1978 U.S. Open (golf)
Golf tournament
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The 1978 U.S. Open was the 78th U.S. Open, held June 15–18 at Cherry Hills Country Club in Cherry Hills Village, Colorado, a suburb south of Denver. Andy North held on for a one-stroke victory over runners-up Dave Stockton and J. C. Snead to claim the first of his two U.S. Open titles.[3][4]
| Tournament information | |
|---|---|
| Dates | June 15–18, 1978 |
| Location | Cherry Hills Village, Colorado 39.643°N 104.963°W |
| Course | Cherry Hills Country Club |
| Organized by | USGA |
| Tour | PGA Tour |
| Statistics | |
| Par | 71 |
| Length | 7,083 yards (6,477 m)[1] |
| Field | 153 players, 63 after cut |
| Cut | 150 (+8) [2] |
| Winner's share | $45,000 |
| Champion | |
 Andy North | |
| 285 (+1) | |
  Cherry Hills Location in the United States  Cherry Hills Location in Colorado | |
The strength in North's game was putting, and he needed only 114 putts over 72 holes, tying the record set by Billy Casper in 1966. This was North's second win on the PGA Tour, but he did not win again until the 1985 U.S. Open; of North's three career PGA Tour wins, two of them came at the U.S. Open.
This was the third and most recent U.S. Open at Cherry Hills, which previously hosted in 1938 and 1960. It was also the site of the PGA Championship in 1941, and later hosted in 1985. The average elevation of the course exceeds 5,300 feet (1,615 m) above sea level.
Three players received special exemptions into the field: 21-year-old Seve Ballesteros of Spain and former champions Arnold Palmer (1960) and Billy Casper (1959, 1966), increasing the field to 153.[5]
Only 43 players in the original field of 150 were exempt from the qualifying process, and the PGA Tour felt this was too few. To protest, the Tour staged its Buick Open the same week this year as an alternate event.[5] Jack Newton defeated Mike Sullivan with a birdie on the first playoff hole to take the $20,000 winner's share.[6]
Course layout
| Hole | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Out | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | In | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yards | 399 | 419 | 323 | 429 | 543 | 166 | 384 | 229 | 432 | 3,324 | 437 | 594 | 203 | 382 | 486 | 208 | 419 | 550 | 480 | 3,759 | 7,083 |
| Par | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 35 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 36 | 71 |
Source:[7]
Lengths of the course for previous major championships:
- 7,004 yards (6,404 m), par 71 - 1960 U.S. Open
- 6,888 yards (6,298 m), par 71 - 1941 PGA Championship
- 6,888 yards (6,298 m), par 71 - 1938 U.S. Open
Round summaries
First round
Thursday, June 15, 1978
| Place | Player | Score | To par |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hale Irwin | 69 | −2 |
| T2 | Bobby Clampett (a) | 70 | −1 |
| Andy North | |||
| J. C. Snead | |||
| T5 | Bill Brask | 71 | E |
| Billy Casper | |||
| Al Geiberger | |||
| Phil Hancock | |||
 Gary Player | |||
| Dave Stockton | |||
| Bobby Wadkins |
Second round
Friday, June 16, 1978
| Place | Player | Score | To par |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Andy North | 70-70=140 | −2 |
| T2 | Jack Nicklaus | 73-69=142 | E |
| Gary Player | 71-71=142 | ||
| J. C. Snead | 70-72=142 | ||
| T5 | Bobby Clampett (a) | 70-73=143 | +1 |
| Mark Hayes | 73-70=143 | ||
| Hale Irwin | 69-74=143 | ||
| Lee Trevino | 72-71=143 | ||
| T9 |  Seve Ballesteros | 75-69=144 | +2 |
| Andy Bean | 72-72=144 | ||
| Phil Hancock | 71-73=144 | ||
| Joe Inman | 72-72=144 | ||
 Peter Oosterhuis | 72-72=144 | ||
| Dave Stockton | 71-73=144 |
Amateurs: Clampett (+1), Holtgrieve (+8), Heafner (+9), Miller (+9), Edwards (+11), Choate (+16), Hodge (+17), Lewis (+21), Pomerantz (+25).
