| 1971 U.S. Open | |
Lee Trevino defeated Jack Nicklaus in an 18-hole playoff a day after a series of missed opportunities on the 72nd hole cost several players chances to either win or tie.
Trevino and Nicklaus each had opportunities to win on the 72nd hole, but Trevino missed a 6-foot putt for par, and Nicklaus missed a 15-foot putt for birdie. Amateur Jim Simons could have joined the playoff with a final-hole birdie, but double-bogied after driving into the rough. Bob Rosburg, 1959 PGA Championship winner but later more famous as a golf broadcaster, three-putted the final green for bogey when a birdie would have gotten him into the playoff.
Here's what actually happened: Trevino pulled a rubber snake from his golf bag on the first tee, causing laughter in the gallery. Nicklaus, who was on the other side of the tee box, asked Trevino to toss the "snake" over, which Trevino did. Nicklaus picked it up, chuckled, and tossed it back. That's it. Nobody was unsettled, and certainly not Nicklaus who birdied the first hole.
But on the second and third holes, Nicklaus left bunker shots in the sand twice, allowing Trevino to open a 2-stroke lead. And Trevino never relinquished his lead - although Nicklaus cut his deficit to one several times - going on to win the playoff 68 to 71.
It was the eighth PGA Tour career win for Trevino, his second U.S. Open victory. Two weeks later Trevino won the Canadian Open, and a week after that he won the British Open. He was the first golfer two win those three national championships in the same year (only Tiger Woods has done it since).
Trevino finished his career with six majors, and Nicklaus was runner-up to Trevino in four of them.
It was a great year for amateurs in the U.S. Open. Ben Crenshaw finished tied for 27th; Lanny Wadkins, making the cut in a major for the first time, finished tied for 13th.
And then there was Simons, a 21-year-old on the Butler University golf team. Simons shot 65 in the third round, one stroke off the tournament record of the time, and still tied for lowest round by an amateur in the U.S. Open.
That round propelled Simons to the lead, and he still led at the midway point of the final round before falling back to fifth. His 283 total is the second-best by an amateur in tournament history. His fifth-place finish is the most recent time an amateur has finished in the Top 10 in a U.S. Open, and it's the best finish for an amateur in the U.S. Open since Nicklaus tied for fourth in 1961.
1971 U.S. Open Golf Tournament Scores
Results from the 1971 U.S. Open golf tournament played on the par-70 East Course of Merion Golf Club in Ardmore, Pennsylvania (x-won playoff; a-amateur):
| x-Lee Trevino | 70-72-69-69--280 | $30,000 |
| Jack Nicklaus | 69-72-68-71--280 | $15,000 |
| Bob Rosburg | 71-72-70-69--282 | $9,000 |
| Jim Colbert | 69-69-73-71--282 | $9,000 |
| George Archer | 71-70-70-72--283 | $6,500 |
| Johnny Miller | 70-73-70-70--283 | $6,500 |
| a-Jim Simons | 71-71-65-76--283 | |
| Raymond Floyd | 71-75-67-71--284 | $5,000 |
| Gay Brewer | 70-70-73-72--285 | $3,325 |
| Larry Hinson | 71-71-70-73--285 | $3,325 |
| Bobby Nichols | 69-72-69-75--285 | $3,325 |
| Bert Yancey | 75-69-69-72--285 | $3,325 |
| Bobby Cole | 72-71-72-71--286 | $2,220 |
| Chi Chi Rodriguez | 70-71-73-72--286 | $2,220 |
| Jerry Heard | 73-71-73-69--286 | $2,220 |
| a-Lanny Wadkins | 68-75-75-68--286 | |
| Bob Charles | 72-75-69-70--286 | $2,220 |
| Jerry McGee | 72-67-77-70--286 | $2,220 |
| Dave Eichelberger | 72-72-70-73--287 | $1,700 |
| Hale Irwin | 72-73-72-70--287 | $1,700 |
| Ken Still | 71-72-69-75--287 | $1,700 |
| Homero Blancas | 71-71-75-70--287 | $1,700 |
| Bob Goalby | 68-76-74-69--287 | $1,700 |
| Dick Lotz | 72-72-73-71--288 | $1,500 |
| Bob E. Smith | 71-74-71-72--288 | $1,500 |
| Arnold Palmer | 73-68-73-74--288 | $1,500 |
| Bob Lunn | 71-73-71-74--289 | $1,253 |
| Bobby Mitchell | 72-74-72-71--289 | $1,253 |
| Kermit Zarley | 74-70-72-73--289 | $1,253 |
| a-Ben Crenshaw | 74-74-68-73--289 | |
| Ralph Johnston | 70-75-73-71--289 | $1,253 |
| John Schroeder | 73-72-69-75--289 | $1,253 |
| Don January | 75-73-71-70--289 | $1,253 |
| Orville Moody | 71-71-76-71--289 | $1,253 |
| Gary Player | 76-71-72-70--289 | $1,253 |
| Bruce Devlin | 72-69-71-77--289 | $1,253 |
| Gene Littler | 74-74-71-71--290 | $1,080 |
| John Lister | 73-75-72-70--290 | $1,080 |
| Lou Graham | 75-72-70-73--290 | $1,080 |
| Doug Sanders | 68-75-71-76--290 | $1,080 |
| Bob Erickson | 71-67-73-79--290 | $1,080 |
| Dale Douglass | 70-74-74-74--292 | $997 |
| Julius Boros | 74-71-73-74--292 | $997 |
| Mason Rudolph | 72-75-71-74--292 | $997 |
| John Schlee | 70-73-77-72--292 | $997 |
| Paul Harney | 73-74-72-74--293 | $960 |
| Labron Harris Jr. | 67-77-76-73--293 | $960 |
| Chuck Courtney | 74-73-77-69--293 | $960 |
| Bobby Greenwood | 73-74-73-74--294 | $915 |
| Bob Risch | 74-74-73-73--294 | $915 |
| Arthur Silverstrone | 74-70-76-74--294 | $915 |
| Don Bies | 71-74-72-77--294 | $915 |
| Bruce Crampton | 73-73-71-77--294 | $915 |
| Charles Sifford | 75-72-69-78--294 | $915 |
| a-Danny Yates | 72-75-76-72--295 | |
| Bob Dickson | 73-74-76-72--295 | $870 |
| Al Geiberger | 71-71-75-78--295 | $870 |
| Deane Beman | 72-73-70-80--295 | $870 |
| Miller Barber | 73-73-72-78--296 | $850 |
| Roy Pace | 72-76-73-76--297 | $835 |
| Gene Borek | 75-71-75-76--297 | $835 |
| Ronnie Reif | 73-72-75-78--298 | $820 |
| Charles Coody | 70-76-75-79--300 | $810 |
| a-Jim Masserio | 71-75-77-79--302 |
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