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
Jack Nicklaus, the winner at Oakmont eleven years earlier, was the favorite entering the championship. Daily admission on the weekend was ten dollars.
Course layout
Hole123456789Out101112131415161718InTotal Yards4693434255493791953952444803,4794623716031853604532303224563,4426,921Par444543435364453443443571 Source:
Lengths of the course for previous major championships:
, par 71 - 1962 U.S. Open , par 72 - 1953 U.S. Open , par 72 - 1951 PGA Championship
, par 72 - 1935 U.S. Open , par 72 - 1927 U.S. Open , 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. PlacePlayerScoreTo par1 Gary Player 67 −4T2 Lee Trevino 70 −1 Jim Colbert Raymond Floyd T5 Jack Nicklaus 71 E Johnny Miller Arnold Palmer Gene Littler Bob Charles Ralph Johnston
Second round Friday, June 15, 1973
Player shot 70 for 137 to lead by one at the midway point. PlacePlayerScoreTo par1 Gary Player 67-70=137 −52 Jim Colbert 70-68=138 −4 T3 Jack Nicklaus 71-69=140 −2 Johnny Miller 71-69=140 Bob Charles 71-69=140T6 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:
Third round Saturday, June 16, 1973 PlacePlayerScoreTo parT1 Jerry Heard 74-70-66=210 −3 John Schlee 73-70-67=210 Arnold Palmer 71-71-68=210 Julius Boros 73-69-68=2105 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:
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, and few gave him any chance of winning. Miller birdied the first four holes, 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 and converted for birdie to take solo possession of the lead. After lipping out a 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. 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 the 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 , while five were within . His score was even more remarkable given that only three other players managed to even break 70 on the day.
PlacePlayerScoreTo parMoney ($)1 Johnny Miller 71-69-76-63=279 −5 35,0002 John Schlee 73-70-67-70=280 −4 18,0003 Tom Weiskopf 73-69-69-70=281 −3 13,000T4 Jack Nicklaus 71-69-74-68=282 −2 9,000 Arnold Palmer 71-71-68-72=282 Lee Trevino 70-72-70-70=282T7 Julius Boros 73-69-68-73=283 −1 6,000 Jerry Heard 74-70-66-73=283 Lanny Wadkins 74-69-75-65=28310 Jim Colbert 70-68-74-72=284 E 4,000 Amateurs: Vinny Giles (+6), Gary Koch (+18) Source:
Scorecard Final round Hole 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 101112131415161718Par444543435445344344 Miller +2+1E−1−1−1−1E−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 +1EEEEEE+1EEEEEEE−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+1E−1−1−1−1−2−1 Cumulative tournament scores, relative to par {|class="wikitable" span = 50 style="font-size:85%; |- |style="background: Red;" width=10| |Eagle |style="background: Pink;" width=10| |Birdie |style="background: PaleGreen;" width=10| |Bogey |style="background: Green;" width=10| |Double bogey |} Source:
Miller's final round Johnny Miller's 63: club selection and results - June 17, 1973 HoleYardsParClub selectionsScoreResult To par14694 Driver, 3-iron to 5 feet3birdie−123434Driver, 9-iron to 1 foot3birdie−234254Driver, 5-iron to 25 feet3birdie−345495Driver, 3-wood, bunker shot to 6 inches4birdie−453794 Driver, 6-iron to 25 feet, 2 putts4 par−461953 3-iron to 25 feet, 2 putts3 par−473954 Driver, 9-iron to 6 feet, 2 putts4 par−482443 4-wood to 30 feet, 3 putts4bogey−394805 Driver, 2-iron to 40 feet, 2 putts4birdie−4Out3,47936 32 −4104624 Driver, 5-iron to 25 feet, 2 putts4par−4113714 Driver, wedge to 14 feet3birdie−5126035 Driver, 7-iron, 4-iron to 15 feet4birdie−6131853 4-iron to 5 feet2birdie−7143604 Driver, wedge to 12 feet, 2 putts4par−7154534 Driver, 4-iron to 10 feet3birdie−8162303 2-iron to 45 feet, 2 putts3 par−8173224 2-iron, wedge to 10 feet, 2 putts4 par−8184564 Driver, 5-iron to 20 feet, 2 putts4 par−8In3,44235 31 −4Total6,92171 63 −8
Video You Tube - Miller on 72nd hole - USGA (ABC broadcast)
References
External links USGA Championship Database USGA – A Round for the Ages: Johnny Miller in 1973 U.S. Open