The 1963 U.S. Open was the 63rd U.S. Open, held June 20–23 at The Country Club in Brookline, Massachusetts, a suburb southwest of Boston. Julius Boros won his second U.S. Open title in an 18-hole Sunday playoff with Jacky Cupit and Arnold Palmer. The U.S. Open returned to The Country Club for the first time in fifty years to celebrate the golden anniversary of Francis Ouimet's playoff victory in 1913. Boros won eleven years earlier in 1952, and won a third major at age 48 at the PGA Championship in 1968.

At 43, Boros was the second-oldest winner in U.S. Open history, and only a month younger than Ted Ray when he won the 1920 Open. For Palmer, it was the second consecutive year he lost in a playoff at the Open.

High winds made scoring conditions extremely difficult throughout the entire week, especially on Saturday during the final two rounds, when gusts approached . The winning score of 293 remains the highest in post-World War II U.S. Open history, while the 77.4 final-round scoring average set a record for the post-war era, later broken in 1972 at Pebble Beach. For the first time in U.S. Open history, no amateur made the cut.

Defending champion and Masters winner Jack Nicklaus missed the cut by a stroke; his next missed cut at the U.S. Open came 22 years later in 1985. He rebounded in the next two majors in 1963, missing the playoff at the Open Championship in England by a stroke for third place and won the PGA Championship in Dallas the following week.

This U.S. Open was played the week after Father's Day.

Course

Composite Course

HoleNameYardsParHoleNameYardsPar1Polo Field4554 10Stockton43542Cottage190311Primrose 1&244543Pond440412Primrose 847044Hospital340413Primrose 942045Newton415414Quarry53056Bakers300415Liverpool42047Plateau200316Clyde17538Corner380417Elbow36549Himalayas505518Home3854 Out 3,22535In 3,64536 Total 6,87071

Round summaries First round Thursday, June 20, 1963 PlacePlayerScoreTo par1 Bob Gajda 69 −22 Jacky Cupit 70 −1T3 Julius Boros 71 E Lionel Hebert Tony Lema Davis Love Jr.T7 Walter Burkemo 72 +1 Don January Paul Kelly Dean Refram

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Second round Friday, June 21, 1963 PlacePlayerScoreTo parT1 Jacky Cupit 70-72=142 E Dow Finsterwald 73-69=142 Arnold Palmer 73-69=142 T4 Walter Burkemo 72-71=143 +1 Dean Refram 72-71=143 T6 Julius Boros 71-74=145 +3 Tony Lema71-74=145 Davis Love Jr.71-74=145 T9 Bruce Crampton 74-72=146 +4 Don January72-74=146 Billy Maxwell 73-73=146

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Third round Saturday, June 22, 1963 (morning)

PlacePlayerScoreTo par1 Jacky Cupit 70-72-76=218 +5 T2 Walter Burkemo 72-71-76=219 +6 Tony Lema71-74-74=219 Arnold Palmer 73-69-77=219 T5 Julius Boros 71-74-76=221 +8 Bruce Crampton 74-72-75=221 Dow Finsterwald 73-69-79=221 Paul Harney 78-70-73=221 Billy Maxwell 73-73-75=221 T10 Davis Love Jr.71-74-78=223 +10 Dan Sikes 77-73-73=223

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Final round Saturday, June 22, 1963 (afternoon)

Cupit owned the 54-hole lead by a stroke over Palmer, Tony Lema, and Walter Burkemo, with Boros in a group three behind. Boros recorded two birdies on his final three holes to post a 72 and 293 total. Cupit still held the lead until a double-bogey on the 17th dropped him into a tie with Boros and Palmer. He then missed a putt for birdie at the last that would have won the championship. Palmer came to the par-4 17th hole at 8-over and hit the green in regulation. But he 3-putted from 30 feet, missing a par putt of no more than 2.5 feet. Palmer then made a 6-footer for par on 18th to remain 9-over. Playing several groups in front of the final group of Cupit and Dow Finsterwald, Paul Harney came to the 18th hole at 9-over and went over the back of the green in two. Harney then chipped to some 11 feet below the hole and left his par putt one roll short dead center. Had that putt dropped, he would've ended up in the playoff the next day with Cupit, Palmer and Boros.

PlacePlayerScoreTo parMoney ($)T1 Julius Boros 71-74-76-72=293 +9 Playoff Jacky Cupit 70-72-76-75=293 Arnold Palmer 73-69-77-74=2934 Paul Harney 78-70-73-73=294 +10 5,000T5 Bruce Crampton 74-72-75-74=295 +11 3,166 Tony Lema 71-74-74-76=295 Billy Maxwell 73-73-75-74=295 T8 Walter Burkemo 72-71-76-77=296 +12 1,875 Gary Player 74-75-75-72=29610 Dan Sikes 77-73-73-74=297 +13 1,550 Source:

Playoff Sunday, June 23, 1963

Boros took command early in the playoff and had a three-stroke lead at the turn. Palmer took himself out of contention with a triple-bogey at 11, while Cupit bogeyed the same hole. Boros cruised to the win from there, carding a 70 to Cupit's 73 and Palmer's 76.

First prize was $16,000, and each of the three playoff participants received a bonus of $1,500 from the playoff gate receipts.

PlacePlayerScoreTo parMoney ($)1 Julius Boros 70 −117,500T2 Jacky Cupit 73 +28,500 Arnold Palmer 76 +5 Previously, three-way playoffs determined a third-place finisher (last in 1950); non-winners now tied for second.

Scorecard Hole 1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9 101112131415161718Par434444345 444454344 Boros E+1+1E−1−1−1−1−2−2−2−2EEEE−1−1 Cupit EE+2+2+1+2+2+2+2+2+3+3+3+3+3+3+2+2 Palmer+1+1+2+2+2+1+1+1+1+2+5+6+6+7+6+5+6+5 Cumulative playoff scores, relative to par {|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 |style="background: Olive;" width=10| |Triple bogey+ |} Source:

References

External links GolfCompendium.com – 1963 U.S. Open USGA Championship Database USOpen.com - 1963