1961 U.S. Open Winner and Scores

The 1961 U.S. Open was the 61st time the tournament was played. The champ claimed his only major championship trophy here.

Winner: Gene Littler, 281

Where it was played: Oakland Hills Country Club in Bloomfield Township, Michigan

Tournament dates: June 15-17, 1961

Leader after first round: Bobby Brue, 69

Leader after second round: Bob Rosburg and Doug Sanders, 139

Leader after third round: Doug Sanders, 210

What Happened at the 1961 U.S. Open Golf Tournament

Gene Littler fired a final-round 68 to overtake Doug Sanders and Bob Goalby and win the 1961 U.S. Open by one stroke.

Littler began the final round three strokes off Sanders' lead. But a balky putter plagued Sanders, and Littler caught him on the 11th hole. Two holes later, Littler had a two-stroke lead. Goalby, meanwhile, was playing steadily in a group ahead of both Littler and Sanders, and posted 282.

When Littler reached his last hole, he needed only a bogey to beat Goalby's clubhouse lead, and that's what he took on the hole. Sanders birdied the 16th to get within one, but missed a birdie putt on the 17th. On the final hole, Sanders' chip just missed going in. He tapped in to finish second, tied with Goalby.

The long-hitting amateur Jack Nicklaus finished tied for fourth with Mike Souchak. It was Nicklaus' second straight Top 4 finish as an amateur; the next year, Nicklaus turned pro and won the 1962 U.S. Open. Souchak never won a major, but his Top 4 finish here was his third consecutive such finish in a U.S. Open.

Sanders also never won a major, although he came close several more times including a playoff loss to Nicklaus at the 1970 British Open. Sanders finished with four career runner-up finishes in majors.

His win here proved to be Littler's only major championship among his 29 career PGA Tour wins. Littler later lost playoffs at the 1970 Masters (to his childhood friend Billy Casper) and the 1977 PGA Championship.

Ben Hogan finished tied for 14th. Not counting two years in which he withdrew with illnesses, this was the first time since 1940 Hogan failed to finish in the Top 10 in a U.S. Open in which he played. He played 15 times during that span. Hogan skipped the tournament the following four years before returning for his final two appearances in 1966-67.

1961 U.S. Open Final Scores

Gene Littler	73-68-72-68—281
Bob Goalby	70-72-69-71—282
Doug Sanders	72-67-71-72—282
a-Jack Nicklaus	75-69-70-70—284
Mike Souchak	73-70-68-73—284
Dow Finsterwald	72-71-71-72—286
Doug Ford	72-69-71-74—286
Eric Monti	74-67-72-73—286
Jacky Cupit	72-72-67-76—287
Gardner Dickinson	72-69-71-75—287
Gary Player	75-72-69-71—287
a-Deane Beman	74-72-72-70—288
Al Geiberger	71-70-73-74—288
Dave Douglas	72-72-75-70—289
Ben Hogan	71-72-73-73—289
Arnold Palmer	74-75-70-70—289
Billy Casper	74-71-73-72—290
Dutch Harrison	74-71-76-69—290
Kel Nagle	71-71-74-74—290
Sam Snead	73-70-74-73—290
Bob Rosburg	72-67-74-78—291
Tommy Bolt	70-73-73-76—292
Bob Brue	69-72-73-78—292
Bruce Crampton	71-71-74-76—292
Jim Ferrier	74-72-71-75—292
Billy Maxwell	73-74-72-73—292
Jack Fleck	73-71-79-70—293
Ted Kroll	78-69-73-73—293
a-Edward Brantly	75-70-72-77—294
Chick Harbert	75-71-69-79—294
Robert Harrison	79-70-71-74—294
Milon Marusic	75-74-71-74—294
Jerry Steelsmith	74-74-72-74—294
Jerry Barber	75-72-76-72—295
Gene Coghill	76-73-74-72—295
Bob Harris	75-67-78-75—295
Herman Scharlau	75-69-73-78—295
Jim Ferree	73-72-78-73—296
Marty Furgol	71-73-76-76—296
Wes Ellis	74-72-74-77—297
Joe Taylor	76-71-74-76—297
Billy Farrell	76-71-77-74—298
a-Bill Hyndman	73-75-73-77—298
Dick Mayer	75-73-75-75—298
Doug Higgins	76-73-75-75—299
Mason Rudolph	78-70-72-79—299
Robert Shave Jr.	73-75-74-77—299
Frank Stranahan	73-76-76-74—299
Jay Hebert	77-71-77-75—300
a-Edward Meister Jr.	78-71-75-76—300
Rex Baxter	71-78-75-77—301
Bob Bruno	78-71-77-75—301
Dave Hill	76-71-75-79—301
Jackson Bradley	75-73-78-76—302
Paul Harney	71-77-75-81—304
Charles Malchaski	76-73-77-78—304
Jack Lumpkin	73-76-81-79—309

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