chi Rodríguez	70-71=141
	Bobby Nichols	69-72=141
	Jack Nicklaus	69-72=141

Source:[13]

Saturday, June 19, 1971

Four strokes back after 36 holes, amateur Simons shot a five-under 65 in the third round, one off the U.S. Open record, to take the 54-hole lead.[14] He got out to a fast start on Saturday, and was five-under for the round after ten holes. Simons played even-par on the last eight and ended with seven birdies and two bogeys to lead Nicklaus by two strokes.[15]

Place	Player	Score	To par
1	Jim Simons (a)	71-71-65=207	−3
2	Jack Nicklaus	69-72-68=209	−1
3	Bobby Nichols	69-72-69=210	E
T4	Lee Trevino	70-72-69=211	+1
	George Archer	71-70-70=211
	Jim Colbert	69-69-73=211
	Bob Erickson	71-67-73=211
T8	Ken Still	71-72-69=212	+2
	Larry Hinson	71-71-70=212
	Bruce Devlin	72-69-71=212

Source:[16]

Third round

Hole	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18
Par	4	5	3	5	4	4	4	4	3	4	4	4	3	4	4	4	3	4
Simons	+2	+1	+1	+1	+1	E	E	−1	−2	−3	−3	−2	−3	−3	−3	−4	−3	−3
Nicklaus	E	E	E	E	E	−1	−1	−1	−1	−1	−1	−1	−1	−1	−1	−1	−1	−1

Cumulative tournament scores, relative to par

Birdie

Bogey

Source:[15]

Sunday, June 20, 1971

In the final pairing with Nicklaus, 21-year-old Simons retained the lead through the first nine holes of the final round, and was one shot back on the 18th tee. Needing a birdie to tie, his tee shot found the thick rough; a double bogey six yielded a 76 and he finished three strokes back in a tie for fifth place. Trevino took the lead with a birdie at 14, but then missed an 8-footer (2.4 m) for par at the last. He backed off before the putt after a disturbance in the gallery. Nicklaus' 15-foot (4.5 m) birdie putt for the win on the 72nd green also narrowly missed, and settled for par to force a Monday afternoon playoff. Bob Rosburg also had a chance to join the playoff with a birdie at the last, but he three-putted for bogey and finished two shots back.[17]

Place	Player	Score	To par	Money ($)
T1	Lee Trevino	70-72-69-69=280	E	Playoff
	Jack Nicklaus	69-72-68-71=280
T3	Jim Colbert	69-69-73-71=282	+2	9,000
	Bob Rosburg	71-72-70-69=282
T5	George Archer	71-70-70-72=283	+3	6,500
	Johnny Miller	70-73-70-70=283
	Jim Simons (a)	71-71-65-76=283		0
8	Raymond Floyd	71-75-67-71=284	+4	5,000
T9	Gay Brewer	70-70-73-72=285	+5	3,325
	Larry Hinson	71-71-70-73=285
	Bobby Nichols	69-72-69-75=285
	Bert Yancey	75-69-69-72=285

(a) denotes amateur

Final round

Hole	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18
Par	4	5	3	5	4	4	4	4	3	4	4	4	3	4	4	4	3	4
Trevino	+1	E	E	E	E	E	E	+1	+1	+1	+1	E	E	−1	−1	−1	−1	E
Nicklaus	−1	−1	−1	−2	E	E	E	E	E	E	E	E	E	E	E	E	E	E
Simons	−3	−2	−2	−2	−1	−1	−1	−1	−1	E	E	E	E	+1	+1	+1	+1	+3

Cumulative tournament scores, relative to par

Birdie

Bogey

Double bogey

Source:[17][18]

Monday, June 21, 1971

Prior to the playoff, the first at the U.S. Open since 1966, Trevino and Nicklaus, both 31, were involved in a famous incident on the first tee involving a toy rubber snake. Trevino had acquired it at a zoo gift shop and used it earlier in the week along with a pith helmet and hatchet during a whimsical photo shoot emphasizing Merion's thick and penal rough.[19] Hot and humid in the early afternoon, Trevino reached into his golf bag for a fresh glove and came across the snake and took it out to entertain the crowd. Nicklaus then asked him to toss it over, which Trevino did. Nicklaus picked it up, laughed with the crowd, then threw it back to Trevino.[20] It would later be written that Trevino had tossed the snake at Nicklaus in an attempt to unnerve his rival; in reality, Nicklaus was the one who asked him to throw the snake.[21]

When the playoff began, Trevino bogeyed the first hole and Nicklaus took the lead, but then hit two poor bunker shots on the next two, allowing Trevino to open a two-stroke lead. Although Nicklaus cut into the lead several times, to within one stroke as late as the 12th tee, Trevino never relinquished it. He carded a 68 to Nicklaus' 71 to win by three.[5] Nicklaus won his third U.S. Open the following year in 1972 at Pebble Beach, and a record-tying fourth at Baltusrol at age 40 in 1980.

Television coverage by ABC Sports for the Monday playoff was scheduled for just an hour, beginning at 4:30 p.m. EDT. A 35-minute weather delay after the sixth hole allowed for lengthened coverage.[3]

Place	Player	Score	To par	Money ($)
1	Lee Trevino	68	−2	30,000
2	Jack Nicklaus	71	+1	15,000

Playoff

Hole	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18
Par	4	5	3	5	4	4	4	4	3	4	4	4	3	4	4	4	3	4
Trevino	+1	+1	+1	+1	+1	+1	+1	E	E	E	E	−1	−1	−1	−2	−2	−2	−2
Nicklaus	E	+1	+3	+3	+2	+2	+2	+2	+1	+2	+1	+1	+1	+1	E	E	+1	+1

Birdie

Bogey

Double bogey

Source:[1]