1979 U.S. Open Winner and Scores
The 1979 U.S. Open was the 79th time the major championship tournament was played. Hale Irwin claimed his second win in this tournament.
Winner: Hale Irwin, 284
Where it was played: Inverness Club in Toledo, Ohio
Tournament dates: June 14-17, 1979
Leader after first round: Tom Purtzer, Lou Graham, Andy Bean, Lon Hinkle and Keith Fergus, 70
Leader after second round: Larry Nelson and Tom Purtzer, 139
Leader after third round: Hale Irwin, 209
What Happened in the 1979 U.S. Open Golf Tournament
A third-round 67 gave Hale Irwin the lead heading into the final round of the 1979 U.S. Open, by three strokes over Tom Weiskopf. And Irwin needed that cushion, because he did not play well down the stretch in the final round: His 75 included bogeys on Holes 11 and 14, a double bogey at the 17th, and another bogey on the final hole.But Weiskopf didn't do any better, scoring a final-round 76. There were players who scored well in the final round, but they started too far back to catch Irwin.
Irwin wound up with his second victory in a U.S. Open, winning by two strokes over two past champions, Gary Player and Jerry Pate. Player, who shot a final-round 68, started the round nine behind Irwin; Pate, who closed with a 72, began the final round five behind Irwin. Weiskopf finished in a tie for fourth.
It was the last Top 10 finish in a U.S. Open for the 43-year-old Player, his second-to-last Top 5 finish in any of the majors. He had previously finished runner-up in the 1958 U.S. Open, and won the 1965 U.S. Open. Among those making the cut this year was the amateur Fred Couples, aged 19 and playing in his first major championship. Finishing 48th, Couples was the low amateur.
An incident that has passed into U.S. Open lore occurred during the first round. Lon Hinkle realized if he deliberately played his tee shot on the dogleg, par-5 No. 8 hole into the fairway of the 17th hole, he could greatly shorten the hole and reach the green in two. He did exactly that and made birdie. When players arrived at the course for Round 2, they discovered that overnight the USGA had planted a tree near the No. 8 teeing ground that blocked the possibility of playing the hole that way.
1979 U.S. Open Final Scores
| Hale Irwin | 74-68-67-75—284 |
| Gary Player | 73-73-72-68—286 |
| Jerry Pate | 71-74-69-72—286 |
| Bill Rogers | 71-72-73-72—288 |
| Tom Weiskopf | 71-74-67-76—288 |
| Larry Nelson | 71-68-76-73—288 |
| David Graham | 73-73-70-73—289 |
| Tom Purtzer | 70-69-75-76—290 |
| Keith Fergus | 70-77-72-72—291 |
| Jack Nicklaus | 74-77-72-68—291 |
| Calvin Peete | 72-75-71-75—293 |
| Ed Sneed | 72-73-75-73—293 |
| Ben Crenshaw | 75-71-72-75—293 |
| Andy North | 77-74-68-74—293 |
| Lee Elder | 74-72-69-78—293 |
| Graham Marsh | 77-71-72-74—294 |
| Jim Simons | 74-74-78-68—294 |
| Bob Gilder | 77-70-69-78—294 |
| D.A. Weibring | 74-76-71-74—295 |
| Lanny Wadkins | 73-74-71-77—295 |
| Lee Trevino | 77-73-73-72—295 |
| Bobby Walzel | 74-72-71-78—295 |
| Al Geiberger | 74-74-69-78—295 |
| Hubert Green | 74-77-73-72—296 |
| Mike Reid | 74-75-74-74—297 |
| Bobby Nichols | 76-75-71-75—297 |
| Lou Graham | 70-75-77-75—297 |
| Wayne Levi | 77-73-75-72—297 |
| Bob Murphy | 72-79-69-77—297 |
| Andy Bean | 70-76-71-80—297 |
| Bob E. Smith | 77-71-69-80—297 |
| Dale Douglass | 72-76-76-74—298 |
| Lynn Janson | 77-71-77-73—298 |
| Chi Chi Rodriguez | 73-76-71-78—298 |
| Howard Twitty | 73-78-71-76—298 |
| Jim Dent | 75-76-75-73—299 |
| Isao Aoki | 73-77-76-73—299 |
| Billy Kratzert | 77-73-73-76—299 |
| John Mahaffey | 77-73-74-75—299 |
| Dave Stockton | 75-70-78-76—299 |
| Jim Nelford | 75-76-73-76—300 |
| Jack Renner | 76-75-75-74—300 |
| Bruce Lietzke | 74-77-73-76—300 |
| Jim Colbert | 71-74-78-77—300 |
| Dana Quigley | 71-78-74-77—300 |
| Larry Ziegler | 77-72-78-73—300 |
| Forrest Fezler | 73-77-73-78—301 |
| Frank Conner | 73-78-73-78—302 |
| George Burns | 74-73-78-77—302 |
| Greg Norman | 76-74-74-78—302 |
| a-Fred Couples | 76-74-80-72—302 |
| Rod Funseth | 73-74-74-81—302 |
| a-Joey Rassett | 75-75-77-77—304 |
| Eddie Pearce | 75-75-76-78—304 |
| a-John Cook | 71-80-77-76—304 |
| Joe Inman | 72-77-75-80—304 |
| Lon Hinkle | 70-77-76-81—304 |
| David Edwards | 74-76-84-70—304 |
| Eric Batten | 74-76-77-78—305 |
| Arnold Palmer | 76-73-75-81—305 |
| John Gentile | 73-75-77-81—306 |
| Mac McLendon | 77-74-80-78—309 |
| Tony Peterson | 74-75-84-79—312 |
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1978 U.S. Open - 1980 U.S. Open