The 1969 U.S. Open was the 69th U.S. Open, held June 12–15 at the Cypress Creek Course of Champions Golf Club in Houston, Texas. Orville Moody won his only PGA Tour title, one stroke ahead of runners-up Deane Beman, Bob Rosburg, and Al Geiberger.[3][4]

1969 U.S. Open
Tournament information
DatesJune 12–15, 1969
LocationHouston, Texas
Course(s)Champions Golf Club
Cypress Creek Course
Organized byUSGA
Tour(s)PGA Tour
Statistics
Par70
Length6,967 yards (6,371 m)[1]
Field149 players, 68 after cut
Cut148 (+8)
Prize fund$205,300[2]
Winner's share$30,000
Champion
United States Orville Moody
281 (+1)
← 1968
1970 →
Houston is located in the United States
Houston
Houston
Houston  is located in Texas
Houston 
Houston 

A 14-year veteran of the U.S. Army,[5] Moody entered the final round in second place, three shots behind Miller Barber.[6] At age 35, Moody advanced through both local and sectional qualifying in 1969, and as of 2021 is the last champion to do so. It was his only win on the PGA Tour, with only one additional top-10 finish in a major, two months later at the PGA Championship.

Battling an ailing knee, defending champion Lee Trevino (of Texas)[7] missed the cut by a stroke;[8] he won the title again in 1971.

The Cypress Creek Course hosted the Houston Champions International event on the PGA Tour,[7] today's Houston Open, from 1966 through 1971, and the Ryder Cup in 1967. It later hosted The Tour Championship five times (1990, 1997, 1999, 2001, and 2003) and the U.S. Amateur in 1993.

Course layout

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Hole 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Out 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 In Total
Yards 435 444 379 193 451 418 417 180 505 3,422 448 450 213 544 430 418 175 436 431 3,545 6,967
Par 4 4 4 3 4 4 4 3 5 35 4 4 3 5 4 4 3 4 4 35 70

Round summaries

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First round

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Thursday, June 12, 1969

Place Player Score To par
1   Bob Murphy 66 −4
2   Miller Barber 67 −3
T3   Deane Beman 68 −2
  Al Geiberger
T5   George Archer 69 −1
  Dean Refram
  Tom Weiskopf
T8   Richard Crawford 70 E
  Jack Ewing
  Bunky Henry
  George Knudson
  Arnold Palmer
  Bob Rosburg

Source:[9]

Second round

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Friday, June 13, 1969

Place Player Score To par
1   Deane Beman 68-69=137 −3
T2   Miller Barber 67-71=138 −2
  Bob Murphy 66-72=138
4   Bob Rosburg 70-69=139 −1
T5   Charles Coody 72-68=140 E
  Al Geiberger 68-72=140
  George Knudson 70-70=140
T8   Tony Jacklin 71-70=141 +1
  Johnny Miller 71-70=141
  Orville Moody 71-70=141
  Jack Nicklaus 74-67=141

Source:[1]

Third round

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Saturday, June 14, 1969

Place Player Score To par
1   Miller Barber 67-71-68=206 −4
2   Orville Moody 71-70-68=209 −1
T3   Deane Beman 68-69-73=210 E
  Bunky Henry 70-72-68=210
5   Bob Rosburg 70-69-72=211 +1
T6   Charles Coody 72-68-72=212 +2
  Al Geiberger 68-72-72=212
  Bobby Mitchell 72-74-66=212
  Bob Murphy 66-72-74=212
  Arnold Palmer 70-73-69=212

Source:[6]

Final round

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Sunday, June 15, 1969

Miller Barber began the final round with a three-stroke lead,[6] but it vanished after he bogeyed five of the first eight holes. He struggled to a 78 (+8) and dropped into a tie for sixth place, which allowed Moody to take the lead. At one point on the back nine, eight competitors were separated by just two shots.[3] Bob Rosburg saved par from the sand at 17 to stay tied with Moody, but after a drive into the rough on 18, he again found a greenside bunker. Another sand shot got him to 3 feet (0.9 m), but he missed the putt for par to force an 18-hole Monday playoff. Playing in the final pairing with Barber, Moody had four consecutive pars to finish and preserved the one-stroke advantage for the championship. Barber needed only a 75 (+5) on Sunday to force a playoff, but finished three strokes back.[3][4]

