1970 U.S. Open Golf Tournament Results

The 1970 U.S. Open was the 70th time the tournament was played. Tony Jacklin led wire-to-wire and wound up winning by seven strokes, becoming the first English winner of a since 1924.

Winner: Tony Jacklin, 281

Where it was played: Hazeltine National Golf Club in Chaska, Minnesota

Tournament dates: June 18-21, 1970

Leader after first round: Tony Jacklin, 71

Leader after second round: Tony Jacklin, 141

Leader after third round: Tony Jacklin, 211

What Happened in the 1970 U.S. Open

Tony Jacklin was the winner, but just as big a story during this U.S. Open was the golf course. Hazeltine National Golf Club is, today, a regular in the rotation of major American golf events. In 1970, it was a very young golf course, immature in its growth and design. Most of the golfers there that week hated it.

Hazeltine opened in 1962 and had already been the site of the 1966 U.S. Women's Open won by Sandra Spuzich. But it was unknown to most of the golfers in the 1970 U.S. Open, and when they did get to know it they were not kind to the place. One of their major complaints was that the course was just too young, too raw — trees that are majestic and serve as windbreaks today were barely there in 1970, for example.

Dave Hill was the most outspoken critic, saying, among things, "They ruined a good farm when they built this." Hill continued, "They should plow it up and start over." That was the guy who finished in second place!

When the winds kicked up in the first round, the scores went high, too: 77 for Lee Trevino, 78 for Raymond Floyd, 79 for Johnny Miller and Arnold Palmer, 81 for Jack Nicklaus. But scoring was so tough that all of them still made the cut.

In the end, a golfer who didn't even break 70 won by seven strokes. Tony Jacklin finished at 7-under 281, the only golfer under par. He had one round of 71 and three rounds of 70. Jacklin was the fourth golfer in U.S. Open history to win wire-to-wire with no ties. Prior to Jacklin the last English-born golfer to win this tournament was Cyril Walker at the 1924 U.S. Open. The last prior European winner was Willie Macfarlane in the 1925 U.S. Open. And after Jacklin, another European didn't win a U.S. Open until Graeme McDowell in 2010.

Some notables names in the field this year: Future major champions Ben Crenshaw and John Mahaffey shared low-amateur honors; famed instructor Davis Love Jr. and future famed instructor Butch Harmon both cashed.

1970 U.S. Open Final Scores

Tony Jacklin 71-70-70-70—281
Dave Hill 75-69-71-73—288
Bob Charles 76-71-75-67—289
Bob Lunn 77-72-70-70—289
Ken Still 78-71-71-71—291
Miller Barber 75-75-72-70—292
Gay Brewer 75-71-71-76—293
Larry Ziegler 75-73-73-73—294
Billy Casper 75-75-71-73—294
Bruce Devlin 75-75-71-73—294
Lee Trevino 77-73-74-70—294
Howie Johnson 75-72-75-73—295
Joel Goldstrand 76-76-71-72—295
Julius Boros 73-75-70-77—295
Gene Littler 77-72-71-75—295
Bobby Mitchell 74-78-74-69—295
Bobby Cole 78-75-71-71—295
Al Balding 75-74-75-72—296
Randy Wolff 78-67-76-75—296
Paul Harney 78-73-75-70—296
Johnny Miller 79-73-73-71—296
Richard Crawford 74-71-76-76—297
Raymond Floyd 78-73-70-76—297
Frank Beard 75-73-79-70—297
Ted Hayes Jr. 79-73-73-72—297
Bert Yancey 81-72-73-71—297
Mason Rudolph 73-75-73-77—298
Chi Chi Rodriguez 73-77-75-73—298
Dan Sikes Jr. 81-69-72-76—298
George Archer 76-73-77-73—299
Tom Weiskopf 76-73-78-72—299
Kel Nagle 78-75-73-73—299
Bruce Crampton 79-71-74-75—299
Bunky Henry 80-68-77-74—299
Dave Marr 82-69-74-74—299
Don Bies 75-76-76-74—301
Kermit Zarley 76-76-74-75—301
Tony Evans 74-75-75-77—301
a-Ben Crenshaw 75-73-77-76—301
a-John Mahaffey 77-73-74-77—301
Bob Goalby 78-74-75-74—301
Dean Refram 79-74-74-74—301
Bob Erickson 80-72-79-70—301
Dick Smith 76-77-76-73—302
Gary Player 80-73-75-74—302
Lou Graham 76-75-76-76—303
Monty Kaser 76-77-74-76—303
Hugh Royer Jr. 77-76-73-77—303
Tommy Aaron 77-76-74-76—303
Bobby Nichols 75-73-80-75—303
Steve Spray 78-74-74-78—304
Rives McBee 78-73-74-79—304
Jack Nicklaus 81-72-75-76—304
Al Mengert 76-77-76-76—305
John Cook 77-75-77-76—305
Rolf Deming 77-76-76-76—305
Fred Marti 75-78-77-75—305
Arnold Palmer 79-74-75-77—305
Bert Greene 77-75-80-73—305
Dewitt Weaver 82-71-74-78—305
Chris Blocker 78-75-78-75—306
George Knudson 82-71-76-77—306
Wayne Yates 78-75-79-75—307
Charles Coody 78-74-80-76—308
Bob Rosburg 79-73-76-80—308
Leon Crump 78-75-78-79—310
a-Vinny Giles 76-76-78-80—310
Butch Harmon 80-72-76-82—310
Gene Borek 80-73-78-80—311
Jerry McGee 80-73-78-80—311
Jim Wiechers 76-75-81-79—311
Davis Love Jr. 77-76-88-74—315

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