1972 U.S. Open (golf)

The 1972 U.S. Open was the 72nd U.S. Open, held June 15–18 at Pebble Beach Golf Links in Pebble Beach, California. Jack Nicklaus, age 32, captured his third U.S. Open title, three strokes ahead of runner-up Bruce Crampton.[3][4][5][6] This was the first of six major championships held to date at Pebble Beach: five U.S. Opens and the PGA Championship in 1977.

1972 U.S. Open
Tournament information
DatesJune 15–18, 1972
LocationPebble Beach, California
36.568°N 121.950°W / 36.568; -121.950
Course(s)Pebble Beach Golf Links
Organized byUSGA
Tour(s)PGA Tour
Statistics
Par72
Length6,812 yards (6,229 m)[1]
Field150 players, 70 after cut
Cut154 (+10)
Prize fund$194,600[2]
Winner's share$30,000
Champion
United States Jack Nicklaus
290 (+2)
Location Map
Pebble Beach is located in the United States
Pebble Beach
Pebble Beach
Location in the United States
Pebble Beach is located in California
Pebble Beach
Pebble Beach
Location in California

Scoring conditions during the final round were extremely difficult;[7] the average was 78.8, the highest in post-war U.S. Open history. Nicklaus' 290 (+2) was the second-highest winning score during that span. It was Nicklaus' eleventh career major championship as a professional, tying the record of Walter Hagen. When combined with his two U.S. Amateur wins, it was his thirteenth major, equaling Bobby Jones for most all-time.[5][8]

Defending champion Lee Trevino had been hospitalized in Texas for several days for bronchitis and pneumonia; he was released on Tuesday, two days before the first round,[9][10][11][12] and tied for fourth.[3][5]

It was the second consecutive major title for Nicklaus, who won the Masters in April. Previous winners of the first two majors of the year were Craig Wood (1941), Ben Hogan (1951, 1953), and Arnold Palmer (1960); later champions of both were Tiger Woods (2002) and Jordan Spieth (2015). In addition, Nicklaus held the PGA Championship title from February 1971; four weeks later, he was the runner-up by a single stroke at the Open Championship at Muirfield, Scotland.

Nicklaus won seven additional majors, the last at the Masters fourteen years later in 1986 at age 46.

Course layout
Main article: Pebble Beach Golf Links
Hole123456789Out101112131415161718InTotal
Yards3855043683251805151204254503,2724363802054005554064002185403,5406,812
Par454435344364434544353672

Round summaries

First round

Thursday, June 15, 1972

PlacePlayerScoreTo par
T1United States Jack Nicklaus71−1
United States Orville Moody
United States Chi-Chi Rodríguez
United States Mason Rudolph
United States Tom Shaw
United States Kermit Zarley
T7South Africa Bobby Cole72E
United States Don Massengale
South Africa Gary Player
Mexico Cesar Sanudo

Source:[13]

Second round

Friday, June 16, 1972

PlacePlayerScoreTo par
T1United States Jack Nicklaus71-73=144E
Australia Bruce Crampton74-70=144
United States Kermit Zarley71-73=144
United States Lanny Wadkins76-68=144
United States Homero Blancas74-70=144
Mexico Cesar Sanudo72-72=144
7United States Arnold Palmer77-68=145+1
T8United States Lee Trevino74-72=146+2
United States Lee Elder75-71=146
United States Ralph Johnston74-72=146
United States Rod Funseth73-73=146
South Africa Gary Player72-74=146
United States Chi-Chi Rodríguez71-75=146

Source:[14]

Third round

Saturday, June 17, 1972

PlacePlayerScoreTo par
1United States Jack Nicklaus71-73-72=216E
T2Australia Bruce Crampton74-70-73=217+1
United States Kermit Zarley71-73-73=217
United States Lee Trevino74-72-71=217
T5United States Arnold Palmer77-68-73=218+2
United States Johnny Miller74-73-71=218
T7United States Homero Blancas74-70-76=220+4
United States Tom Weiskopf73-74-73=220
T9United States Don January76-71-74=221+5
South Africa Gary Player72-74-75=221

Source:[15]

Final round

Sunday, June 18, 1972

In high winds, Nicklaus was even par on the front nine; after a double-bogey at the tenth, Arnold Palmer and Bruce Crampton trailed by just two shots. Palmer had a chance to tie Nicklaus at the 14th, but he missed a 10-footer (3 m) for birdie. Down by one stroke, Palmer bogeyed the next two holes and finished with a final-round 76, four shots behind.

