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1969 U.S. Open (golf)

Coordinates: 29°58′59″N 95°31′52″W / 29.983°N 95.531°W / 29.983; -95.531
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1969 U.S. Open
Tournament information
DatesJune 12–15, 1969
LocationHouston, Texas
Course(s)Champions Golf Club
Cypress Creek Course
Organized byUSGA
Tour(s)PGA Tour
Statistics
Par70
Length6,967 yards (6,371 m)[1]
Field149 players, 68 after cut
Cut148 (+8)
Prize fund$205,300[2]
Winner's share$30,000
Champion
United States Orville Moody
281 (+1)
← 1968
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Houston is located in the United States
Houston
Houston
Houston  is located in Texas
Houston 
Houston 

The 1969 U.S. Open was the 69th U.S. Open, held June 12–15 at the Cypress Creek Course of Champions Golf Club in Houston, Texas. Orville Moody won his only PGA Tour title, one stroke ahead of runners-up Deane Beman, Bob Rosburg, and Al Geiberger.[3][4]

A 14-year veteran of the U.S. Army,[5] Moody entered the final round in second place, three shots behind Miller Barber.[6] At age 35, Moody advanced through both local and sectional qualifying in 1969, and as of 2021 is the last champion to do so. It was his only win on the PGA Tour, with only one additional top-10 finish in a major, two months later at the PGA Championship.

Battling an ailing knee, defending champion Lee Trevino (of Texas)[7] missed the cut by a stroke;[8] he won the title again in 1971.

The Cypress Creek Course hosted the Houston Champions International event on the PGA Tour,[7] today's Houston Open, from 1966 through 1971, and the Ryder Cup in 1967. It later hosted The Tour Championship five times (1990, 1997, 1999, 2001, and 2003) and the U.S. Amateur in 1993.

Course layout

[edit]
Hole 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Out 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 In Total
Yards 435 444 379 193 451 418 417 180 505 3,422 448 450 213 544 430 418 175 436 431 3,545 6,967
Par 4 4 4 3 4 4 4 3 5 35 4 4 3 5 4 4 3 4 4 35 70

Round summaries

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First round

[edit]

Thursday, June 12, 1969

Place Player Score To par
1 United States Bob Murphy 66 −4
2 United States Miller Barber 67 −3
T3 United States Deane Beman 68 −2
United States Al Geiberger
T5 United States George Archer 69 −1
United States Dean Refram
United States Tom Weiskopf
T8 United States Richard Crawford 70 E
United States Jack Ewing
United States Bunky Henry
Canada George Knudson
United States Arnold Palmer
United States Bob Rosburg

Source:[9]

Second round

[edit]

Friday, June 13, 1969

Place Player Score To par
1 United States Deane Beman 68-69=137 −3
T2 United States Miller Barber 67-71=138 −2
United States Bob Murphy 66-72=138
4 United States Bob Rosburg 70-69=139 −1
T5 United States Charles Coody 72-68=140 E
United States Al Geiberger 68-72=140
Canada George Knudson 70-70=140
T8 England Tony Jacklin 71-70=141 +1
United States Johnny Miller 71-70=141
United States Orville Moody 71-70=141
United States Jack Nicklaus 74-67=141

Source:[1]

Third round

[edit]

Saturday, June 14, 1969

Place Player Score To par
1 United States Miller Barber 67-71-68=206 −4
2 United States Orville Moody 71-70-68=209 −1
T3 United States Deane Beman 68-69-73=210 E
United States Bunky Henry 70-72-68=210
5 United States Bob Rosburg 70-69-72=211 +1
T6 United States Charles Coody 72-68-72=212 +2
United States Al Geiberger 68-72-72=212
United States Bobby Mitchell 72-74-66=212
United States Bob Murphy 66-72-74=212
United States Arnold Palmer 70-73-69=212

Source:[6]

Final round

[edit]

Sunday, June 15, 1969

Miller Barber began the final round with a three-stroke lead,[6] but it vanished after he bogeyed five of the first eight holes. He struggled to a 78 (+8) and dropped into a tie for sixth place, which allowed Moody to take the lead. At one point on the back nine, eight competitors were separated by just two shots.[3] Bob Rosburg saved par from the sand at 17 to stay tied with Moody, but after a drive into the rough on 18, he again found a greenside bunker. Another sand shot got him to 3 feet (0.9 m), but he missed the putt for par to force an 18-hole Monday playoff. Playing in the final pairing with Barber, Moody had four consecutive pars to finish and preserved the one-stroke advantage for the championship. Barber needed only a 75 (+5) on Sunday to force a playoff, but finished three strokes back.[3][4]