Final leaderboard

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Champion
Low amateur
(a) = amateur
(c) = past champion
Top 10
Place Player Score To par Money (US$)
1   Orville Moody 71-70-68-72=281 +1 30,000
T2   Deane Beman 68-69-73-72=282 +2 11,000
  Al Geiberger 68-72-72-70=282
  Bob Rosburg 70-69-72-71=282
5   Bob Murphy 66-72-74-71=283 +3 7,000
T6   Miller Barber 67-71-68-78=284 +4 5,000
  Bruce Crampton 73-72-68-71=284
  Arnold Palmer (c) 70-73-69-72=284
9   Bunky Henry 70-72-68-75=285 +5 3,500
T10   George Archer 69-74-73-70=286 +6 2,800
  Bruce Devlin 73-74-70-69=286
  Dave Marr 75-69-71-71=286

Source:[4]

Scorecard

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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 3 4 4 4 3 5 4 4 3 5 4 4 3 4 4
  Moody −1 −1 −1 E E E E E −1 E E E E +1 +1 +1 +1 +1
  Beman +1 +2 +1 +2 +4 +4 +3 +3 +2 +2 +2 +2 +2 +3 +3 +3 +3 +2
  Geiberger +3 +4 +4 +4 +6 +6 +6 +5 +4 +3 +3 +3 +2 +2 +1 +2 +2 +2
  Rosburg +1 E E E E E E +1 E E +1 +1 +1 +1 +1 +1 +1 +2
  Murphy +2 +2 +2 +3 +3 +3 +3 +3 +2 +3 +2 +3 +2 +3 +3 +3 +3 +3
  Barber −4 −3 −2 −2 −1 E E +1 E E E +2 +3 +3 +4 +3 +3 +4
  Crampton +3 +3 +3 +3 +3 +3 +4 +4 +3 +3 +3 +3 +2 +2 +3 +3 +4 +4
  Palmer +1 +2 +2 +3 +3 +3 +3 +3 +3 +3 +3 +3 +2 +2 +3 +4 +4 +4
  Henry +1 +2 +3 +4 +4 +4 +4 +4 +4 +4 +3 +4 +4 +5 +5 +5 +5 +5
  Archer +5 +6 +6 +7 +8 +7 +6 +6 +6 +5 +6 +6 +6 +6 +6 +6 +6 +6
  Devlin +6 +6 +6 +5 +5 +6 +5 +5 +5 +5 +6 +6 +5 +5 +5 +6 +6 +6
  Marr +5 +5 +4 +4 +4 +5 +5 +6 +6 +6 +7 +8 +7 +7 +7 +6 +6 +6

Cumulative tournament scores, relative to par

Birdie Bogey Double bogey

Source:[4][10]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Beman slips through beef trust to take one-stroke Open lead". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. June 14, 1969. p. 14.
  2. ^ "U.S. Open history: 1969". USGA. Archived from the original on April 17, 2013. Retrieved June 20, 2012.
  3. ^ a b c Jenkins, Dan (June 23, 1969). "Old Sarge cools it". Sports Illustrated. p. 18.
  4. ^ a b c d "Orville Moody wins heartbreak U.S. Open". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. June 16, 1969. p. 10.
  5. ^ Jauss, Bill (June 16, 1969). "Salute the 'Sarge,' golf king Moody". Toledo Blade. (Ohio). (Chicago Daily News). p. 19.
  6. ^ a b c "Barber leads by 3 in 'blow-up' Open". Toledo Blade. (Ohio). Associated Press. June 15, 1969. p. D1.
  7. ^ a b Jenkins, Dan (June 9, 1969). "Wide-Open eyes are on Texas". Sports Illustrated. p. 42.
  8. ^ "Beman breaks up beef trust". Victoria Advocate. (Texas). Associated Press. June 14, 1969. p. 1B.
  9. ^ "Murphy leads Open; Pamer shoots par". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. June 13, 1969. p. 16.
  10. ^ "U.S. Open History". USGA. Retrieved May 8, 2019.
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29°58′59″N 95°31′52″W / 29.983°N 95.531°W / 29.983; -95.531