1970 U.S. Open Golf Tournament Results
The 1970 U.S. Open was the 70th time the tournament was played. Tony Jacklin led wire-to-wire and wound up winning by seven strokes, becoming the first English winner of a since 1924.
Winner: Tony Jacklin, 281
Where it was played: Hazeltine National Golf Club in Chaska, Minnesota
Tournament dates: June 18-21, 1970
Leader after first round: Tony Jacklin, 71
Leader after second round: Tony Jacklin, 141
Leader after third round: Tony Jacklin, 211
What Happened in the 1970 U.S. Open
Tony Jacklin was the winner, but just as big a story during this U.S. Open was the golf course. Hazeltine National Golf Club is, today, a regular in the rotation of major American golf events. In 1970, it was a very young golf course, immature in its growth and design. Most of the golfers there that week hated it.Hazeltine opened in 1962 and had already been the site of the 1966 U.S. Women's Open won by Sandra Spuzich. But it was unknown to most of the golfers in the 1970 U.S. Open, and when they did get to know it they were not kind to the place. One of their major complaints was that the course was just too young, too raw — trees that are majestic and serve as windbreaks today were barely there in 1970, for example.
Dave Hill was the most outspoken critic, saying, among things, "They ruined a good farm when they built this." Hill continued, "They should plow it up and start over." That was the guy who finished in second place!
When the winds kicked up in the first round, the scores went high, too: 77 for Lee Trevino, 78 for Raymond Floyd, 79 for Johnny Miller and Arnold Palmer, 81 for Jack Nicklaus. But scoring was so tough that all of them still made the cut.
In the end, a golfer who didn't even break 70 won by seven strokes. Tony Jacklin finished at 7-under 281, the only golfer under par. He had one round of 71 and three rounds of 70. Jacklin was the fourth golfer in U.S. Open history to win wire-to-wire with no ties. Prior to Jacklin the last English-born golfer to win this tournament was Cyril Walker at the 1924 U.S. Open. The last prior European winner was Willie Macfarlane in the 1925 U.S. Open. And after Jacklin, another European didn't win a U.S. Open until Graeme McDowell in 2010.
Some notables names in the field this year: Future major champions Ben Crenshaw and John Mahaffey shared low-amateur honors; famed instructor Davis Love Jr. and future famed instructor Butch Harmon both cashed.
1970 U.S. Open Final Scores
| Tony Jacklin | 71-70-70-70—281 |
| Dave Hill | 75-69-71-73—288 |
| Bob Charles | 76-71-75-67—289 |
| Bob Lunn | 77-72-70-70—289 |
| Ken Still | 78-71-71-71—291 |
| Miller Barber | 75-75-72-70—292 |
| Gay Brewer | 75-71-71-76—293 |
| Larry Ziegler | 75-73-73-73—294 |
| Billy Casper | 75-75-71-73—294 |
| Bruce Devlin | 75-75-71-73—294 |
| Lee Trevino | 77-73-74-70—294 |
| Howie Johnson | 75-72-75-73—295 |
| Joel Goldstrand | 76-76-71-72—295 |
| Julius Boros | 73-75-70-77—295 |
| Gene Littler | 77-72-71-75—295 |
| Bobby Mitchell | 74-78-74-69—295 |
| Bobby Cole | 78-75-71-71—295 |
| Al Balding | 75-74-75-72—296 |
| Randy Wolff | 78-67-76-75—296 |
| Paul Harney | 78-73-75-70—296 |
| Johnny Miller | 79-73-73-71—296 |
| Richard Crawford | 74-71-76-76—297 |
| Raymond Floyd | 78-73-70-76—297 |
| Frank Beard | 75-73-79-70—297 |
| Ted Hayes Jr. | 79-73-73-72—297 |
| Bert Yancey | 81-72-73-71—297 |
| Mason Rudolph | 73-75-73-77—298 |
| Chi Chi Rodriguez | 73-77-75-73—298 |
| Dan Sikes Jr. | 81-69-72-76—298 |
| George Archer | 76-73-77-73—299 |
| Tom Weiskopf | 76-73-78-72—299 |
| Kel Nagle | 78-75-73-73—299 |
| Bruce Crampton | 79-71-74-75—299 |
| Bunky Henry | 80-68-77-74—299 |
| Dave Marr | 82-69-74-74—299 |
| Don Bies | 75-76-76-74—301 |
| Kermit Zarley | 76-76-74-75—301 |
| Tony Evans | 74-75-75-77—301 |
| a-Ben Crenshaw | 75-73-77-76—301 |
| a-John Mahaffey | 77-73-74-77—301 |
| Bob Goalby | 78-74-75-74—301 |
| Dean Refram | 79-74-74-74—301 |
| Bob Erickson | 80-72-79-70—301 |
| Dick Smith | 76-77-76-73—302 |
| Gary Player | 80-73-75-74—302 |
| Lou Graham | 76-75-76-76—303 |
| Monty Kaser | 76-77-74-76—303 |
| Hugh Royer Jr. | 77-76-73-77—303 |
| Tommy Aaron | 77-76-74-76—303 |
| Bobby Nichols | 75-73-80-75—303 |
| Steve Spray | 78-74-74-78—304 |
| Rives McBee | 78-73-74-79—304 |
| Jack Nicklaus | 81-72-75-76—304 |
| Al Mengert | 76-77-76-76—305 |
| John Cook | 77-75-77-76—305 |
| Rolf Deming | 77-76-76-76—305 |
| Fred Marti | 75-78-77-75—305 |
| Arnold Palmer | 79-74-75-77—305 |
| Bert Greene | 77-75-80-73—305 |
| Dewitt Weaver | 82-71-74-78—305 |
| Chris Blocker | 78-75-78-75—306 |
| George Knudson | 82-71-76-77—306 |
| Wayne Yates | 78-75-79-75—307 |
| Charles Coody | 78-74-80-76—308 |
| Bob Rosburg | 79-73-76-80—308 |
| Leon Crump | 78-75-78-79—310 |
| a-Vinny Giles | 76-76-78-80—310 |
| Butch Harmon | 80-72-76-82—310 |
| Gene Borek | 80-73-78-80—311 |
| Jerry McGee | 80-73-78-80—311 |
| Jim Wiechers | 76-75-81-79—311 |
| Davis Love Jr. | 77-76-88-74—315 |
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