The 1972 U.S. Open was the 72nd U.S. Open, held June 15–18 at Pebble Beach Golf Links in Pebble Beach, California. Jack Nicklaus, age 32, captured his third U.S. Open title, three strokes ahead of runner-up Bruce Crampton.[3][4][5][6] This was the first of six major championships held to date at Pebble Beach: five U.S. Opens and the PGA Championship in 1977. This was also the first time the U.S. Open was played at a public golf course.
| Tournament information | |
|---|---|
| Dates | June 15–18, 1972 |
| Location | Pebble Beach, California 36°34′05″N 121°57′00″W / 36.568°N 121.950°W |
| Course(s) | Pebble Beach Golf Links |
| Organized by | USGA |
| Tour(s) | PGA Tour |
| Statistics | |
| Par | 72 |
| Length | 6,812 yards (6,229 m)[1] |
| Field | 150 players, 70 after cut |
| Cut | 154 (+10) |
| Prize fund | $194,600[2] |
| Winner's share | $30,000 |
| Champion | |
 Jack Nicklaus | |
| 290 (+2) | |
| Location map | |
  Pebble Beach Location in the United States  Pebble Beach Location in California | |
Scoring conditions during the final round were extremely difficult;[7] the average was 78.8, the highest in post-war U.S. Open history. Nicklaus' 290 (+2) was the second-highest winning score during that span. It was Nicklaus' eleventh career major championship as a professional, tying the record of Walter Hagen. When combined with his two U.S. Amateur wins, it was his thirteenth major, equaling Bobby Jones for most all-time.[5][8]
Defending champion Lee Trevino had been hospitalized in Texas for several days for bronchitis and pneumonia; he was released on Tuesday, two days before the first round,[9][10][11][12] and tied for fourth.[3][5]
It was the second consecutive major title for Nicklaus, who won the Masters in April. Previous winners of the first two majors of the year were Craig Wood (1941), Ben Hogan (1951, 1953), and Arnold Palmer (1960); later champions of both were Tiger Woods (2002) and Jordan Spieth (2015). In addition, Nicklaus held the PGA Championship title from February 1971; four weeks later, he was the runner-up by a single stroke at the Open Championship at Muirfield, Scotland.
Nicklaus won seven additional majors, the last at the Masters fourteen years later in 1986 at age 46.
Course layout
| Hole | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Out | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | In | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yards | 385 | 504 | 368 | 325 | 180 | 515 | 120 | 425 | 450 | 3,272 | 436 | 380 | 205 | 400 | 555 | 406 | 400 | 218 | 540 | 3,540 | 6,812 |
| Par | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 36 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 36 | 72 |
Round summaries
First round
Thursday, June 15, 1972
| Place | Player | Score | To par |
|---|---|---|---|
| T1 | Jack Nicklaus | 71 | −1 |
| Orville Moody | |||
| Chi-Chi Rodríguez | |||
| Mason Rudolph | |||
| Tom Shaw | |||
| Kermit Zarley | |||
| T7 |  Bobby Cole | 72 | E |
| Don Massengale | |||
| Gary Player | |||
 Cesar Sanudo |
Source:[13]
Second round
Friday, June 16, 1972
| Place | Player | Score | To par |
|---|---|---|---|
| T1 | Jack Nicklaus | 71-73=144 | E |
 Bruce Crampton | 74-70=144 | ||
| Kermit Zarley | 71-73=144 | ||
| Lanny Wadkins | 76-68=144 | ||
| Homero Blancas | 74-70=144 | ||
| Cesar Sanudo | 72-72=144 | ||
| 7 | Arnold Palmer | 77-68=145 | +1 |
| T8 | Lee Trevino | 74-72=146 | +2 |
| Lee Elder | 75-71=146 | ||
| Ralph Johnston | 74-72=146 | ||
| Rod Funseth | 73-73=146 | ||
| Gary Player | 72-74=146 | ||
| Chi-Chi Rodríguez | 71-75=146 |
Source:[14]
Third round
Saturday, June 17, 1972
| Place | Player | Score | To par |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jack Nicklaus | 71-73-72=216 | E |
| T2 | Bruce Crampton | 74-70-73=217 | +1 |
| Kermit Zarley | 71-73-73=217 | ||
| Lee Trevino | 74-72-71=217 | ||
| T5 | Arnold Palmer | 77-68-73=218 | +2 |
| Johnny Miller | 74-73-71=218 | ||
| T7 | Homero Blancas | 74-70-76=220 | +4 |
| Tom Weiskopf | 73-74-73=220 | ||
| T9 | Don January | 76-71-74=221 | +5 |
| Gary Player | 72-74-75=221 |
Source:[15]
Final round
Sunday, June 18, 1972
In high winds, Nicklaus was even par on the front nine; after a double-bogey at the tenth, Arnold Palmer and Bruce Crampton trailed by just two shots. Palmer had a chance to tie Nicklaus at the 14th, but he missed a 10-footer (3 m) for birdie. Down by one stroke, Palmer bogeyed the next two holes and finished with a final-round 76, four shots behind.
