1975 U.S. Open Winner and Scores

The 1975 U.S. Open was the 75th time the tournament was played. It ended with an 18-hole playoff. And the winner of that playoff earned his only major championship victory.

Winner: Lou Graham, 287

Where it was played: Medinah Country Club in Medinah, Illinois

Tournament dates: June 19-23, 1975

Leader after first round: Pat Fitzsimons and Tom Watson, 67

Leader after second round: Tom Watson, 135

Leader after third round: Frank Beard, 210

What Happened at the 1975 U.S. Open

Lou Graham defeated John Mahaffey in an 18-hole playoff for the trophy. The pair tied after 72 holes at 3-over 287. In the playoff, Graham took a 3-stroke lead with a birdie on the 12th hole and Mahaffey was never closer than two strokes after that. Their final scores were 71 for Graham and 73 for Mahaffey.

Tom Watson opened the tournament by tying the then-U.S. Open record for 36 holes of 135. But he was 20 strokes worse over the final two rounds. Graham was 11 strokes behind leader Watson after 36 holes. He still holds the tournament record for largest comeback after 36 holes by the winner.

Jack Nicklaus just missed a birdie putt on the 15th hole in the final round that would have tied him for the lead. But then Nicklaus did something exceedingly rare for him: He stumbled to the finish. After that birdie, Nicklaus finished with three consecutive bogeys.

Third-round leader Frank Beard was four strokes ahead of Graham and six ahead of Mahaffey at the start of the final round. But Beard shot 78 in Round 4, including bogeys on Nos. 16 and 17. Mahaffey parred in after a long birdie putt at No. 14, shooting 71 and posting 287. Bob Murphy could have tied, but bogeyed the last hole and tied for third. Ben Crenshaw put a ball in the water on the 17th hole, and he tied Murphy. Defending champion Hale Irwin shot 70, but fell a stroke short of the playoff.

It was Graham's third career win on the PGA Tour; he ended his career with six wins, although he challenged in other U.S. Opens. Mahaffey went on to win the 1978 PGA Championship.

Two years after his final PGA Tour victory, Arnold Palmer tied for ninth place. It was Palmer's last Top 10 finish in a U.S. Open and second-to-last Top 10 in any of the majors. The 1975 U.S. Open was a strong year for amateurs. Jay Haas and Jerry Pate shared low am honors at 293. Pate won the 1976 U.S. Open a year later.

This was the final U.S. Open in which players were not allowed to use their own caddies (they had to use caddies provided by the club).

1975 U.S. Open Final Scores

Lou Graham 74-72-68-73—287
John Mahaffey 73-71-72-71—287
Hale Irwin 74-71-73-70—288
Bob Murphy 74-73-72-69—288
Ben Crenshaw 70-68-76-74—288
Frank Beard 74-69-67-78—288
Peter Oosterhuis 69-73-72-75—289
Jack Nicklaus 72-70-75-72—289
Arnold Palmer 69-75-73-73—290
Pat Fitzsimons 67-73-73-77—290
Tom Watson 67-68-78-77—290
Andy North 75-72-72-72—291
Raymond Floyd 76-71-72-72—291
Jim Wiechers 68-73-76-75—292
Rik Massengale 71-74-71-76—292
Eddie Pearce 75-71-70-76—292
Joe Inman 72-72-71-77—292
Gary Groh 73-74-73-73—293
Terry Dill 72-69-77-75—293
a-Jay Haas 74-69-72-78—293
Hubert Green 74-73-68-78—293
Grier Jones 69-73-79-72—293
a-Jerry Pate 79-70-72-72—293
Kermit Zarley 73-71-75-75—294
Forrest Fezler 73-75-71-75—294
Bud Allin 76-70-73-75—294
Dale Douglass 71-77-72-74—294
Miller Barber 74-71-71-78—294
Lee Trevino 72-75-73-75—295
Don January 75-71-74-75—295
Tom Weiskopf 75-71-74-75—295
Steve Melnyk 75-73-74-73—295
Ed Sneed 75-74-73-73—295
David Graham 71-76-74-74—295
Nate Starks 75-72-76-72—295
Jerry Heard 77-67-78-73—295
Tommy Aaron 73-71-82-69—295
John Schlee 75-73-72-76—296
Johnny Miller 75-72-76-73—296
Lanny Wadkins 69-77-77-73—296
Julius Boros 72-77-72-75—296
Al Geiberger 72-72-74-78—296
Dave Stockton 73-73-77-74—297
Gary Player 75-73-72-77—297
Doug Sanders 75-73-76-74—298
Gibby Gilbert 71-76-74-77—298
Dick Rhyan 74-70-77-77—298
Bob E. Smith 78-71-72-77—298
J.C. Snead 76-73-75-75—299
Bob Gilder 76-71-77-75—299
Beau Baugh 77-72-73-77—299
Bob Stanton 77-72-78-72—299
a-Lance Ten Broeck 71-74-79-75—299
Gary Robinson 72-72-76-79—299
Gene Littler 74-73-73-79—299
Wally Armstrong 73-74-77-76—300
Lynn Janson 71-73-78-78—300
Bob Panasik 76-71-76-78—301
Frank Conner 72-72-76-81—301
Marty Fleckman 71-77-79-76—303
Bill Rogers 75-73-81-75—304
Jack Ewing 76-73-77-79—305
Jack Connelly 75-74-78-79—306
Bob Goalby 72-74-80-80—306
Mike Reasor 72-74-82-80—308
Carlton White 74-75-76-86—311
Stan Altgelt 76-72-87-77—312

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