1976 U.S. Open (golf)

The 1976 U.S. Open was the 76th U.S. Open, held June 17–20 at the Highlands Course of the Atlanta Athletic Club in Duluth, Georgia, a suburb northeast of Atlanta. Tour rookie Jerry Pate won his only major championship, two strokes ahead of runners-up Al Geiberger and Tom Weiskopf.^[3][4][5][6]

John Mahaffey, who lost the U.S. Open in a playoff the year before, took the lead with a 68 in the second round. He followed that up with a 69 in the third round on Saturday for a two-stroke lead over Jerry Pate after 54 holes, with Geiberger three back and Weiskopf four back.^[7] The gap was still two strokes after fourteen holes, but Pate hit a one-iron close and birdied the par-3 15th;^[8] and when Mahaffey bogeyed 16, the two were tied. Mahaffey three-putted for bogey on 17 and Pate took a one-stroke lead as Mahaffey fell into a tie for second with Geiberger and Weiskopf, both in the clubhouse with 279.

Both Mahaffey and Pate found the rough off the 18th tee. Mahaffey, behind by a shot and trying for birdie, hit his approach shot into the water fronting the green and made bogey, and fell into a tie for fourth. Having a better lie in the rough, Pate gambled that he could clear the water and then hit one of the most memorable shots in U.S. Open history. His 5-iron approach from 191 yards (175 m) flew directly on to the green and stopped three feet (0.9 m) from the hole, and he made the birdie putt for a two-stroke victory.^[5][9]

The U.S. Amateur champion two years earlier in 1974, Pate was only 22 in 1976 and appeared to have a bright future ahead of him, but shoulder injuries significantly shortened his career. He won seven more PGA Tour tournaments, the last in 1982, and finished runner-up in two additional majors in the late 1970s.

Future champion Fuzzy Zoeller made his major championship debut at this U.S. Open and finished in 38th place. Mike Reid, a 21-year-old amateur, led by three shots after the first round, but a second-round 81 dashed any hope of an amateur champion. He shared low-amateur honors with John Fought at 300 (+20).

Jack Nicklaus finished tied for eleventh and saw his streak of 13 consecutive top-10s in majors come to an end. He began a new streak and finished in the top-10 in the next nine majors. Only Harry Vardon made more consecutive major top-10s when he made sixteen in a row – fifteen Open Championships (1894–1908) and the U.S. Open in 1900.

This was the first of four majors held at the Highlands Course; it hosted the PGA Championship in 1981, 2001, and 2011.

This was the first year that players were allowed to have their own caddies at the U.S. Open.^[10][11] The other majors and some PGA Tour events had traditionally disallowed players from using their own caddies.^[12][13][14] The Masters required club caddies from Augusta National through 1982.^[15][16][17]