1969 U.S. Open (golf)

The 1969 U.S. Open was the 69th U.S. Open, held June 12–15 at the Cypress Creek Course of Champions Golf Club in Houston, Texas. Orville Moody won his only PGA Tour title, one stroke ahead of runners-up Deane Beman, Bob Rosburg, and Al Geiberger.[3][4]

1969 U.S. Open
Tournament information
DatesJune 12–15, 1969
LocationHouston, Texas
Course(s)Champions Golf Club
Cypress Creek Course
Organized byUSGA
Tour(s)PGA Tour
Statistics
Par70
Length6,967 yards (6,371 m)[1]
Field149 players, 68 after cut
Cut148 (+8)
Prize fund$205,300[2]
Winner's share$30,000
Champion
Orville Moody
281 (+1)
Houston
Location in the United States
Houston 
Location in Texas

A 14-year veteran of the U.S. Army,[5] Moody entered the final round in second place, three shots behind Miller Barber.[6] At age 35, Moody advanced through both local and sectional qualifying in 1969, and as of 2021 is the last champion to do so. It was his only win on the PGA Tour, with only one additional top-10 finish in a major, two months later at the PGA Championship.

Battling an ailing knee, defending champion Lee Trevino (of Texas)[7] missed the cut by a stroke;[8] he won the title again in 1971.

The Cypress Creek Course hosted the Houston Champions International event on the PGA Tour,[7] today's Houston Open, from 1966 through 1971, and the Ryder Cup in 1967. It later hosted The Tour Championship five times (1990, 1997, 1999, 2001, and 2003) and the U.S. Amateur in 1993.

Course layout
Hole123456789Out101112131415161718InTotal
Yards4354443791934514184171805053,4224484502135444304181754364313,5456,967
Par444344435354435443443570

Round summaries

First round

Thursday, June 12, 1969

PlacePlayerScoreTo par
1 Bob Murphy66−4
2 Miller Barber67−3
T3 Deane Beman68−2
Al Geiberger
T5 George Archer69−1
Dean Refram
Tom Weiskopf
T8 Richard Crawford70E
Jack Ewing
Bunky Henry
George Knudson
Arnold Palmer
Bob Rosburg

Source:[9]

Second round

Friday, June 13, 1969

PlacePlayerScoreTo par
1 Deane Beman68-69=137−3
T2 Miller Barber67-71=138−2
Bob Murphy66-72=138
4 Bob Rosburg70-69=139−1
T5 Charles Coody72-68=140E
Al Geiberger68-72=140
George Knudson70-70=140
T8 Tony Jacklin71-70=141+1
Johnny Miller71-70=141
Orville Moody71-70=141
Jack Nicklaus74-67=141

Source:[1]

Third round

Saturday, June 14, 1969

PlacePlayerScoreTo par
1 Miller Barber67-71-68=206−4
2 Orville Moody71-70-68=209−1
T3 Deane Beman68-69-73=210E
Bunky Henry70-72-68=210
5 Bob Rosburg70-69-72=211+1
T6 Charles Coody72-68-72=212+2
Al Geiberger68-72-72=212
Bobby Mitchell72-74-66=212
Bob Murphy66-72-74=212
Arnold Palmer70-73-69=212

Source:[6]

Final round

Sunday, June 15, 1969

Miller Barber began the final round with a three-stroke lead,[6] but it vanished after he bogeyed five of the first eight holes. He struggled to a 78 (+8) and dropped into a tie for sixth place, which allowed Moody to take the lead. At one point on the back nine, eight competitors were separated by just two shots.[3] Bob Rosburg saved par from the sand at 17 to stay tied with Moody, but after a drive into the rough on 18, he again found a greenside bunker. Another sand shot got him to 3 feet (0.9 m), but he missed the putt for par to force an 18-hole Monday playoff. Playing in the final pairing with Barber, Moody had four consecutive pars to finish and preserved the one-stroke advantage for the championship. Barber needed only a 75 (+5) on Sunday to force a playoff, but finished three strokes back.[3][4]

Final leaderboard
Champion
Low amateur
(a) = amateur
(c) = past champion
Top 10
PlacePlayerScoreTo parMoney (US$)
1 Orville Moody71-70-68-72=281+130,000
T2 Deane Beman68-69-73-72=282+211,000
Al Geiberger68-72-72-70=282
Bob Rosburg70-69-72-71=282
5 Bob Murphy66-72-74-71=283+37,000
T6 Miller Barber67-71-68-78=284+45,000
Bruce Crampton73-72-68-71=284
Arnold Palmer (c)70-73-69-72=284
9 Bunky Henry70-72-68-75=285+53,500
T10 George Archer69-74-73-70=286+62,800
Bruce Devlin73-74-70-69=286
Dave Marr75-69-71-71=286

Source:[4]

Scorecard

Final round

Hole 1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9 101112131415161718
Par444344435443544344
Moody−1−1−1EEEEE−1EEEE+1+1+1+1+1
Beman+1+2+1+2+4+4+3+3+2+2+2+2+2+3+3+3+3+2
Geiberger+3+4+4+4+6+6+6+5+4+3+3+3+2+2+1+2+2+2
Rosburg+1EEEEEE+1EE+1+1+1+1+1+1+1+2
Murphy+2+2+2+3+3+3+3+3+2+3+2+3+2+3+3+3+3+3
Barber−4−3−2−2−1EE+1EEE+2+3+3+4+3+3+4
Crampton+3+3+3+3+3+3+4+4+3+3+3+3+2+2+3+3+4+4
Palmer+1+2+2+3+3+3+3+3+3+3+3+3+2+2+3+4+4+4
Henry+1+2+3+4+4+4+4+4+4+4+3+4+4+5+5+5+5+5
Archer+5+6+6+7+8+7+6+6+6+5+6+6+6+6+6+6+6+6
Devlin+6+6+6+5+5+6+5+5+5+5+6+6+5+5+5+6+6+6
Marr+5+5+4+4+4+5+5+6+6+6+7+8+7+7+7+6+6+6

Cumulative tournament scores, relative to par

Birdie Bogey Double bogey

Source:[4][10]

References
  1. "Beman slips through beef trust to take one-stroke Open lead". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. June 14, 1969. p. 14.
  2. "U.S. Open history: 1969". USGA. Archived from the original on April 17, 2013. Retrieved June 20, 2012.
  3. Jenkins, Dan (June 23, 1969). "Old Sarge cools it". Sports Illustrated. p. 18.
  4. "Orville Moody wins heartbreak U.S. Open". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. June 16, 1969. p. 10.
  5. Jauss, Bill (June 16, 1969). "Salute the 'Sarge,' golf king Moody". Toledo Blade. (Ohio). (Chicago Daily News). p. 19.
  6. "Barber leads by 3 in 'blow-up' Open". Toledo Blade. (Ohio). Associated Press. June 15, 1969. p. D1.
  7. Jenkins, Dan (June 9, 1969). "Wide-Open eyes are on Texas". Sports Illustrated. p. 42.
  8. "Beman breaks up beef trust". Victoria Advocate. (Texas). Associated Press. June 14, 1969. p. 1B.
  9. "Murphy leads Open; Pamer shoots par". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. June 13, 1969. p. 16.
  10. "U.S. Open History". USGA. Retrieved May 8, 2019.

29.983°N 95.531°W / 29.983; -95.531

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.