1965 U.S. Open Golf Tournament Winner and Scores
The 1965 U.S. Open was the 65th time the tournament was played. It was decided in an 18-hole playoff between Gary Player and Kel Nagle.
Winner: Gary Player, 282
Where it was played: Bellerive Country Club in St. Louis, Missouri
Tournament dates: June 17-21, 1965
Leader after first round: Kel Nagle, 68
Leader after second round: Gary Player, 140
Leader after third round: Gary Player, 201
What Happened in the 1965 U.S. Open
Gary Player became the third player in golf history to achieve the "career Grand Slam" when he won the 1965 U.S. Open.Player joined Gene Sarazen and Ben Hogan as the only golfers to that point to win all four of what we now consider the professional majors: The Masters, U.S. Open, British Open and PGA Championship. Of Player's nine career wins in majors, this was his only U.S. Open title.
South Africa native Player also became the first foreign-born winner of the U.S. Open since 1927.
Player earned the title by beating Australian Kel Nagle in an 18-hole playoff. The playoff was necessitated when Player blew a 3-stroke lead with three holes to play in the final round, double-bogeying the 71st hole while Nagle birdied it.
In the playoff, Nagle bogeyed the first hole while Player birdied the second and third holes. Player's edge was five at the end of the front nine, and he wound up shooting 71 to Nagle's 74.
Player earned $26,000 for the win, but he kept only $1,000 of it for himself. The rest he donated to the USGA, with the bulk of the donation going toward junior golf programs. The USGA's history of this tournament notes that Player's donation "... was the start of the USGA eventually forming a foundation to assist grassroots junior golf programs as well as programs for those with disabilities."
The U.S. Open had a change in format this year, switching to 18 holes of play for each of four days. Previously, the tournament began with 18 holes per day for two days, then 36 holes on the third day.
Arnold Palmer missed the cut, the only time from 1962 to 1967 that Palmer failed to finish inside the Top 5 in the U.S. Open. Tom Weiskopf, future British Open winner, made his major championship debut in the 1965 U.S. Open, finishing tied for 40th.
1965 U.S. Open Final Scores
Gary Player | 70-70-71-71—282 (71) |
Kel Nagle | 68-73-72-69—282 (74) |
Frank Beard | 74-69-70-71—284 |
Julius Boros | 72-75-70-70—287 |
Al Geiberger | 70-76-70-71—287 |
Bruce Devlin | 72-73-72-71—288 |
Raymond Floyd | 72-72-76-68—288 |
Tony Lema | 72-74-73-70—289 |
Gene Littler | 73-71-73-72—289 |
Dudley Wysong | 72-75-70-72—289 |
a-Deane Beman | 69-73-76-72—290 |
Mason Rudolph | 69-72-73-76—290 |
Doug Sanders | 77-73-69-71—290 |
Billy Maxwell | 76-73-71-71—291 |
Steve Oppermann | 72-77-73-70—292 |
Gay Brewer | 72-74-71-76—293 |
Billy Casper | 73-73-76-72—294 |
Charles Huckaby | 73-74-73-74—294 |
George Knudson | 80-69-73-72—294 |
Bob Verwey | 73-74-75-72—294 |
Gardner Dickinson | 77-73-71-74—295 |
Eric Monti | 76-71-75-73—295 |
Lou Graham | 70-77-76-73—296 |
Wes Ellis | 73-76-77-71—297 |
Labron Harris Jr. | 74-76-74-73—297 |
Ted Kroll | 76-74-72-75—297 |
Sam Snead | 75-71-77-74—297 |
Dutch Harrison | 78-72-72-76—298 |
Tommy Jacobs | 76-71-74-77—298 |
Dean Refram | 71-79-72-76—298 |
Terry Wilcox | 74-73-73-78—298 |
Miller Barber | 72-76-74-77—299 |
Bruce Crampton | 74-76-72-77—299 |
Gordon Jones | 71-74-75-79—299 |
Jack Nicklaus | 78-72-73-76—299 |
Duff Lawrence | 73-73-75-79—300 |
Dan Sikes | 72-78-75-75—300 |
Bob Rosburg | 73-75-75-78—301 |
a-Ed Tutwiler | 77-73-76-75—301 |
Rex Baxter | 70-75-79-78—302 |
Chi Chi Rodriguez | 78-72-77-75—302 |
Dick Hendrickson | 74-76-72-80—302 |
Tom Weiskopf | 76-72-77-77—302 |
Dick Hart | 74-75-80-74—303 |
Jack Lumpkin | 74-74-74-81—303 |
Bill Ogden | 75-73-79-76—303 |
Sam Carmichael | 76-74-76-78—304 |
Paul Kelly | 75-74-78-78—305 |
Robert Reith | 73-76-73-83—305 |
Franklin Keller | 77-73-79-78—307 |
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