1973 U.S. Open (golf)

The 1973 U.S. Open was the 73rd U.S. Open, held June 14–17 at Oakmont Country Club in Oakmont, Pennsylvania, a suburb northeast of Pittsburgh. In one of the finest performances in tournament history, Johnny Miller fired a record, 8-under-par 63 in the final round to win his first major championship, one stroke ahead of runner-up John Schlee.^{[3][4][5][6][7]}

1973 U.S. Open

Tournament information
Dates	June 14–17, 1973
Location	Oakmont, Pennsylvania 40.526°N 79.827°W / 40.526; -79.827
Course(s)	Oakmont Country Club
Organized by	USGA
Tour(s)	PGA Tour
Statistics
Par	71
Length	6,921 yards (6,329 m)[1]
Field	149 players, 65 after cut
Cut	150 (+8)
Prize fund	$219,400[2]
Winner's share	$35,000
Champion
Johnny Miller
279 (−5)
Location map
Oakmont Location in the United States Show map of the United States Oakmont Location in Pennsylvania Show map of Pennsylvania
← 1972 1974 →

Jack Nicklaus, the winner at Oakmont eleven years earlier, was the favorite entering the championship.^[8] Daily admission on the weekend was ten dollars.^[9]

Course layout

Main article: Oakmont Country Club

Hole	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Out	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	In	Total
Yards	469	343	425	549	379	195	395	244	480	3,479	462	371	603	185	360	453	230	322	456	3,442	6,921
Par	4	4	4	5	4	3	4	3	5	36	4	4	5	3	4	4	3	4	4	35	71

Source:^[10]

Lengths of the course for previous major championships:

• 6,894 yards (6,304 m), par 71 - 1962 U.S. Open
• 6,916 yards (6,324 m), par 72 - 1953 U.S. Open
• 6,882 yards (6,293 m), par 72 - 1951 PGA Championship
• 6,981 yards (6,383 m), par 72 - 1935 U.S. Open
• 6,965 yards (6,369 m), par 72 - 1927 U.S. Open
• 6,707 yards (6,133 m), par 74 - 1922 PGA Championship

Before 1962, the first hole was played as a par 5.

Round summaries

First round

Thursday, June 14, 1973

Underweight from recent surgeries, 1965 champion Gary Player shot 67 to lead by three strokes.^[11]

Place	Player	Score	To par
1	Gary Player	67	−4
T2	Lee Trevino	70	−1
	Jim Colbert
	Raymond Floyd
T5	Jack Nicklaus	71	E
	Johnny Miller
	Arnold Palmer
	Gene Littler
	Bob Charles
	Ralph Johnston

Source:^[11]

Second round

Friday, June 15, 1973

Player shot 70 for 137 to lead by one at the midway point.^[12]

Place	Player	Score	To par
1	Gary Player	67-70=137	−5
2	Jim Colbert	70-68=138	−4
T3	Jack Nicklaus	71-69=140	−2
	Johnny Miller	71-69=140
	Bob Charles	71-69=140
T6	Gene Borek	77-65=142	E
	Julius Boros	73-69=142
	Tom Weiskopf	73-69=142
	Arnold Palmer	71-71=142
	Lee Trevino	70-72=142

Source:^[13]

Third round

Saturday, June 16, 1973

Place	Player	Score	To par
T1	Jerry Heard	74-70-66=210	−3
	John Schlee	73-70-67=210
	Arnold Palmer	71-71-68=210
	Julius Boros	73-69-68=210
5	Tom Weiskopf	73-69-69=211	−2
T6	Lee Trevino	70-72-70=212	−1
	Bob Charles	71-69-72=212
	Jim Colbert	70-68-74=212
T9	Jack Nicklaus	71-69-74=214	+1
	Gary Player	67-70-77=214

Source:^[14][15]

Final round

Sunday, June 17, 1973

Four players shared the 54-hole lead: Schlee, Jerry Heard, 1963 champion Julius Boros, and 1960 winner Arnold Palmer. After a 76 (+5) on Saturday, Miller started the final round six strokes back, in a four-way tie for 13th place at three strokes over par,^[16][15][14] and few gave him any chance of winning. Miller birdied the first four holes,^[17] but after a bogey at the eighth, it certainly did not appear like he was on the brink of the greatest round in U.S. Open history.

