| 1980 U.S. Open | |
Jack Nicklaus entered the 1980 U.S. Open coming off a season (1979) in which he went winless for the first time in his PGA Tour career. He had turned 40 years old. The whispers were everywhere: Nicklaus is washed up.
But by the end of the week, the scoreboard at Baltusrol famously exclaimed, "Jack Is Back!"
Nicklaus followed with a second-round 71 and a 2-stroke lead over, among others, Japan's Isao Aoki. Aoki was the best - or at worst, second-best - Japanese golfer of the time, and had Top 10 finishes in the 1978 and 1979 British Opens. His appearance in the 1980 U.S. Open was just his second in this event. But with back-to-back 68s, Aoki was on Nicklaus' trail.
And Aoki caught Nicklaus in the third round, shooting 68 to Nicklaus' 70.
In the final round, Aoki bogied the second hole and Nicklaus birdied the third, producing a 2-stroke lead for the Golden Bear. Aoki trimmed the lead back to one, but Nicklaus maintained a 2-stroke margin over the entire back nine. Aoki birdied the final two holes, but so did Nicklaus to win by two strokes.
For Nicklaus, it was his record-tying fourth U.S. Open victory (joining Ben Hogan, Bobby Jones and Willie Anderson at four), and his 16th professional major.
Nicklaus' 272 total broke his own tournament record of 275, set in 1967 and also at Baltusrol. At the time, Aoki's 274 was the second-lowest total ever posted in a U.S. Open, and it still shares the record for lowest score by a non-winner.
Aoki went on to win 51 times total in Japan, once on the USPGA and nine times on the Champions Tour. Nicklaus won only four more times after this on the PGA Tour, but two of those were majors - including one a couple months later, the 1980 PGA Championship.
1980 U.S. Open Golf Tournament Scores
Results from the 1980 U.S. Open golf tournament played on the par-70 Lower Course of Baltusrol Golf Club in Springfield, New Jersey (a-amateur):
| Jack Nicklaus | 63-71-70-68--272 | $55,000 |
| Isao Aoki | 68-68-68-70--274 | $29,500 |
| Keith Fergus | 66-70-70-70--276 | $17,400 |
| Lon Hinkle | 66-70-69-71--276 | $17,400 |
| Tom Watson | 71-68-67-70--276 | $17,400 |
| Mark Hayes | 66-71-69-74--280 | $11,950 |
| Mike Reid | 69-67-75-69--280 | $11,950 |
| Ed Sneed | 72-70-70-70--282 | $8,050 |
| Hale Irwin | 70-70-73-69--282 | $8,050 |
| Mike Morley | 73-68-69-72--282 | $8,050 |
| Andy North | 68-75-72-67--282 | $8,050 |
| Bruce Devlin | 71-70-70-72--283 | $4,387 |
| Bobby Wadkins | 72-71-68-72--283 | $4,387 |
| Joe Hager | 72-70-71-70--283 | $4,387 |
| Lee Trevino | 68-73-69-74--284 | $4,387 |
| Pat McGowan | 69-69-73-73--284 | $2,891 |
| Bill Rogers | 69-72-70-73--284 | $2,891 |
| Gil Morgan | 73-70-70-71--284 | $2,891 |
| Curtis Strange | 69-74-71-70--284 | $2,891 |
| Joe Inman | 74-69-69-72--284 | $2,891 |
| Craig Stadler | 73-67-69-75--284 | $2,891 |
| Jim Simons | 70-72-71-72--285 | $2,400 |
| J.C. Snead | 69-71-73-72--285 | $2,400 |
| Peter Jacobsen | 70-69-72-74--285 | $2,400 |
| a-Gary Hallberg | 74-68-70-73--285 | |
| Jay Haas | 67-74-70-75--286 | $2,275 |
| Mark Lye | 68-72-77-69--286 | $2,275 |
| John Mahaffey | 72-73-69-73--287 | $2,125 |
| David Edwards | 73-68-72-74--287 | $2,125 |
| George Burns | 75-69-73-70--287 | $2,125 |
| Calvin Peete | 67-76-74-70--287 | $2,125 |
| Ben Crenshaw | 72-73-71-72--288 | $1,900 |
| Bob Gilder | 72-68-74-74--288 | $1,900 |
| Jerry McGee | 72-72-70-74--288 | $1,900 |
| Jack Newton | 72-71-74-71--288 | $1,900 |
| Hubert Green | 73-73-65-77--288 | $1,900 |
| Tom Weiskopf | 63-75-76-75--289 | $1,760 |
| Tim Simpson | 70-73-73-74--290 | $1,630 |
| a-Bobby Clampett | 72-74-71-73--290 | |
| Rod Curl | 73-71-72-74--290 | $1,630 |
| Gene Littler | 72-68-75-75--290 | $1,630 |
| Jim Dent | 72-72-70-76--290 | $1,630 |
| Artie McNickle | 76-70-72-72--290 | $1,630 |
| Bruce Lietzke | 71-72-70-77--290 | $1,630 |
| Scott Simpson | 73-72-73-73--291 | $1,530 |
| Wayne Levi | 72-71-73-75--291 | $1,530 |
| Charles Coody | 72-71-74-75--292 | $1,470 |
| David Graham | 72-73-72-75--292 | $1,470 |
| Jim Colbert | 72-69-74-77--292 | $1,470 |
| Raymond Floyd | 67-79-71-75--292 | $1,470 |
| Lou Graham | 73-71-72-77--293 | $1,410 |
| Dave Stockton | 73-73-77-70--293 | $1,410 |
| John Cook | 71-71-77-75--294 | $1,385 |
| Fuzzy Zoeller | 75-70-72-77--294 | $1,385 |
| Tommy McGinnis | 69-71-81-74--295 | $1,370 |
| Ron Streck | 72-71-76-77--296 | $1,355 |
| Lance Ten Broeck | 73-71-71-81--296 | $1,355 |
| Chip Beck | 76-70-77-74--297 | $1,340 |
| Jeff Mitchell | 69-75-73-81--298 | $1,330 |
| Phil Hancock | 76-70-75-78--299 | $1,310 |
| Larry Nelson | 70-74-76-79--299 | $1,310 |
| Bobby Walzel | 73-70-81-75--299 | $1,310 |
| Arnold Palmer | 73-73-77-78--301 | $1,310 |
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