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1974 - The Year in Golf, 1974

By , About.com Guide

Hale Irwin

Hale Irwin (show above in an event in England) won the U.S. Open that came to be known as "The Massacre at Winged Foot."

Steve Powell / Getty Images
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Johnny Miller wins eight events on the PGA Tour, including the first three of the year - the first player to do so.

The Tournament Players Championship is played for the first time. Jack Nicklaus is the winner.

Playing the U.S. National Senior Open in Las Vegas, and using a steel-shafted persimmon driver, 64-year-old Mike Austin hits a 515-yard drive. It is recognized as the longest drive ever hit in a pro tournament.

Hale Irwin gets the first of his three U.S. Open championships in the "Massacre at Winged Foot," so-named because of how tough the USGA made Winged Foot Golf Club. Irwin's winning score was 7-over par.

A golf ball called the "Faultless Omega" is the first two-piece ball with a Surlyn cover. Lee Trevino uses it to win the World Series of Golf.

Lee Trevino wins the New Orleans Open with a score of 21-under 267 that includes zero bogeys. This is the most-recent time any player has played a 72-hole tournament on the PGA Tour without making a bogey.

Lee Elder wins the PGA Tour Monsanto Open in a playoff over Peter Oosterhuis. The wins qualifies Elder for next year's Masters, where he will become the first black player in the event.

Sandra Haynie wins the U.S. Women's Open and LPGA Championship, the only LPGA majors played this year.

Bonnie Bryant wins the LPGA Bill Branch Classic. She is the first - and still only - left-handed golfer to win on the LPGA Tour.

Co-designed with Desmond Muirhead, Jack Nicklaus' Muirfield Village Golf Club opens in Dublin, Ohio.

Born This Year:

Karrie Webb, LPGA Hall of Famer
• Emilee Klein, LPGA Tour

Died This Year:

Denny Shute, 3-time major champion
• Helen Hicks, 1934 U.S. Women's Amateur champ and first female golfer to turn pro

Money Leaders:

PGA: Johnny Miller, $353,021.59
LPGA: JoAnne Carner, $87,094
European: Peter Oosterhuis, England, £ 32,127

Scoring Leaders:

PGA (Vardon Trophy): Lee Trevino, 70.53
LPGA (Vare Trophy): JoAnne Carner, 72.87

Men's Major Championship Winners:

The Masters: Gary Player
U.S. Open: Hale Irwin
British Open: Gary Player
PGA Championship: Lee Trevino

Women's Major Championship Winners:

LPGA: Sandra Haynie
U.S. Open: Sandra Haynie

Amateur Champions:

U.S.: Jerry Pate
British: Trevor Homer
U.S. Women's: Cynthia Hill
British Women's: Carol Semple

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