1979 U.S. Open (golf)

1979 U.S. Open
Tournament information
Dates June 14–17, 1979
Location Toledo, Ohio
Course(s) Inverness Club
Organized by USGA
Tour(s) PGA Tour
Statistics
Par 71
Length 6,982 yards (6,384 m)[1]
Field 153 players, 63 after cut
Cut 151 (+9)
Winner's share $50,000
Champion
United States Hale Irwin
284 (E)
«1978
1980»
Inverness
Club
Location in the United States

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.[2][3]

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.[4]

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

See also: Inverness Club
Hole123456789Out101112131415161718InTotal
Yards3983851854464012204525284203,4553633781675234484584054313543,5276,982
Par443443454354435444443671

Source:[5]

Lengths of the course for previous major championships:

Past champions in the field

Made the cut

Player Country Year(s) won R1 R2 R3 R4 Total To par Finish
Hale Irwin  United States 1974 74 68 67 75 284 E 1
Gary Player  South Africa 1965 73 73 72 68 286 +2 T2
Jerry Pate  United States 1976 71 74 69 72 286 +2 T2
Jack Nicklaus  United States 1962, 1967, 1972 74 77 72 68 291 +7 T9
Andy North  United States 1978 77 74 68 74 293 +9 T11
Lee Trevino  United States 1968, 1971 77 73 73 72 295 +11 T19
Hubert Green  United States 1977 74 77 73 72 296 +12 24
Lou Graham  United States 1975 70 75 77 75 297 +13 T25
Arnold Palmer  United States 1960 76 73 75 81 305 +21 T59

Missed the cut

Player Country Year(s) won R1 R2 Total To par
Johnny Miller  United States 1973 74 78 152 +10
Gene Littler  United States 1961 79 74 153 +11

Source:[6]

Round summaries

First round

Thursday, June 14, 1979

PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo par
T1Andy Bean United States70−1
Keith Fergus United States
Lou Graham United States
Lon Hinkle United States
Tom Purtzer United States
T6Jim Colbert United States71E
John Cook (a)  United States
Larry Nelson United States
Jerry Pate United States
Dana Quigley United States
Bill Rogers United States
Tom Weiskopf United States

Second round

Friday, June 15, 1979

PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo par
T1Larry Nelson United States71-68=139−3
Tom Purtzer United States70-69=139
3Hale Irwin United States74-68=142E
4Bill Rogers United States71-72=143+1
T5Jim Colbert United States71-74=145+3
Lou Graham United States70-75=145
Jerry Pate United States71-74=145
Ed Sneed United States72-73=145
Dave Stockton United States75-70=145
Tom Weiskopf United States71-74=145

Amateurs: Couples (+8), Rassett (+8), Cook (+9), Britton (+11), Clampett (+11), Ogrin (+13), McGough (+16), Gusmus (+18), Inskeep (+21), Kemp (+21), Peddy (+21), Rentz (+21), Clements (+22), Nordling (+24), Taylor (+26), Marrello (WD).

Third round

Saturday, June 16, 1979

PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo par
1Hale Irwin United States74-68-67=209−4
2Tom Weiskopf United States71-74-67=212−1
T3Jerry Pate United States71-74-69=214+1
Tom Purtzer United States70-69-75=214
T5Lee Elder United States74-72-69=215+2
Larry Nelson United States71-68-76=215
T7Bob Gilder United States77-70-69=216+3
David Graham Australia73-73-70=216
Bill Rogers United States71-72-73=216
T10Andy Bean United States70-76-71=217+4
Al Geiberger United States74-74-69=217
Bob E. Smith United States77-71-69=217
Bobby Walzel United States74-72-71=217

Final round

Sunday, June 17, 1979

PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo parMoney ($)
1 Hale Irwin  United States 74-68-67-75=284 E 50,000
T2 Jerry Pate  United States 71-74-69-72=286+2 22,250
Gary Player  South Africa 73-73-72-68=286
T4 Larry Nelson  United States 71-68-76-73=288 +4 13,733
Bill Rogers  United States 71-72-73-72=288
Tom Weiskopf  United States 71-74-67-76=288
7 David Graham  Australia 73-73-70-73=289 +5 10,000
8 Tom Purtzer  United States 70-69-75-76=290 +6 9,000
T9 Keith Fergus  United States 70-77-72-72=291 +7 7,500
Jack Nicklaus  United States 74-77-72-68=291

Amateurs: Fred Couples (+18), John Cook (+20), Joey Rassett (+20).

Scorecard

Final round

Hole  1    2    3    4    5    6    7    8    9   10  11  12  13  14  15  16  17  18 
Par443443454 443544444
United States Irwin −4−5−4−4−3−3−3−4−4−4−3−4−4−3−3−3−1E
United States Pate +1E−1−1+1+1+1+1+3+2+2+2+3+2+2+2+3+2
South Africa Player +6+6+6+6+6+5+5+4+4+4+4+4+3+4+4+4+3+2

Cumulative tournament scores, relative to par
Source:[2]

References

  1. "Golf: U.S. Open finish". Spokesman-Review. Spokane, Washington. Associated Press. June 18, 1979. p. 21.
  2. 1 2 "A bit of a tussle, but hearty at the end". Toledo Blade. Ohio. June 18, 1979. p. 13.
  3. Jenkins, Dan (June 25, 1979). "Up a tree in Toledo". Sports Illustrated. p. 20.
  4. Raley, DAn (May 18, 2001). "Hinkle linked to tree for 25 years". Seattle Post-Intelligencer.
  5. "Inverness statistics". Toledo Blade. June 14, 1979. p. 40.
  6. "U.S. Open scores - second round". Milwaukee Sentinel. June 16, 1982. p. 8-part 2.

External links

Preceded by
1979 Masters
Major Championships Succeeded by
1979 Open Championship

Coordinates: 41°39′07″N 83°39′04″W / 41.652°N 83.651°W / 41.652; -83.651

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