1979 U.S. Open
Tournament information
DatesJune 14–17, 1979
LocationToledo, Ohio
Course(s)Inverness Club
Organized byUSGA
Tour(s)PGA Tour
Statistics
Par71
Length6,982 yards (6,384 m)[1]
Field153 players, 63 after cut
Cut151 (+9)
Winner's share$50,000
Champion
United States Hale Irwin
284 (E)
InvernessClub is located in the United States
InvernessClub
Inverness
Club
Location in the United States

The 1979 U.S. Open was the 79th U.S. Open, held June 14–17, at Inverness Club in Toledo, Ohio. Hale Irwin won his second U.S. Open title, two strokes ahead of former champions Jerry Pate and Gary Player.[2][3]

Summary

For the first time, the USGA granted exemptions to Order of Merit champions of the top five international tours. The tours granted exemptions were: Southern African Tour, European Tour, PGA Tour of Australia, Asia Golf Circuit, and Japan Golf Tour.[4]

Hale Irwin, the 1974 champion, held a three-stroke lead over Tom Weiskopf going to the final round. Irwin did not play particularly well, recording bogeys at 11, 14, and 18, and a double-bogey at 17. His final-round 75 tied the post-World War II tournament record for highest final round score by the champion. Jerry Pate, the 1976 champion, began the day five behind Irwin and carded a 72 to finish two back. 1965 champion Gary Player, nine behind at the start of the round, fired a 68 to tie Pate for 2nd. Weiskopf struggled on his way to a 76 and finished in 4th.

During the first round a mini controversy sprung up when Lon Hinkle purposefully hit his tee shot on the par 5 8th hole on to the fairway of hole 17, dramatically shortening the hole by cutting off the dogleg. Hinkle reached the green in two with an iron, two putted for birdie and shared the first-round lead. USGA officials were not pleased by Hinkle's ingenuity and the following morning planted a tree off the side of the 8th tee so that players would not be able to take Hinkle's shortcut again.[5]

Player's runner-up finish was his final top-10 in a U.S. Open. Fred Couples, age 19, played in his first major championship and was low amateur.

This was the fourth U.S. Open at Inverness, which hosted in 1920, 1931, and 1957. It later hosted the PGA Championship in 1986 and 1993.

Course layout

Hole123456789Out101112131415161718InTotal
Yards3983851854464012204525284203,4553633781675234484584054313543,5276,982
Par443443454354435444443671
Source:[6][7]

Lengths of the course for previous major championships:

Round summaries

First round

Thursday, June 14, 1979

PlacePlayerScoreTo par
T1United States Andy Bean70−1
United States Keith Fergus
United States Lou Graham
United States Lon Hinkle
United States Tom Purtzer
T6United States Jim Colbert71E
United States John Cook (a)
United States Larry Nelson
United States Jerry Pate
United States Dana Quigley
United States Bill Rogers
United States Tom Weiskopf

Second round

Friday, June 15, 1979

PlacePlayerScoreTo par
T1United States Larry Nelson71-68=139−3
United States Tom Purtzer70-69=139
3United States Hale Irwin74-68=142E
4United States Bill Rogers71-72=143+1
T5United States Jim Colbert71-74=145+3
United States Lou Graham70-75=145
United States Jerry Pate71-74=145
United States Ed Sneed72-73=145
United States Dave Stockton75-70=145
United States Tom Weiskopf71-74=145

Amateurs: Couples (+8), Rassett (+8), Cook (+9), Britton (+11), Clampett (+11), Ogrin (+13), McGough (+16), Gusmus (+18), Inskeep (+21), Kemp (+21), Peddy (+21), Rentz (+21), Clements (+22), Nordling (+24), Taylor (+26), Marrello (WD).

Third round

Saturday, June 16, 1979

PlacePlayerScoreTo par
1United States Hale Irwin74-68-67=209−4
2United States Tom Weiskopf71-74-67=212−1
T3United States Jerry Pate71-74-69=214+1
United States Tom Purtzer70-69-75=214
T5United States Lee Elder74-72-69=215+2
United States Larry Nelson71-68-76=215
T7United States Bob Gilder77-70-69=216+3
Australia David Graham73-73-70=216
United States Bill Rogers71-72-73=216
T10United States Andy Bean70-76-71=217+4
United States Al Geiberger74-74-69=217
United States Bob E. Smith77-71-69=217
United States Bobby Walzel74-72-71=217

Final round

Sunday, June 17, 1979

PlacePlayerScoreTo parMoney ($)
1United States Hale Irwin74-68-67-75=284E50,000
T2United States Jerry Pate71-74-69-72=286+222,250
South Africa Gary Player73-73-72-68=286
T4United States Larry Nelson71-68-76-73=288+413,733
United States Bill Rogers71-72-73-72=288
United States Tom Weiskopf71-74-67-76=288
7Australia David Graham73-73-70-73=289+510,000
8United States Tom Purtzer70-69-75-76=290+69,000
T9United States Keith Fergus70-77-72-72=291+77,500
United States Jack Nicklaus74-77-72-68=291

Amateurs: Fred Couples (+18), John Cook (+20), Joey Rassett (+20).

Scorecard

Final round

Hole123456789101112131415161718
Par443443454443544444
United States Irwin−4−5−4−4−3−3−3−4−4−4−3−4−4−3−3−3−1E
United States Pate+1E−1−1+1+1+1+1+3+2+2+2+3+2+2+2+3+2
South Africa Player+6+6+6+6+6+5+5+4+4+4+4+4+3+4+4+4+3+2
Cumulative tournament scores, relative to par
Birdie Bogey Double bogey
Source:[2]

References

  1. ↑ "Golf: U.S. Open finish". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. June 18, 1979. p. 21 – via Google News Archive.
  2. 1 2 "A bit of a tussle, but hearty at the end". Toledo Blade. (Ohio). June 18, 1979. p. 13 – via Google News Archive.
  3. ↑ Jenkins, Dan (June 25, 1979). "Up a tree in Toledo". Sports Illustrated. p. 20.
  4. ↑ "Sports in Brief". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. February 2, 1979. p. 12. Retrieved September 12, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ↑ Raley, Dan (May 18, 2001). "Hinkle linked to tree for 25 years". Seattle Post-Intelligencer.
  6. ↑ "Map: 79th U.S. Open Championship". Toledo Blade. (Ohio). Associated Press. June 9, 1979. p. 18 – via Google News Archive.
  7. ↑ "Inverness statistics". Toledo Blade. (Ohio). June 14, 1979. p. 40 – via Google News Archive.

41°39′07″N 83°39′04″W / 41.652°N 83.651°W / 41.652; -83.651

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