1972 U.S. Open Golf Tournament Winner and Scores
The 1972 U.S. Open was the 72nd time the tournament was played, and Jack Nicklaus earned his third championship.
Winner: Jack Nicklaus, 290
Where it was played: Pebble Beach Golf Links in Pebble Beach, California
Tournament dates: June 15-18, 1972
Leader after first round: Kermit Zarley, Jack Nicklaus, Chi Chi Rodriguez, Tom Shaw, Mason Rudolph and Orville Moody, 71
Leader after second round: Bruce Crampton, Jack Nicklaus, Kermit Zarley, Homero Blancas, Lanny Wadkins and Cesar Sanudo, 144
Leader after third round: Jack Nicklaus, 216
What Happened at the 1972 U.S. Open
The 1972 U.S. Open was the first U.S. Open ever played at Pebble Beach Golf Links. And it was the third one won by Jack Nicklaus. Nicklaus became just the fourth golfer all-time to win this major three times or more. He eventually won a fourth (at the 1980 U.S. Open), tying Willie Anderson, Bobby Jones and Ben Hogan for the most wins.The 1972 U.S. Open is notable as the last major championship in which Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer battled head-to-head, although that battle was in a relatively brief stretch of the final round.
In its history of the 1972 U.S. Open, the USGA describes what happened:
"... In the final round, a double-bogey 6 left (Nicklaus) just two strokes in front of Arnold Palmer. A key moment came as Nicklaus stood over an 8-foot bogey putt at the par-3 12th right at the time Palmer lined up a 10-foot birdie at 14. Nicklaus converted and Palmer didn't. Not realizing he trailed by only one shot, Palmer played too aggressively over the next two holes and bogeyed each one to eventually finish with a 4-over 76, four strokes off Nicklaus' winning score."Nicklaus' last pursuer was Bruce Crampton, but Nicklaus finished off the win with what many consider one of the best shots in U.S. Open history. On the tee at the par-3 17th, Nicklaus held a three-stroke lead. He removed any doubt about the win by carving a 1-iron through the blustery wind. The ball hit the green, bounced once, and struck the flagstick, settling inches away.
Nicklaus shot 71 in the first round, good for a 6-way share of the lead. After a second-round 73, Nicklaus was still in the lead, and the lead was still shared by six players.
But a 72 in the third round gave Nicklaus the outright lead, one stroke ahead of three pursuers, Crampton, Kermit Zarley and defending champ Lee Trevino. Palmer was tied for fifth, two off the lead. Nicklaus' final-round 74, though, was easily the best among those contenders: Trevino, for example, shot 78 and Zarley 79. (Trevino began the tournament just two days after being released from a hospital, where he had been treated for pneumonia.) This was one of four majors in which Crampton finished runner-up to Nicklaus.
The fourth-round scoring average for the field was 78.8, the highest final-round scoring average in the post-World War II era. Nicklaus' winning total of 290 is the second-highest winning total since World War II.
The win here was Nicklaus' 11th victory in a professional major championship, tying Walter Hagen's record for most wins in the pro majors. Counting his two U.S. Amateur wins, it was Nicklaus' 13th combined (amateur and pro) win in a major, tying Bobby Jones' then-record for most combined wins in pro/amateur majors.
Nicklaus had won the 1972 Masters a couple months earlier, but his quest for three in a row came up just short at the 1972 British Open.
Future 8-time major championship winner Tom Watson played his first U.S. Open and tied for 29th. Hubert Green, winner of the 1977 U.S. Open, also had his tournament debut here, finishing 55th.
1972 U.S. Open Final Scores
| Jack Nicklaus | 71-73-72-74—290 |
| Bruce Crampton | 74-70-73-76—293 |
| Arnold Palmer | 77-68-73-76—294 |
| Homero Blancas | 74-70-76-75—295 |
| Lee Trevino | 74-72-71-78—295 |
| Kermit Zarley | 71-73-73-79—296 |
| Johnny Miller | 74-73-71-79—297 |
| Tom Weiskopf | 73-74-73-78—298 |
| Chi Chi Rodriguez | 71-75-78-75—299 |
| Cesar Sanudo | 72-72-78-77—299 |
| Billy Casper | 74-73-79-74—300 |
| Don January | 76-71-74-79—300 |
| Bobby Nichols | 77-74-72-77—300 |
| Bert Yancey | 75-79-70-76—300 |
| Don Massengale | 72-81-70-78—301 |
| Orville Moody | 71-77-79-74—301 |
| Gary Player | 72-74-75-80—301 |
| a-Jim Simons | 75-75-79-72—301 |
| Lou Graham | 75-73-75-79—302 |
| a-Tom Kite | 75-73-79-75—302 |
| Al Geiberger | 80-74-76-73—303 |
| Paul Harney | 79-72-75-77—303 |
| Bobby Mitchell | 74-80-73-76—303 |
| Charles Sifford | 79-74-72-78—303 |
| Gay Brewer | 77-77-72-78—304 |
| Rod Funseth | 73-73-84-74—304 |
| Lanny Wadkins | 76-68-79-81—304 |
| Jim Wiechers | 74-79-69-82—304 |
| Miller Barber | 76-76-73-80—305 |
| Julius Boros | 77-77-74-77—305 |
| Dave Eichelberger | 76-71-80-78—305 |
| Lee Elder | 75-71-79-80—305 |
| Jerry Heard | 73-74-77-81—305 |
| Dave Hill | 74-78-74-79—305 |
| Tom Watson | 74-79-76-76—305 |
| Brian Allin | 75-76-77-78—306 |
| Larry Hinson | 78-73-72-83—306 |
| Hale Irwin | 78-72-73-83—306 |
| Barry Jaeckel | 78-69-82-77—306 |
| Ron Cerrudo | 77-77-76-77—307 |
| Tony Jacklin | 75-78-71-83—307 |
| Jerry McGee | 79-72-71-85—307 |
| George Rives | 80-73-79-75—307 |
| Mason Rudolph | 71-80-86-70—307 |
| Tom Shaw | 71-79-80-77—307 |
| Billy Ziobro | 76-77-77-77—307 |
| Bobby Cole | 72-76-79-81—308 |
| Gibby Gilbert | 77-77-77-77—308 |
| David Graham | 77-77-79-75—308 |
| Ron Letellier | 75-77-74-82—308 |
| John Schroeder | 78-75-75-80—308 |
| Mike Butler | 78-73-77-81—309 |
| Tom Jenkins | 73-80-75-81—309 |
| Ralph Johnston | 74-72-79-84—309 |
| Tommy Aaron | 76-76-77-81—310 |
| Martin Bohen | 77-76-77-80—310 |
| Bob Brue | 77-75-79-79—310 |
| Tim Collins | 79-71-81-79—310 |
| Hubert Green | 75-76-78-81—310 |
| Bobby Greenwood | 77-75-72-86—310 |
| Jim Hardy | 78-76-79-77—310 |
| Mike Hill | 75-77-75-83—310 |
| Jim Colbert | 74-79-76-82—311 |
| Bob Murphy | 79-74-83-75—311 |
| George Archer | 74-74-77-87—312 |
| Bruce Devlin | 75-78-74-85—312 |
| Dick Hendrickson | 80-74-79-82—315 |
| Austin Straub | 76-77-75-87—315 |
| Dwight Nevil | 76-77-81-82—316 |
| a-Dan O'Neill | 78-76-77-86—317 |
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