The 1965 U.S. Open was the 65th U.S. Open, held June 17–21 at Bellerive Country Club in Town and Country, Missouri, a suburb west of St. Louis. Gary Player of South Africa defeated Kel Nagle of Australia in an 18-hole playoff to win his only U.S. Open title. Player was the first foreign-born winner of the U.S. Open since 1927, and the win completed his career Grand Slam at age 29.[3] It was the fourth of his nine major titles. The 1965 U.S. Open was the first U.S. Open broadcast on color television.[citation needed]

1965 U.S. Open
Tournament information
DatesJune 17–21, 1965
LocationTown and Country, Missouri
Course(s)Bellerive Country Club
Organized byUSGA
Tour(s)PGA Tour
Statistics
Par70
Length7,191 yards (6,575 m)[1]
Field150 players, 51 after cut
Cut150 (+10)
Prize fund$123,890[2]
Winner's share$26,000
Champion
South Africa Gary Player
282 (+2), playoff
← 1964
1966 →
Bellerive  Country Club is located in the United States
Bellerive  Country Club
Bellerive 
Country Club
Bellerive  Country Club is located in Missouri
Bellerive  Country Club
Bellerive 
Country Club

The five-year-old course at Bellerive was the U.S. Open's longest to date at 7,191 yards (6,575 m), and had the potential to reach 7,500 yards (6,860 m).[4] The quality of the young course's turf varied, with burned out or diseased areas which the USGA did not allow relief from.[4] The field consisted of 136 professionals and 14 amateurs, with the top fifty and ties advancing after 36 holes.[1][5] This was the first time that the U.S. Open was scheduled for four days, with the final round on Sunday. Previously the third and fourth rounds were both played on Saturday.[4] The U.S. Women's Open also changed to this format, held two weeks later in early July.

Course layout

edit
Hole 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Out 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 In Total
Yards 435 446 164 470 465 195 401 580 416 3,562 460 373 460 198 405 456 218 606 453 3,629 7,191
Par 4 4 3 4 4 3 4 5 4 35 4 4 4 3 4 4 3 5 4 35 70

Final round and playoff

edit

In the final round on Sunday, Player owned a three-stroke lead over Nagle with just three holes to play. But while Player double-bogeyed the par-3 16th hole, Nagle birdied the 17th. As Player reached the 18th tee, he knew he needed a birdie to win outright, as Nagle had parred the final hole for 282 (+2). Player had a 28-foot (8.5 m) putt for birdie, but left it 4 inches (10 cm) short and tapped in for a 72-hole tie.[3][6] In the 18-hole playoff on Monday afternoon, Player built a five-shot lead after eight holes and held on to win by three strokes, 71 to 74. He won the championship with fiberglass-shafted golf clubs.[7]

With his win, Player joined Gene Sarazen and Ben Hogan as the only to win all four professional major championships, the career Grand Slam. Jack Nicklaus completed the feat himself the next year at the 1966 British Open. Player was also the first foreign-born winner of the U.S. Open in 38 years, since Scotland's Tommy Armour won in 1927.

Arnold Palmer missed the 36-hole cut by two strokes, the only time from 1962 to 1967 that he placed outside the top-5 at the U.S. Open. Defending champion Ken Venturi was hampered by numbed fingers[4][8] and missed the cut by ten strokes.[9]

Purse donated

edit

The winner's share was $25,000 and both playoff participants received a $1,000 bonus, taken from the gate receipts of the Monday gallery of 6,790. Player donated his winner's share to cancer research ($5,000) and junior golf ($20,000) in the United States, fulfilling an earlier pledge to thank the people of America;[10] his mother died of cancer when he was eight years old.[7] Player paid his caddy $2,000 with his playoff bonus and $1,000 from his pocket.[11]

Round summaries

edit

First round

edit

Thursday, June 17, 1965

Place Player Score To par
1   Kel Nagle 68 −2
T2   Deane Beman (a) 69 −1
  Mason Rudolph
T4   Rex Baxter 70 E
  Lou Graham
  Gary Player
7   Gordon Jones 71 +1
T8   Miller Barber 72 +2
  Julius Boros
  Gay Brewer
  Bruce Devlin
  Raymond Floyd
  Ron Howell
  Steve Opperman
  Dudley Wysong

Source:[12]

Second round

edit

Friday, June 18, 1965

Place Player Score To par
1   Gary Player 70-70=140 E
T2   Kel Nagle 68-73=141 +1
  Mason Rudolph 69-72=141
4   Deane Beman (a) 69-73=142 +2
5   Frank Beard 74-69=143 +3
T6   Raymond Floyd 72-72=144 +3
  Gene Littler 73-71=144
T8   Rex Baxter 70-75=145 +5
  Bruce Devlin 72-73=145
  Gordon Jones 71-74=145