Third round
Saturday, June 17, 1978
| Place | Player | Score | To par |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Andy North | 70-70-71=211 | −2 |
| 2 | Gary Player | 71-71-70=212 | −1 |
| T3 | J. C. Snead | 70-72-72=214 | +1 |
| Dave Stockton | 71-73-70=214 | ||
| T5 | Seve Ballesteros | 75-69-71=215 | +2 |
| Andy Bean | 72-72-71=215 | ||
| Johnny Miller | 78-69-68=215 | ||
| T8 | Tom Kite | 73-73-70=216 | +3 |
| Billy Kratzert | 72-74-70=216 | ||
| Jack Nicklaus | 73-69-74=216 |
Final round
Sunday, June 18, 1978
North began the final round with a one-stroke lead over Gary Player. Two months earlier, Player had won the Masters with a blistering 64 in the final round. History, however, would not repeat itself, as this time around Player struggled to a 77 (+6) and finished in a tie for 6th. North owned a four-shot lead over Snead heading to the back-nine, and after birdies at 11 and 13 he appeared to have the championship wrapped up. A bogey at 14, however, combined with a double-bogey at 15 and a birdie by Dave Stockton at the same hole dropped his lead to just one. Stockton, however, missed an 18-footer (5.5 m) for par at 18, increasing North's lead to two.
Snead had a chance for birdie at the last after his tee shot skipped off the water and onto the fairway, but he missed the birdie putt. Needing just a bogey at 18 to win, North's drive found the rough. He hit his second shot into the fairway, then his third found a greenside bunker. Needing to get up-and-down, he played his sand shot to five feet (1.5 m) and after backing off twice, sank the bogey putt for the one-stroke win.[8][9]
| Place | Player | Score | To par | Money ($) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Andy North | 70-70-71-74=285 | +1 | 45,000 |
| T2 | J. C. Snead | 70-72-72-72=286 | +2 | 19,750 |
| Dave Stockton | 71-73-70-72=286 | |||
| T4 | Hale Irwin | 69-74-75-70=288 | +4 | 13,000 |
| Tom Weiskopf | 77-73-70-68=288 | |||
| T6 | Andy Bean | 72-72-71-74=289 | +5 | 7,548 |
| Billy Kratzert | 72-74-70-73=289 | |||
| Johnny Miller | 78-69-68-74=289 | |||
| Jack Nicklaus | 73-69-74-73=289 | |||
| Gary Player | 71-71-70-77=289 | |||
| Tom Watson | 74-75-70-70=289 |
Amateurs: Bobby Clampett (+13), Jim Holtgrieve (+20)
Scorecard
Final round
| Hole | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Par | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 4 |
| North | −2 | −2 | −2 | −3 | −4 | −4 | −4 | −3 | −2 | −1 | −2 | −2 | −3 | −2 | E | E | E | +1 |
| Snead | +1 | +1 | +1 | +1 | +1 | E | E | +1 | +2 | +2 | +2 | +2 | +2 | +2 | +2 | +2 | +2 | +2 |
| Stockton | +1 | +2 | +2 | +2 | +2 | +2 | +2 | +2 | +2 | +2 | +1 | +1 | +1 | +2 | +1 | +1 | +1 | +2 |
| Irwin | +6 | +6 | +6 | +6 | +5 | +4 | +4 | +5 | +4 | +5 | +4 | +4 | +4 | +4 | +4 | +4 | +3 | +4 |
| Weiskopf | +7 | +7 | +7 | +7 | +6 | +6 | +6 | +6 | +7 | +6 | +5 | +5 | +5 | +5 | +5 | +5 | +4 | +4 |
| Player | −1 | E | +1 | +1 | +1 | +1 | +1 | +2 | +3 | +3 | +3 | +4 | +4 | +4 | +5 | +5 | +4 | +5 |
Cumulative tournament scores, relative to par
| Birdie | Bogey | Double bogey |
Source:[10]