With a three-shot lead over Crampton on the tee of the par-3 17th, Nicklaus hit one of his most famous shots. His 1-iron went directly at the pin, bounced once, struck the flagstick, and settled inches from the hole for a tap-in birdie.[16] With the lead at four strokes on the final tee, he bogeyed for 74 (+2) and the win.[5][17]
| Place | Player | Score | To par | Money ($) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jack Nicklaus | 71-73-72-74=290 | +2 | 30,000 |
| 2 | Bruce Crampton | 74-70-73-76=293 | +5 | 15,000 |
| 3 | Arnold Palmer | 77-68-73-76=294 | +6 | 10,000 |
| T4 | Homero Blancas | 74-70-76-75=295 | +7 | 7,500 |
| Lee Trevino | 74-72-71-78=295 | |||
| 6 | Kermit Zarley | 71-73-73-79=296 | +8 | 6,000 |
| 7 | Johnny Miller | 74-73-71-79=297 | +9 | 5,000 |
| 8 | Tom Weiskopf | 73-74-73-78=298 | +10 | 4,000 |
| T9 | Chi-Chi Rodríguez | 71-75-78-75=299 | +11 | 3,250 |
| Cesar Sanudo | 72-72-78-77=299 |
Scorecard
| Hole | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Par | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 5 |
| Nicklaus | E | −1 | −1 | E | +1 | +1 | E | E | E | +2 | +2 | +3 | +3 | +3 | +2 | +2 | +1 | +2 |
| Crampton | +1 | E | +2 | +2 | +2 | +3 | +3 | +3 | +3 | +4 | +5 | +5 | +5 | +6 | +5 | +5 | +5 | +5 |
| Palmer | +2 | +2 | +1 | +1 | +1 | +2 | +2 | +3 | +3 | +4 | +4 | +4 | +4 | +4 | +5 | +6 | +6 | +6 |
| Blancas | +4 | +3 | +3 | +3 | +2 | +2 | +2 | +2 | +2 | +3 | +3 | +5 | +5 | +5 | +5 | +6 | +6 | +7 |
| Trevino | +1 | +2 | +3 | +3 | +3 | +4 | +4 | +4 | +4 | +5 | +6 | +6 | +7 | +6 | +6 | +6 | +7 | +7 |
| Zarley | +1 | +1 | +1 | +1 | +1 | +1 | +2 | +3 | +4 | +5 | +5 | +6 | +6 | +9 | +9 | +9 | +8 | +8 |
| Miller | +1 | +1 | +1 | +3 | +3 | +3 | +4 | +6 | +7 | +7 | +7 | +7 | +7 | +8 | +9 | +9 | +9 | +9 |
| Weiskopf | +5 | +4 | +4 | +6 | +5 | +5 | +5 | +6 | +6 | +8 | +8 | +8 | +8 | +9 | +8 | +7 | +8 | +10 |
| Rodriguez | +8 | +8 | +9 | +8 | +8 | +9 | +9 | +9 | +10 | +10 | +10 | +10 | +10 | +10 | +10 | +11 | +12 | +11 |
| Sanudo | +12 | +11 | +11 | +12 | +12 | +12 | +11 | +10 | +11 | +11 | +10 | +10 | +10 | +10 | +11 | +11 | +11 | +11 |
Cumulative tournament scores, relative to par
Birdie Bogey Double bogey Triple bogey+