Source:[13][14]

Third round

edit

Saturday, June 19, 1965

Place Player Score To par
1   Gary Player 70-70-71=211 +1
T2   Frank Beard 74-69-70=213 +3
  Kel Nagle 68-73-72=213
4   Mason Rudolph 69-72-73=214 +4
5   Al Geiberger 70-76-70=216 +6
T6   Julius Boros 72-75-70=217 +7
  Gay Brewer 72-74-71=217
  Bruce Devlin 72-73-72=217
  Gene Littler 73-71-73=217
  Dudley Wysong 72-75-70=217

Source:[9]

Final round

edit

Sunday, June 20, 1965

Place Player Score To par Money ($)
T1   Gary Player 70-70-71-71=282 +2 Playoff
  Kel Nagle 68-73-72-69=282
3   Frank Beard 74-69-70-71=284 +4 9,000
T4   Julius Boros 72-75-70-70=287 +7 6,500
  Al Geiberger 70-76-70-71=287
T6   Bruce Devlin 72-73-72-71=288 +8 4,500
  Raymond Floyd 72-72-76-68=288
T8   Tony Lema 72-74-73-70=289 +9 2,500
  Gene Littler 73-71-73-72=289
  Dudley Wysong 72-75-70-72=289

Scorecard

edit
Hole 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18
Par 4 4 3 4 4 3 4 5 4 4 4 4 3 4 4 3 5 4
  Player +1 +1 +1 +1 +1 +1 E E E +1 +1 E E E E +2 +2 +2
  Nagle +3 +2 +2 +3 +3 +3 +3 +3 +3 +2 +2 +1 +1 +1 +3 +3 +2 +2

Cumulative tournament scores, relative to par

Birdie Bogey Double bogey

Source:[15]

Playoff

edit

Monday, June 21, 1965

Place Player Score To par Money ($)
1   Gary Player 33-38=71 +1 26,000
2   Kel Nagle 38-36=74 +4 13,500
  • Included in earnings is a playoff bonus of $1,000 each, from the playoff gate receipts.[11]

Scorecard

edit
Hole  1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9  10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18
Par 4 4 3 4 4 3 4 5 4 4 4 4 3 4 4 3 5 4
  Player E −1 −2 −1 −1 −1 −1 −2 −2 −1 −1 −1 −1 −1 −1 −1 E +1
  Nagle +1 E E E +2 +2 +3 +3 +3 +4 +4 +4 +4 +4 +4 +4 +4 +4
Birdie Bogey Double bogey

Source:[7]

References

edit
  1. ^ a b MacDonald, Jim (June 17, 1965). "Open could become putt, putt, putt, putt". Toledo Blade. p. 40.
  2. ^ "U.S. Open history: 1965". USGA. Archived from the original on April 17, 2013. Retrieved June 22, 2012.
  3. ^ a b Wright, Alfred (June 28, 1965). "Two foreign blokes shock the slammers". Sports Illustrated. p. 24.
  4. ^ a b c d Gundelfinger, Phil Jr. (June 17, 1965). "Palmer fires 67 in final Open tuneup". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. p. 32.
  5. ^ MacDonald, Jim (June 18, 1965). "Banjo". Toledo Blade. Ohio. p. 40.
  6. ^ Gudelfinger, Phil (June 21, 1965). "Player, Nagle finish in tie for Open". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. p. 25.
  7. ^ a b c MacDonald, Jim (June 22, 1965). "Foreign aid plan reversed: Player repays 'American kindness' by donating purse". Toledo Blade. Ohio. p. 20.
  8. ^ "Will Venturi ever be right?". Eugene Register-Guard. Oregon. Associated Press. June 20, 1965. p. 3B.
  9. ^ a b "South Africa's Black Knight unhorses hungry challengers". Eugene Register-Guard. Oregon. Associated Press. June 20, 1965. p. 3B.
  10. ^ "Grateful Gary gives $25,000 purse to USGA". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Associated Press. June 22, 1965. p. 18.
  11. ^ a b Gundelfinger, Phil (June 22, 1965). "Player wins Open playoff by 3 strokes". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. p. 1.
  12. ^ "National Open scores". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. June 18, 1965. p. 20.
  13. ^ "Open scores (second round)". Toledo Blade. June 19, 1965. p. 18.
  14. ^ "National Open golf scoreboard". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. June 19, 1965. p. 13.
  15. ^ "U.S. Open History". USGA. Retrieved May 21, 2019.
edit

38°39′36″N 90°28′59″W / 38.66°N 90.483°W / 38.66; -90.483