[Phil Burr]

There are probably members who can rattle this off in their sleep, but can anyone identify the only player in the post-WWII US Open era to play 72 holes at the Open without a single round in the 70s?  The response also needs to identify the venue and year.

[Jeff Schley]

Phil,
Interesting question.  I had a guess, but looked it up and was correct. A better question could also be, who is the only player who did the same (no score in the 70's) but didn't win the US Open? That was what I had forgotten.

[Matt_Cohn]

I didn't know, so I looked it up and it has happened multiple times.

[Billsteele]

I always thought the first to do it was Lee Trevino at Oak Hill in 1968.

[Phil Burr]

I believe Trevino was the first to shoot all four rounds in the 60s, in 1968 at Oak Hill.


Jeff, I believe the answer to your question in Brooks Koepka, runner-up to Gary Woodland at Pebble in 2019.

[Pat Burke]

David Canipe

[Cliff Hamm]

My favorite U.S. Open trivia is:  The U.S. Open record for nine holes is 29. One player did it twice. Who is it?

[Kevin_Reilly]

My favorite U.S. Open trivia is:  The U.S. Open record for nine holes is 29. One player did it twice. Who is it?

Yes, that is a great one...and generally no one would get it correct (without Google).

[Pat Burke]

My favorite U.S. Open trivia is:  The U.S. Open record for nine holes is 29. One player did it twice. Who is it?

Yes, that is a great one...and generally no one would get it correct (without Google).

And what a beauty he was

[Cliff Hamm]

Not only would very few answer correctly, but most likely would not be familiar with him!

[Phil Burr]

Without consulting any sources I'm pretty sure Neal Lancaster shot 29 once.  Could he have done it a second time?

[Cliff Hamm]

Phil, you are correct. Impressive to answer without Google. He shot 29 in 1995 at Shinnecock (finished 4th) and then in 1996 he did it again at Oakland Hills (finished 82nd).  Only played in one other U.S. Open and missed the cut.

[Phil Burr]

I realize now my question was not properly worded.  It was taken from a USGA centennial quiz issued at least 25 years ago, before brooks Koepka shot 4 rounds in the 60s in 2019 at Pebble but didn't win.  Better wording to my question would be "other than Brooks, who is the only post-WWII non-winner to complete all four rounds at the Open without a single round in the 70s?".

[Phil Burr]

Hint: the player I'm looking for was in sole possession of the lead after round 1.

[Phil Burr]

Thanks Cliff.  I only remember that his 29 at Shinnecock got a fair amount of media attention.  Since I have no clue who else has shot 29 I thought I'd push Neal out there.

[AChao]

Pretty mind-blowing how good you have to be to shoot 29 in a US Open at Shinnecock or Oakland Hills ...

[Matthew Rose]

Gil Morgan at Pebble? Probably not obscure enough.

I remember him being way ahead and then capitulating, which made me wonder if he shot in the 60s twice and then the 80s twice.

[Phil Burr]

As for shooting 29, you'd think the back none at Merion, with its par of 34, might have been a likely venue to see it happen.


Gil Morgan is incorrect.  If I remember correctly, his dominance of the '92 tournament extended through the front nine on Saturday before he put it in reverse.  He shot 40 on the back nine Saturday and 81 on Sunday, so only some decent play on Saturday's front none prevented him from being the correct answer.

[Phil Burr]

The correct answer comes out of the '63 Open at the Country Club.  Leaderboard after the first round:


Bob Gajda - 69 (-2)
Jacky Cupit - 70 (-1)
Julius Boros - 71 (E)
Lionel Hebert - 71 (E)
Davis Love Jr. - 71 (E)
Tony Lema 71 (E)


Julius Boros eventually won the tournament in a playoff with Arnold Palmer and Jacky Cupit after they all tied at plus nine 293 (and we refer to Winged Foot '74 as a massacre!).


What came of Bob Gajda after his moment in the sun?  A second round 80 left him comfortably inside the cut line of 152.  He backed that up with rounds of 84-80.


Absolutely brutal tournament.  Remember this was the next-to-last year they played a 36 hole final day.  The average third round score was 78.4 and the average fourth round score was 77.3, so the field averaged over 156 strokes the final day!  New England legend Paul Harney had the lowest final day total at 146 and missed the playoff by just a stroke.


It's worth noting this was Jack Nicklaus' only missed cut at a US Open from his debut in 1960 until 1985.

[Pat Burke]

1984 US Open
David Canipe. [size=78%]69-69-81-83—302[/size]

[Phil Burr]

Good call Mr. Burke.  Thanks for reminding me how old I've become by letting me know how long ago I took that USGA quiz when Bob Gajda was the only correct answer!!

[Peter Flory]

Separate topic, but related to US Open and it's trivial. 


If you take all the winner's scores for the history of the US Open, it adds up to 2 over par.  That means that the cumulative winning scores tally it is likely to go negative this year for the first time in history. 

[Pat Burke]

Good call Mr. Burke.  Thanks for reminding me how old I've become by letting me know how long ago I took that USGA quiz when Bob Gajda was the only correct answer!!

Oh, I understand completely!!! 

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