1981 U.S. Open (golf)

Template:Use mdy dates Template:Short descriptionTemplate:Template other The 1981 U.S. Open was the 81st U.S. Open, held June 18–21 at the East Course of Merion Golf Club in Ardmore, Pennsylvania, a suburb northwest of Philadelphia. David Graham won his second major title and became the first Australian to win the U.S. Open, three strokes ahead of runners-up George Burns and Bill Rogers.

After a first round 66, Jim Thorpe made history as the first African-American since 1896 to lead the U.S. Open. Burns took a one-stroke lead over Graham with a 66 in the second round, then increased his lead to three strokes after 54 holes.

In the final round on Sunday, Graham shot one of the most precise rounds in U.S. Open history. He hit nearly every green in regulation, missed just one fairway, and recorded four birdies, missing several other opportunities from within . The only bogey was a three-putt at the fifth, after his approach shot stopped above the hole. After a string of eight pars, Graham finally passed Burns with birdies at the 14th and 15th holes. Graham carded a 67 to Burns' 73 to win by three strokes. Rogers shot 69 to tie Burns for 2nd and won the British Open four weeks later.

This was the fourth U.S. Open played at Merion, all at its East Course. Previous editions were hosted in 1934, 1950, and 1971. At , the same length as 1971, it was the shortest U.S. Open course since 1947. With heavy rains softening the course before the tournament, 93 rounds of par 70 or better were recorded. Fifteen players were under par after 36 holes, but only five finished under par for the four rounds. Five more were at even par 280, including defending champion Jack Nicklaus, a four-time winner.

After 1981, the U.S. Open was not played at Merion until 2013.

Course layout

East Course

Hole	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Out	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	In	Total
Yards	355	535	183	600	426	420	350	360	195	3,424	312	370	405	129	414	378	430	224	458	3,120	6,544
Par	4	5	3	5	4	4	4	4	3	36	4	4	4	3	4	4	4	3	4	34	70

Source:

Lengths of the course for previous U.S. Opens:

• 1971: , par 70
• 1950: , par 70
• 1934: , par 70

Round summaries

First round

Thursday, June 18, 1981

Place	Player	Score	To par
1	Template:Flagicon Jim Thorpe	66	−4
2	Template:Flagicon J. C. Snead	67	−3
T3	Template:Flagicon Bob Ackerman	68	−2
	Template:Flagicon John Cook
	Template:Flagicon David Graham
	Template:Flagicon Jack Renner
	Template:Flagicon Chi-Chi Rodríguez
T8	Template:Flagicon George Burns	69	−1
	Template:Flagicon Rex Caldwell
	Template:Flagicon Hubert Green
	Template:Flagicon Lon Hinkle
	Template:Flagicon Billy Kratzert
	Template:Flagicon Johnny Miller
	Template:Flagicon Jack Nicklaus
	Template:Flagicon Tommy Valentine

Second round

Friday, June 19, 1981

Place	Player	Score	To par
1	Template:Flagicon George Burns	69-66=135	−5
2	Template:Flagicon David Graham	68-68=136	−4
T3	Template:Flagicon Jack Nicklaus	69-68=137	−3
	Template:Flagicon Tommy Valentine	69-68=137
T5	Template:Flagicon John Cook	68-70=138	−2
	Template:Flagicon Billy Kratzert	69-69=138
	Template:Flagicon Greg Norman	71-67=138
	Template:Flagicon Bill Rogers	70-68=138
T9	Template:Flagicon Jerry Pate	70-69=139	−1
	Template:Flagicon Jack Renner	68-71=139
	Template:Flagicon John Schroeder	71-68=139
	Template:Flagicon Scott Simpson	72-67=139
	Template:Flagicon Jim Thorpe	66-73=139
	Template:Flagicon Lanny Wadkins	71-68=139
	Template:Flagicon Tom Watson	70-69=139

Amateurs: Rassett (E), Cooksey (+6), Norton (+8), Pavin (+9), DeFrancesco (+10), White (+10), Sindelar (+11), Faxon (+12), Lawrence (+14), Sanchez (+14), Moore (+15), Mudd (+15), Yokoi (+15), Biancalana (+16), Jones (+16), Ludwig (+16), Magee (+17), Hurter (+21), Brodie (+22).

Third round

Saturday, June 20, 1981

Place	Player	Score	To par
1	Template:Flagicon George Burns	69-66-68=203	−7
2	Template:Flagicon David Graham	68-68-70=206	−4
3	Template:Flagicon Bill Rogers	70-68-69=207	−3
T4	Template:Flagicon Jack Nicklaus	69-68-71=208	−2
	Template:Flagicon Chi-Chi Rodríguez	68-73-67=208
	Template:Flagicon John Schroeder	71-68-69=208
T7	Template:Flagicon John Cook	68-70-71=209	−1
	Template:Flagicon Ben Crenshaw	70-75-64=209
	Template:Flagicon Jim Thorpe	66-73-70=209
	Template:Flagicon Tommy Valentine	69-68-72=209

Final round

Sunday, June 21, 1981

Place	Player	Score	To par	Money ($)
1	Template:Flagicon David Graham	68-68-70-67=273	−7	55,000
T2	Template:Flagicon George Burns	69-66-68-73=276	−4	24,650
	Template:Flagicon Bill Rogers	70-68-69-69=276
T4	Template:Flagicon John Cook	68-70-71-70=279	−1	16,200
	Template:Flagicon John Schroeder	71-68-69-71=279
T6	Template:Flagicon Frank Conner	71-72-69-68=280	E	9,920
	Template:Flagicon Lon Hinkle	69-71-70-70=280
	Template:Flagicon Jack Nicklaus	69-68-71-72=280
	Template:Flagicon Sammy Rachels	70-71-69-70=280
	Template:Flagicon Chi-Chi Rodríguez	68-73-67-72=280

Amateur: Rassett (+14).

Scorecard

Final round

Hole	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18
Par	4	5	3	5	4	4	4	4	3	4	4	4	3	4	4	4	3	4
Template:Flagicon Graham	−5	−6	−6	−6	−5	−5	−5	−5	−5	−5	−5	−5	−5	−6	−7	−7	−7	−7
Template:Flagicon Burns	−7	−7	−7	−6	−6	−6	−6	−6	−6	−5	−5	−5	−5	−5	−5	−4	−5	−4
Template:Flagicon Rogers	−3	−3	−3	−3	−3	−2	−2	−3	−4	−3	−3	−4	−4	−4	−4	−3	−3	−4

Cumulative playoff scores, relative to par

Birdie

Bogey

Source:

External links

• USGA Championship Database
• USOpen.com - 1981
• Trenham Golf History Template:Webarchive – 1981 U.S. Open