The 1977 U.S. Open was the 77th U.S. Open, held June 16–19 at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Hubert Green won the first of his two major titles, one stroke ahead of runner-up Lou Graham, the 1975 champion.

Green began the final round with the lead, but 11 players were within three shots. Graham made a charge on the back nine, collecting birdies at 12, 14, 15, and 16 en route to a 68 (−2) and a 279 (−1) total. With four holes to play, Green needed to play even-par to win the championship. As he stepped off the 14th green, however, he was approached by tournament officials and a lieutenant with the Tulsa police, who told him that they had received a phone call threatening to assassinate Green while he played the 15th hole. Green decided to play on, then proceeded to hit his drive into a tree—which probably saved it from going out of bounds. He managed to hit his approach to and two-putt for par without incident. Green birdied the 16th and took a two-stroke lead to the 18th tee. Although he struggled on the hole, he managed to make a four-footer for bogey and the victory.

This year marked the final U.S. Open appearance by Sam Snead, two-time champion Julius Boros, and Tommy Bolt, who had won the 1958 Open at Southern Hills. All three received exemptions by the USGA, and all three missed the cut. This was the first time that the television broadcast of the U.S. Open covered all 18 holes of the final round.

It was the third major championship at Southern Hills; it previously hosted the U.S. Open in 1958 and the PGA Championship in 1970. The U.S. Open returned in 2001 and the PGA Championship in 1982, 1994, 2007, and 2022. It's also slated to host the PGA Championship in 2032.

Course layout hole123456789Out101112131415161718InTotalYards4474594063666141753832153733,4383751654444652074075693544493,4356,873Par444453434354344345443570

Round summaries First round Thursday, June 16, 1977 PlacePlayerScoreTo parT1 Terry Diehl69−1 Rod Funseth Hubert Green Grier Jones Florentino Molina Larry Nelson Tom PurtzerT8 Sam Adams70E George Burns Al Geiberger Morris Hatalsky Joe Inman Steve Melnyk Mike Morley Don Padgett Arnold Palmer Bob E. Smith

Second round Friday, June 17, 1977 PlacePlayerScoreTo par1 Hubert Green69-67=136−42 Terry Diehl69-68=137−33 Tom Purtzer69-69=138−2T4 Sam Adams70-69=139−1 Rod Funseth69-70=139 Gary Player72-67=139T7 Jay Haas72-68=140E Joe Inman70-70=140T9 Wally Armstrong71-70=141+1 Andy Bean71-70=141 Al Geiberger70-71=141 Peter Oosterhuis71-70=141

Amateurs: Miller (+6), Fought (+7), Zabel (+9), Sander (+14), Choate (+15), Sonnier (+15), Cook (+16), King (+16), Gregg (+20), Rheim (+29).

Third round Saturday, June 18, 1977 PlacePlayerScoreTo par1 Hubert Green69-67-72=208−22 Andy Bean71-70-68=209−1T3 Terry Diehl69-68-73=210E Gary Jacobson73-70-67=210 Don Padgett70-74-66=210 Gary Player72-67-71=210 Tom Purtzer69-69-72=210 Tom Weiskopf71-71-68=210T9 Wally Armstrong71-70-70=211+1 Rod Funseth69-70-72=211 Lou Graham72-71-68=211 Jay Haas72-68-71=211

Final round Sunday, June 19, 1977 PlacePlayerScoreTo parMoney ($)1 Hubert Green 69-67-72-70=278 −2 45,0002 Lou Graham 72-71-68-68=279 −1 23,5003 Tom Weiskopf 71-71-68-71=281 +1 16,0004 Tom Purtzer 69-69-72-72=282 +2 13,000T5 Jay Haas 72-68-71-72=283 +3 10,875 Gary Jacobson 73-70-67-73=283T7 Terry Diehl 69-68-73-74=284 +4 8,000 Lyn Lott 73-73-68-70=284 Tom Watson 74-72-71-67=284T10 Rod Funseth 69-70-72-74=285 +5 4,100 Al Geiberger 70-71-75-69=285 Mike McCullough 73-73-69-70=285 Jack Nicklaus 74-68-71-72=285 Peter Oosterhuis 71-70-74-70=285 Gary Player 72-67-71-75=285

Amateurs: Lindy Miller (+19), John Fought (+22)

Scorecard Final round Hole123456789101112131415161718Par444453434 434434544 Green −2 −2 −3 −4 −4 −4 −4 −4 −3 −2 −2 −2 −2 −2 −2 −3 −3 −2 Graham +2 +3 +3 +2 +3 +3 +3 +3 +3 +3 +3 +2 +2 +1 E −1 −1 −1 Weiskopf E +1 +1 +1 +1 +1 +2 +2 +2 +2 +3 +3 +3 +2 +1 E E +1 Purtzer E E E E E E E −1 −1 −1 −1 −1 −1 +1 +1 +1 +1 +2 Haas +2 +2 +2 +2 +2 +2 +2 +2 +2 +1 +1 +2 +2 +2 +3 +2 +3 +3 Jacobson +1 +1 +1 +2 +2 +2 +2 +2 +2 +2 +2 +2 +2 +1 +2 +2 +2 +3 Bean E E E E E +1 +2 +2 +2 +2 +3 +5 +6 +6 +6 +7 +7 +8 Cumulative tournament scores, relative to par BirdieBogeyDouble bogey Source:

References

External links USGA Championship Database