The 1965 U.S. Open was the 65th U.S. Open, held June 17–21 at Bellerive Country Club in Town and Country, Missouri, a suburb west of St. Louis. Gary Player of South Africa defeated Kel Nagle of Australia in an 18-hole playoff to win his only U.S. Open title. Player was the first foreign-born winner of the U.S. Open since 1927, and the win completed his career Grand Slam at age 29. It was the fourth of his nine major titles. The 1965 U.S. Open was the first U.S. Open broadcast on color television.

The five-year-old course at Bellerive was the U.S. Open's longest to date at , and had the potential to reach . The quality of the young course's turf varied, with burned out or diseased areas which the USGA did not allow relief from. The field consisted of 136 professionals and 14 amateurs, with the top fifty and ties advancing after 36 holes. This was the first time that the U.S. Open was scheduled for four days, with the final round on Sunday. Previously the third and fourth rounds were both played on Saturday. The U.S. Women's Open also changed to this format, held two weeks later in early July.

Course layout Hole123456789Out101112131415161718InTotalYards4354461644704651954015804163,5624603734601984054562186064533,6297,191Par443443454354443443543570

Final round and playoff In the final round on Sunday, Player owned a three-stroke lead over Nagle with just three holes to play. But while Player double-bogeyed the par-3 16th hole, Nagle birdied the 17th. As Player reached the 18th tee, he knew he needed a birdie to win outright, as Nagle had parred the final hole for 282 (+2). Player had a putt for birdie, but left it short and tapped in for a 72-hole tie. In the 18-hole playoff on Monday afternoon, Player built a five-shot lead after eight holes and held on to win by three strokes, 71 to 74. He won the championship with fiberglass-shafted golf clubs.

With his win, Player joined Gene Sarazen and Ben Hogan as the only to win all four professional major championships, the career Grand Slam. Jack Nicklaus completed the feat himself the next year at the 1966 British Open. Player was also the first foreign-born winner of the U.S. Open in 38 years, since Scotland's Tommy Armour won in 1927.

Arnold Palmer missed the 36-hole cut by two strokes, the only time from 1962 to 1967 that he placed outside the top-5 at the U.S. Open. Defending champion Ken Venturi was hampered by numbed fingers and missed the cut by ten strokes.

Purse donated The winner's share was $25,000 and both playoff participants received a $1,000 bonus, taken from the gate receipts of the Monday gallery of 6,790. Player donated his winner's share to cancer research ($5,000) and junior golf ($20,000) in the United States, fulfilling an earlier pledge to thank the people of America; his mother died of cancer when he was eight years old. Player paid his caddy $2,000 with his playoff bonus and $1,000 from his pocket.

Round summaries First round Thursday, June 17, 1965 PlacePlayerScoreTo par1 Kel Nagle 68 −2T2 Deane Beman (a) 69 −1 Mason RudolphT4 Rex Baxter 70 E Lou Graham Gary Player 7 Gordon Jones 71 +1T8 Miller Barber 72 +2 Julius Boros Gay Brewer Bruce Devlin Raymond Floyd Ron Howell Steve Opperman Dudley Wysong Source:

Second round Friday, June 18, 1965 PlacePlayerScoreTo par1 Gary Player 70-70=140 E T2 Kel Nagle 68-73=141 +1 Mason Rudolph 69-72=141 4 Deane Beman (a) 69-73=142 +2 5 Frank Beard 74-69=143 +3 T6 Raymond Floyd 72-72=144+3 Gene Littler 73-71=144T8 Rex Baxter 70-75=145 +5 Bruce Devlin 72-73=145 Gordon Jones 71-74=145 Source:

Third round Saturday, June 19, 1965 PlacePlayerScoreTo par1 Gary Player 70-70-71=211 +1 T2 Frank Beard 74-69-70=213 +3 Kel Nagle 68-73-72=2134 Mason Rudolph 69-72-73=214 +45 Al Geiberger 70-76-70=216 +6T6 Julius Boros 72-75-70=217 +7 Gay Brewer 72-74-71=217 Bruce Devlin 72-73-72=217 Gene Littler 73-71-73=217 Dudley Wysong 72-75-70=217 Source:

Final round Sunday, June 20, 1965 PlacePlayerScoreTo parMoney ($)T1 Gary Player 70-70-71-71=282 +2 Playoff Kel Nagle 68-73-72-69=2823 Frank Beard 74-69-70-71=284 +4 9,000T4 Julius Boros 72-75-70-70=287 +7 6,500 Al Geiberger 70-76-70-71=287T6 Bruce Devlin 72-73-72-71=288 +8 4,500 Raymond Floyd 72-72-76-68=288T8 Tony Lema 72-74-73-70=289 +9 2,500 Gene Littler 73-71-73-72=289 Dudley Wysong 72-75-70-72=289

Scorecard Hole123456789101112131415161718Par443443454 444344354 Player +1 +1 +1 +1 +1 +1 E E E +1 +1 E E E E +2 +2 +2 Nagle +3 +2 +2 +3 +3 +3 +3 +3 +3 +2 +2 +1 +1 +1 +3 +3 +2 +2 Cumulative tournament scores, relative to par BirdieBogey Double bogey Source:

Playoff Monday, June 21, 1965

PlacePlayerScoreTo parMoney ($)1 Gary Player 33-38=71 +1 26,0002 Kel Nagle 38-36=74 +413,500 Included in earnings is a playoff bonus of $1,000 each, from the playoff gate receipts.

Scorecard Hole 1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9 101112131415161718Par443443454 444344354 PlayerE−1−2−1−1−1−1−2−2−1−1−1−1−1−1−1E+1 Nagle +1EEE+2+2+3+3+3+4+4+4+4+4+4+4+4+4 {|class="wikitable" span = 50 style="font-size:85%; |- |style="background: Pink;" width=10| |Birdie |style="background: PaleGreen;" width=10| |Bogey |style="background: Green;" width=10| |Double bogey |} Source:

References

External links USGA Championship Database