The 1974 U.S. Open was the 74th U.S. Open, held June 13–16 at Winged Foot Golf Club in Mamaroneck, New York, a suburb northeast of New York City. In what became known as the "Massacre at Winged Foot," Hale Irwin's score of 287 (+7) was good enough for the first of his three U.S. Open titles, two strokes ahead of runner-up Forrest Fezler.

Tournament summary In the first round, with an even-par 70, Gary Player took the solo lead. In the second round Player shot a three-over-par 73 and retained the lead, now tied with Hale Irwin, Raymond Floyd, and Arnold Palmer. This group led by one over Tom Kite and Tom Watson.

In the third-round Watson shot a one-under-par 69 to take a one-stroke lead over Irwin. Palmer stayed in contention with a 73 (+3), now in solo third. However Player, Floyd, and Kite fell out of contention with significantly over-par rounds.

In the final round Watson bogeyed holes 4, 5, and 8 on the front nine to lose the lead to Irwin. He then bogeyed six more holes on the back nine to fall out of contention. Journeyman golfer Forrest Fezler shot one-under-par through the first 15 holes to suddenly move into contention. He then made long par putts at 16 and 17 to stay near the lead. Needing a birdie at 18 to tie Irwin, Fezler missed the green and could not convert another lengthy par save at the last, missing from to finish with an even-par 70. He finished at 289 (+9), the clubhouse leader, but multiple strokes behind Irwin, still the overall leader. Irwin bogeyed the 15th and 16th holes but made a 10-footer (3 m) to save par at 17th. With a two-shot lead heading to the 18th, Irwin hit his approach to the center of the green and two-putted for par and the championship.

Winged Foot played extremely difficult throughout the tournament, leading sportswriter Dick Schaap to coin the phrase "The Massacre at Winged Foot," also the title of his book about the tournament. Irwin's 7-over total tied for second-highest aggregate winning score since 1935. Many complained that the USGA had intentionally made the course setup treacherous in response to Johnny Miller's record-breaking 63 the year before.

Sam Snead, age 62, broke a rib during practice on Wednesday and withdrew.

Course layout Hole123456789Out101112131415161718InTotalYards4464112164605153241664424663,4461903825352124354174524444483,5156,961Par443454344353453444443570

Round summaries First round Thursday, June 13, 1974 PlacePlayerScoreTo par1 Gary Player 70E T2 Lou Graham 71 +1 Mike ReasorT4 Jim Colbert 72 +2 Bruce Crampton Raymond Floyd Bobby Nichols Barney ThompsonT9 Arnold Palmer 73 +3 Tom Watson Hale Irwin Rod Funseth Jerry Heard David Graham Mark Hayes John Buczek Source:

Second round Friday, June 14, 1974 PlacePlayerScoreTo parT1 Arnold Palmer 73-70=143 +3 Hale Irwin 73-70=143 Raymond Floyd 72-71=143 Gary Player 70-73=143T5 Tom Kite 74-70=144 +4 Tom Watson 73-71=144T7 Bert Yancey 76-69=145+5 Forrest Fezler 75-70=145 T9 Larry Ziegler 78-68=146 +6 Frank Beard 77-69=146 Eddie Pearce 75-71=146 John Buczek 73-73=146 Lou Graham 71-75=146 Source:

Third round Saturday, June 15, 1974 PlacePlayerScoreTo par1 Tom Watson 73-71-69=213 +3 2 Hale Irwin 73-70-71=214 +4 3 Arnold Palmer 73-70-73=216 +6 T4 Frank Beard 77-69-72=218 +8 Bert Yancey 76-69-73=218 Jim Colbert 72-77-69=2187 Forrest Fezler 75-70-74=219 +9 T8 Lou Graham 71-75-74=220 +10 Gary Player 70-73-77=220T10 Raymond Floyd 72-71-78=221 +11 Buddy Allin 76-71-74=221 Tom Kite 74-70-77=221 Dale Douglass 77-72-72=221 Tom Weiskopf 76-73-72=221 Source:

Final round Sunday, June 16, 1974 PlacePlayerScoreTo parMoney ($)1 Hale Irwin 73-70-71-73=287+7 35,0002 Forrest Fezler 75-70-74-70=289 +9 18,000T3 Lou Graham 71-75-74-70=290 +10 11,500 Bert Yancey 76-69-73-72=290T5 Jim Colbert 72-77-69-74=292 +12 8,000 Arnold Palmer 73-70-73-76=292 Tom Watson 73-71-69-79=292T8 Tom Kite 74-70-77-72=293 +13 5,500 Gary Player 70-73-77-73=293T10 Buddy Allin 76-71-74-73=294 +14 3,750 Jack Nicklaus 75-74-76-69=294 Source:

Scorecard Hole123456789101112131415161718Par443454344 345344444 Irwin +4+4+4+5+5+5+5+6+5+6+5+5+6+5+6+7+7+7 Fezler +9+10+10+10+10+10+10+9+9+9+9+8+8+8+8+8+8+9 Graham +10+10+11+11+10+10+10+10+10+10+10+11+12+11+11+10+10+10 Yancey +8+7+7+7+7+7+8+8+8+9+8+8+10+10+10+10+10+10 Watson +3+3+3+4+5+5+5+6+6+7+7+8+9+9+10+10+11+12 Cumulative tournament scores, relative to par BirdieBogeyDouble bogey Source:

References

External links USGA Championship Database