With a three-shot lead over Crampton on the tee of the par-3 17th, Nicklaus hit one of his most famous shots. His 1-iron went directly at the pin, bounced once, struck the flagstick, and settled inches from the hole for a tap-in birdie.[16] With the lead at four strokes on the final tee, he bogeyed for 74 (+2) and the win.[5][17]

PlacePlayerScoreTo parMoney ($)
1United States Jack Nicklaus71-73-72-74=290+230,000
2Australia Bruce Crampton74-70-73-76=293+515,000
3United States Arnold Palmer77-68-73-76=294+610,000
T4United States Homero Blancas74-70-76-75=295+77,500
United States Lee Trevino74-72-71-78=295
6United States Kermit Zarley71-73-73-79=296+86,000
7United States Johnny Miller74-73-71-79=297+95,000
8United States Tom Weiskopf73-74-73-78=298+104,000
T9United States Chi-Chi Rodríguez71-75-78-75=299+113,250
Mexico Cesar Sanudo72-72-78-77=299

Source:[4][18][17]

Scorecard
Hole123456789101112131415161718
Par454435344443454435
United States NicklausE−1−1E+1+1EEE+2+2+3+3+3+2+2+1+2
Australia Crampton+1E+2+2+2+3+3+3+3+4+5+5+5+6+5+5+5+5
United States Palmer+2+2+1+1+1+2+2+3+3+4+4+4+4+4+5+6+6+6
United States Blancas+4+3+3+3+2+2+2+2+2+3+3+5+5+5+5+6+6+7
United States Trevino+1+2+3+3+3+4+4+4+4+5+6+6+7+6+6+6+7+7
United States Zarley+1+1+1+1+1+1+2+3+4+5+5+6+6+9+9+9+8+8
United States Miller+1+1+1+3+3+3+4+6+7+7+7+7+7+8+9+9+9+9
United States Weiskopf+5+4+4+6+5+5+5+6+6+8+8+8+8+9+8+7+8+10
United States Rodriguez+8+8+9+8+8+9+9+9+10+10+10+10+10+10+10+11+12+11
Mexico Sanudo+12+11+11+12+12+12+11+10+11+11+10+10+10+10+11+11+11+11

Cumulative tournament scores, relative to par

Birdie Bogey Double bogey Triple bogey+

Source:[6][7]

References
  1. "Nicklaus breaks U.S. Open logjam". Toledo Blade. Ohio. Associated Press. June 18, 1972. p. E1.
  2. "U.S. Open history: 1972". USGA. Archived from the original on August 7, 2016. Retrieved June 19, 2012.
  3. Tomashek, Tom (June 19, 1972). "Nicklaus scores U.S. Open victory". Chicago Tribune. p. 1, sec. 3.
  4. "Nicklaus wins US Open by 3". Milwaukee Sentinel. UPI. June 19, 1972. p. 1, part 2.
  5. Jenkins, Dan (June 26, 1972). "The glorius quest". Sports Illustrated. p. 22.
  6. "Jack Opens his way to a Slam". St. Petersburg Times. (Florida). UPI. June 19, 1972. p. 1C.
  7. Green, Bob (June 19, 1972). "'Super sweep' half complete as Nicklaus wins U.S. Open". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. p. 10.
  8. "Nicklaus a wizard in US Open wind". Milwaukee Journal. press dispatches. June 19, 1972. p. 8, part 2.
  9. "(photo)". Chicago Tribune. UPI. June 13, 1972. p. 2, sec. 3.
  10. "Lee ready for Open". Pittsburgh Press. UPI. June 14, 1972. p. 38.
  11. "Golf's greats hobble along to U.S. Open". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Associated Press. June 14, 1972. p. 25.
  12. "Ailing Lee Trevino arrives to defend U.S. Open title". Sarasota Herald-Tribune. (Florida). Associated Press. June 15, 1972. p. 1D.
  13. Tomashek, Tom (June 16, 1972). "Nicklaus shares lead in U.S. Open". Chicago Tribune. p. 1, sec. 3.
  14. Tomashek, Tom (June 17, 1972). "Logjam at Open: six share first". Chicago Tribune. p. 1, sec. 2.
  15. Tomashek, Tom (June 18, 1972). "Even-par Nicklaus leading Open by 1". Chicago Tribune. p. 1, sec. 3.
  16. Green, Bob (June 19, 1972). "'Super Sweep' half complete as Nicklaus wins U.S. Open". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. p. 10.
  17. Loomis, Tom (June 19, 1972). "Jack's mettle stands test on crotchety Pebble Beach". Toledo Blade. (Ohio). p. 16.
  18. "1972 U.S. Open". databasegolf.com. Retrieved June 19, 2012.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.