Final leaderboard

[edit]
Champion
Low amateur
(a) = amateur
(c) = past champion
Top 10
Place Player Score To par Money (US$)
1 United States Orville Moody 71-70-68-72=281 +1 30,000
T2 United States Deane Beman 68-69-73-72=282 +2 11,000
United States Al Geiberger 68-72-72-70=282
United States Bob Rosburg 70-69-72-71=282
5 United States Bob Murphy 66-72-74-71=283 +3 7,000
T6 United States Miller Barber 67-71-68-78=284 +4 5,000
Australia Bruce Crampton 73-72-68-71=284
United States Arnold Palmer (c) 70-73-69-72=284
9 United States Bunky Henry 70-72-68-75=285 +5 3,500
T10 United States George Archer 69-74-73-70=286 +6 2,800
Australia Bruce Devlin 73-74-70-69=286
United States Dave Marr 75-69-71-71=286

Source:[4]

Scorecard

[edit]

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 3 4 4 4 3 5 4 4 3 5 4 4 3 4 4
United States Moody −1 −1 −1 E E E E E −1 E E E E +1 +1 +1 +1 +1
United States Beman +1 +2 +1 +2 +4 +4 +3 +3 +2 +2 +2 +2 +2 +3 +3 +3 +3 +2
United States Geiberger +3 +4 +4 +4 +6 +6 +6 +5 +4 +3 +3 +3 +2 +2 +1 +2 +2 +2
United States Rosburg +1 E E E E E E +1 E E +1 +1 +1 +1 +1 +1 +1 +2
United States Murphy +2 +2 +2 +3 +3 +3 +3 +3 +2 +3 +2 +3 +2 +3 +3 +3 +3 +3
United States Barber −4 −3 −2 −2 −1 E E +1 E E E +2 +3 +3 +4 +3 +3 +4
United States Crampton +3 +3 +3 +3 +3 +3 +4 +4 +3 +3 +3 +3 +2 +2 +3 +3 +4 +4
United States Palmer +1 +2 +2 +3 +3 +3 +3 +3 +3 +3 +3 +3 +2 +2 +3 +4 +4 +4
United States Henry +1 +2 +3 +4 +4 +4 +4 +4 +4 +4 +3 +4 +4 +5 +5 +5 +5 +5
United States Archer +5 +6 +6 +7 +8 +7 +6 +6 +6 +5 +6 +6 +6 +6 +6 +6 +6 +6
Australia Devlin +6 +6 +6 +5 +5 +6 +5 +5 +5 +5 +6 +6 +5 +5 +5 +6 +6 +6
United States Marr +5 +5 +4 +4 +4 +5 +5 +6 +6 +6 +7 +8 +7 +7 +7 +6 +6 +6

Cumulative tournament scores, relative to par

Birdie Bogey Double bogey

Source:[4][10]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b "Beman slips through beef trust to take one-stroke Open lead". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. June 14, 1969. p. 14.
  2. ^ "U.S. Open history: 1969". USGA. Archived from the original on April 17, 2013. Retrieved June 20, 2012.
  3. ^ a b c Jenkins, Dan (June 23, 1969). "Old Sarge cools it". Sports Illustrated. p. 18.
  4. ^ a b c d "Orville Moody wins heartbreak U.S. Open". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. June 16, 1969. p. 10.
  5. ^ Jauss, Bill (June 16, 1969). "Salute the 'Sarge,' golf king Moody". Toledo Blade. (Ohio). (Chicago Daily News). p. 19.
  6. ^ a b c "Barber leads by 3 in 'blow-up' Open". Toledo Blade. (Ohio). Associated Press. June 15, 1969. p. D1.
  7. ^ a b Jenkins, Dan (June 9, 1969). "Wide-Open eyes are on Texas". Sports Illustrated. p. 42.
  8. ^ "Beman breaks up beef trust". Victoria Advocate. (Texas). Associated Press. June 14, 1969. p. 1B.
  9. ^ "Murphy leads Open; Pamer shoots par". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. June 13, 1969. p. 16.
  10. ^ "U.S. Open History". USGA. Retrieved May 8, 2019.
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29°58′59″N 95°31′52″W / 29.983°N 95.531°W / 29.983; -95.531