| 1978 U.S. Open | |
| Dates: | June 15–18, 1978 |
| Location: | Cherry Hills Village, Colorado |
| Course: | Cherry Hills Country Club |
| Org: | USGA |
| Tour: | PGA Tour |
| Par: | 71 |
| Yardage: | [1] |
| Field: | 153 players, 63 after cut |
| Cut: | 150 (+8) [2] |
| Winners Share: | $45,000 |
| Champion: |  Andy North |
| Score: | 285 (+1) |
| Previous: | 1977 |
| Next: | 1979 |
The 1978 U.S. Open was the 78th U.S. Open, held June 15–18 at Cherry Hills Country Club in Cherry Hills Village, Colorado, a suburb south of Denver. Andy North held on for a one-stroke victory over runners-up Dave Stockton and J. C. Snead to claim the first of his two U.S. Open titles.[3] [4]
The strength in North's game was putting, and he needed only 114 putts over 72 holes, tying the record set by Billy Casper in 1966. This was North's second win on the PGA Tour, but he would not win again until the 1985 U.S. Open; of North's three career PGA Tour wins, two of them came at the U.S. Open.
This was the third U.S. Open at Cherry Hills, which previously hosted in 1938 and 1960. It was also the site of the PGA Championship in 1941, and later hosted in 1985. The average elevation of the course exceeds 5300feet above sea level.
Three players received special exemptions into the field. They were Billy Casper, Seve Ballesteros, and Arnold Palmer.[5]
Forty-three golfers received an exemption from the qualifying process. The PGA Tour felt this was too few players. To protest, the PGA Tour staged the Buick Open the same week to compete with the U.S. Open.
See main article: Cherry Hills Country Club.
| Hole | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Out | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | In | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yards | 399 | 419 | 323 | 429 | 543 | 166 | 384 | 229 | 432 | 3,324 | 437 | 594 | 203 | 382 | 486 | 208 | 419 | 550 | 480 | 3,759 | 7,083 | |
| Par | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 35 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 36 | 71 |
Lengths of the course for previous major championships:
Thursday, June 15, 1978
| Place | Player | Score | To par |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hale Irwin | 69 | −2 |
| T2 | Bobby Clampett (a) | 70 | −1 |
| Andy North | |||
| J. C. Snead | |||
| T5 | Bill Brask | 71 | E |
| Billy Casper | |||
| Al Geiberger | |||
| Phil Hancock | |||
 Gary Player | |||
| Dave Stockton | |||
| Bobby Wadkins |
Friday, June 16, 1978
| Place | Player | Score | To par | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Andy North | align=center | 70-70=140 | −2 |
| T2 | Jack Nicklaus | 73-69=142 | E | |
| Gary Player | align=center | 71-71=142 | ||
| J. C. Snead | align=center | 70-72=142 | ||
| T5 | Bobby Clampett (a) | 70-73=143 | +1 | |
| Mark Hayes | align=center | 73-70=143 | ||
| Hale Irwin | align=center | 69-74=143 | ||
| Lee Trevino | align=center | 72-71=143 | ||
| T9 |  Seve Ballesteros | 75-69=144 | +2 | |
| Andy Bean | align=center | 72-72=144 | ||
| Phil Hancock | align=center | 71-73=144 | ||
| Joe Inman | align=center | 72-72=144 | ||
| Peter Oosterhuis | align=center | 72-72=144 | ||
| Dave Stockton | align=center | 71-73=144 |
Amateurs: Clampett (+1), Holtgrieve (+8), Heafner (+9), Miller (+9), Edwards (+11), Choate (+16), Hodge (+17), Lewis (+21), Pomerantz (+25).
Saturday, June 17, 1978
| Place | Player | Score | To par |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Andy North | 70-70-71=211 | −2 |
| 2 | Gary Player | 71-71-70=212 | −1 |
| T3 | J. C. Snead | 70-72-72=214 | +1 |
| Dave Stockton | 71-73-70=214 | ||
| T5 | Seve Ballesteros | 75-69-71=215 | +2 |
| Andy Bean | 72-72-71=215 | ||
| Johnny Miller | 78-69-68=215 | ||
| T8 | Tom Kite | 73-73-70=216 | +3 |
| Billy Kratzert | 72-74-70=216 | ||
| Jack Nicklaus | 73-69-74=216 |
Sunday, June 18, 1978
North began the final round with a one-stroke lead over Gary Player. Two months earlier, Player had won the Masters with a blistering 64 in the final round. History, however, would not repeat itself, as this time around Player struggled to a 77 (+6) and finished in a tie for 6th. North owned a four-shot lead over Snead heading to the back-nine, and after birdies at 11 and 13 he appeared to have the championship wrapped up. A bogey at 14, however, combined with a double-bogey at 15 and a birdie by Dave Stockton at the same hole dropped his lead to just one. Stockton, however, missed an 18-footer (5.5 m) for par at 18, increasing North's lead to two.
Snead had a chance for birdie at the last after his tee shot skipped off the water and onto the fairway, but he missed the birdie putt. Needing just a bogey at 18 to win, North's drive found the rough. He hit his second shot into the fairway, then his third found a greenside bunker. Needing to get up-and-down, he played his sand shot to five feet (1.5 m), and after backing off twice, sank the bogey putt for the one-stroke win.[7] [8]
| Place | Player | Score | To par | Money ($) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Andy North | 70-70-71-74=285 | +1 | 45,000 |
| T2 | 70-72-72-72=286 | +2 | 19,750 | |
| 71-73-70-72=286 | ||||
| T4 | 69-74-75-70=288 | +4 | 13,000 | |
| 77-73-70-68=288 | ||||
| T6 | 72-72-71-74=289 | +5 | 7,548 | |
| 72-74-70-73=289 | ||||
| 78-69-68-74=289 | ||||
| 73-69-74-73=289 | ||||
| 71-71-70-77=289 | ||||
| 74-75-70-70=289 |
Amateurs: Bobby Clampett (+13), Jim Holtgrieve (+20)
Final round
| Hole | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Par | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 4 | |
| North | −2 | −2 | −2 | −3 | −4 | −4 | −4 | −3 | −2 | −1 | −2 | −2 | −3 | −2 | E | E | E | +1 | |
| Snead | +1 | +1 | +1 | +1 | +1 | E | E | +1 | +2 | +2 | +2 | +2 | +2 | +2 | +2 | +2 | +2 | +2 | |
| Stockton | +1 | +2 | +2 | +2 | +2 | +2 | +2 | +2 | +2 | +2 | +1 | +1 | +1 | +2 | +1 | +1 | +1 | +2 | |
| Irwin | +6 | +6 | +6 | +6 | +5 | +4 | +4 | +5 | +4 | +5 | +4 | +4 | +4 | +4 | +4 | +4 | +3 | +4 | |
| Weiskopf | +7 | +7 | +7 | +7 | +6 | +6 | +6 | +6 | +7 | +6 | +5 | +5 | +5 | +5 | +5 | +5 | +4 | +4 | |
| Player | −1 | E | +1 | +1 | +1 | +1 | +1 | +2 | +3 | +3 | +3 | +4 | +4 | +4 | +5 | +5 | +4 | +5 |
| Double Eagle | Eagle --> | Birdie | Bogey | Double bogey | Triple bogey+ --> |