But he then birdied four of the next five holes, and after a par at 14 he was tied for the lead with Palmer, Boros, and Tom Weiskopf. At the 15th hole, Miller hit his approach to ten feet (3 m) and converted for birdie to take solo possession of the lead. After lipping out a twenty-foot (6 m) birdie putt at 18 (for a 62), Miller carded the first round of 63 in major championship history. Finishing over an hour ahead of the last pairing, Miller then waited to see if anyone would match him.^[17] Palmer fell out of contention with three consecutive bogeys to finish in a tie for fourth. Boros and Heard both shot 73 and finished in a tie for seventh. Despite John Schlee taking a double-bogey on the 1st hole of the final round by the time he got to the 18th Tee he was only player left on the course with a chance to tie Miller. After finding the fairway, Schlee's second shot into 18 went just over the green and he was left having to hole a 45-foot chip for birdie. Schlee's chip to tie stopped a foot short and he finished 2nd alone at 4-under par 280.

In shooting 63, Miller hit all 18 greens in regulation and needed 29 putts. Ten of his approach shots wound up within 15 feet (4.6 m), while five were within 6 feet (1.8 m). His score was even more remarkable given that only three other players managed to even break 70 on the day.^[7]

Place	Player	Score	To par	Money ($)
1	Johnny Miller	71-69-76-63=279	−5	35,000
2	John Schlee	73-70-67-70=280	−4	18,000
3	Tom Weiskopf	73-69-69-70=281	−3	13,000
T4	Jack Nicklaus	71-69-74-68=282	−2	9,000
	Arnold Palmer	71-71-68-72=282
	Lee Trevino	70-72-70-70=282
T7	Julius Boros	73-69-68-73=283	−1	6,000
	Jerry Heard	74-70-66-73=283
	Lanny Wadkins	74-69-75-65=283
10	Jim Colbert	70-68-74-72=284	E	4,000

• Amateurs: Vinny Giles (+6), Gary Koch (+18)

Source:^[1][5][18]

Scorecard

Final round

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

Cumulative tournament scores, relative to par

Eagle

Birdie

Bogey

Double bogey

Source:^[3][19][20]

Miller's final round

Johnny Miller's 63: club selection and results - June 17, 1973

Hole	Yards	Par	Club selections	Score	Result	To par
1	469	4	Driver, 3-iron to 5 feet	3	birdie	−1
2	343	4	Driver, 9-iron to 1 foot	3	birdie	−2
3	425	4	Driver, 5-iron to 25 feet	3	birdie	−3
4	549	5	Driver, 3-wood, bunker shot to 6 inches	4	birdie	−4
5	379	4	Driver, 6-iron to 25 feet, 2 putts	4	par	−4
6	195	3	3-iron to 25 feet, 2 putts	3	par	−4
7	395	4	Driver, 9-iron to 6 feet, 2 putts	4	par	−4
8	244	3	4-wood to 30 feet, 3 putts	4	bogey	−3
9	480	5	Driver, 2-iron to 40 feet, 2 putts	4	birdie	−4
Out	3,479	36		32		−4
10	462	4	Driver, 5-iron to 25 feet, 2 putts	4	par	−4
11	371	4	Driver, wedge to 14 feet	3	birdie	−5
12	603	5	Driver, 7-iron, 4-iron to 15 feet	4	birdie	−6
13	185	3	4-iron to 5 feet	2	birdie	−7
14	360	4	Driver, wedge to 12 feet, 2 putts	4	par	−7
15	453	4	Driver, 4-iron to 10 feet	3	birdie	−8
16	230	3	2-iron to 45 feet, 2 putts	3	par	−8
17	322	4	1-iron, wedge to 10 feet, 2 putts	4	par	−8
18	456	4	Driver, 5-iron to 20 feet, 2 putts	4	par	−8
In	3,442	35		31		−4
Total	6,921	71		63		−8

Source:^[10][16][17]

Video

• You Tube - Miller on 72nd hole - USGA (ABC broadcast)