1967 U.S. Open Winner and Scores
The 1967 U.S. Open was the 67th time the tournament was played. For the first three rounds, the story was an amateur golfer named Marty Fleckman. In the end, though, the story was Jack Nicklaus.
Winner: Jack Nicklaus, 275
Where it was played: Baltusrol Golf Club in Springfield, New Jersey
Tournament dates: June 15-18, 1967
Leader after first round: Marty Fleckman, 67
Leader after second round: Arnold Palmer, 137
Leader after third round: Marty Fleckman, 209
What Happened at the 1967 U.S. Open
Marty Fleckman was a 23-year-old amateur who led after the first and third rounds. Fleckman opened with a 67 to lead Jack Nicklaus by two; Arnold Palmer had the 36-hole lead, then Fleckman took the lead back with a third-round 69. Entering the final round, Fleckman held a 1-stroke lead over Nicklaus, Palmer and defending champion Billy Casper.But an amateur winner was not in the cards. Fleckman started the final round cold, and just got colder. He finished with an 80, dropping back to a tie for 18th place.
Casper played solid in the fourth round with a 72, but Palmer and Nicklaus stole the show. The rivals played the final round together, but Nicklaus reeled off a streak of five birdies over the last six holes of the front nine to build a four-stroke lead over Palmer. And four strokes is what the final margin was, Nicklaus at 275 and Palmer at 279.
Nicklaus' total set a new U.S. Open scoring record (since broken), bettering the previous mark of 276 by Ben Hogan at the 1948 U.S. Open. His 65 in Round 4 tied the tournament record for lowest final-round score, a record broken by Johnny Miller's closing 63 in the 1973 U.S. Open. It was Nicklaus' second win the U.S. Open, the seventh major championship win of his career. Nicklaus' 275 total wasn't bettered until the 1980 U.S. Open, when the Golden Bear shot 272, once again at Baltusrol.
Palmer did gain the distinction of being the first player to break 280 in the U.S. Open twice. But unfortunately for Palmer, he didn't win either of those tournaments. His first time breaking 280 was the previous year, when he lost to Casper in a playoff. Palmer finished second in a U.S. Open four times, and this was the last of those four runners-up. All four of those runner-up showings happened from 1962 to 1967; in those six years, Palmer finished inside the Top 5 in the U.S. Open five times (and missed the cut the other year).
For Lee Trevino, who finished fifth, it was his first Top 10 finish in a major in just his second appearance in a major. Trevino was in his rookie season on the PGA Tour, and went on to win the following year at the 1968 U.S. Open. The 1967 U.S. Open was Hogan's final time playing in a major; he finished tied for 34th.
1967 U.S. Open Final Scores
| Jack Nicklaus | 71-67-72-65—275 |
| Arnold Palmer | 69-68-73-69—279 |
| Don January | 69-72-70-70—281 |
| Billy Casper | 69-70-71-72—282 |
| Lee Trevino | 72-70-71-70—283 |
| Deane Beman | 69-71-71-73—284 |
| Gardner Dickinson | 70-73-68-73—284 |
| Bob Goalby | 72-71-70-71—284 |
| Dave Marr | 70-74-70-71—285 |
| Kel Nagle | 70-72-72-71—285 |
| Art Wall | 69-73-72-71—285 |
| Al Balding | 75-72-71-68—286 |
| Wes Ellis | 74-69-70-73—286 |
| Gary Player | 69-73-73-71—286 |
| Tom Weiskopf | 72-71-74-70—287 |
| Dutch Harrison | 70-76-72-70—288 |
| Jerry Pittman | 72-72-75-69—288 |
| Miller Barber | 71-71-69-78—289 |
| a-Marty Fleckman | 67-73-69-80—289 |
| Paul Harney | 71-75-72-71—289 |
| Dave Hill | 76-69-69-75—289 |
| Bob Verwey | 75-71-69-74—289 |
| Bruce Devlin | 72-68-77-73—290 |
| Billy Farrell | 76-71-73-70—290 |
| Howie Johnson | 74-73-71-72—290 |
| a-Bob Murphy | 73-73-75-69—290 |
| Bobby Nichols | 74-71-73-72—290 |
| Charles Coody | 77-71-75-68—291 |
| Mike Fetchick | 73-71-76-71—291 |
| Al Geiberger | 71-73-73-74—291 |
| Lou Graham | 71-75-76-69—291 |
| Labron Harris Jr. | 75-71-72-73—291 |
| Ken Venturi | 74-74-72-71—291 |
| Ben Hogan | 72-72-76-72—292 |
| Tom Nieporte | 72-71-74-75—292 |
| Doug Sanders | 76-72-74-70—292 |
| Rod Funseth | 78-69-75-71—293 |
| Don Bies | 71-73-72-78—294 |
| Gay Brewer | 74-70-76-74—294 |
| Raymond Floyd | 74-74-73-73—294 |
| Mason Rudolph | 78-70-75-71—294 |
| Butch Baird | 72-73-77-73—295 |
| Chi Chi Rodriguez | 69-75-76-75—295 |
| Bob McCallister | 75-73-74-73—295 |
| Bert Yancey | 72-73-71-79—295 |
| Bruce Cudd | 73-73-75-75—296 |
| Dick Sikes | 74-74-76-72—296 |
| Frank Boynton | 74-72-74-77—297 |
| Don Essig III | 75-72-75-75—297 |
| Ted Kroll | 73-72-74-78—297 |
| Steve Oppermann | 73-73-76-75—297 |
| Tom Strange Jr. | 72-73-76-76—297 |
| Bob Zimmerman | 73-75-72-77—297 |
| Frank Beard | 73-73-77-75—298 |
| Bobby Clark | 76-71-75-76—298 |
| Bob Hold | 71-71-78-78—298 |
| Cesar Sanudo | 73-73-79-73—298 |
| Rocky Thompson | 75-71-77-75—298 |
| Carl Unis | 74-72-75-77—298 |
| Dick Lotz | 76-67-80-76—299 |
| Rives McBee | 76-72-73-78—299 |
| Mac Hunter | 75-72-78-75—300 |
| Jimmy Ferriell | 73-73-81-75—302 |
| Chuck Scally | 73-74-79-80—306 |
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