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1981 U.S. Open Golf

1981 U.S. Open
Tournament information
Dates June 18–21, 1981
Location Ardmore, Pennsylvania
Course(s) Merion Golf Club
East Course
Organized by USGA
Tour(s) PGA Tour
Statistics
Par 70
Length 6,544 yards (5,984 m)
Field 156 players, 70 after cut
Cut 147 (+7)
Prize fund $361,730
Winner's share $55,000
Champion
David Graham
273 (−7)
← 1980 1982 →

Course layout

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

Past champions in the field

Made the cut

Player Country Year(s) won R1 R2 R3 R4 Total To par Finish
Jack Nicklaus United States 1962, 1967,
1972, 1980
69 68 71 72 280 E T6
Johnny Miller United States 1973 69 71 73 72 285 +5 T23
Gary Player South Africa 1965 72 72 71 71 286 +6 T26
Jerry Pate United States 1976 70 69 72 75 286 +6 T26
Hubert Green United States 1977 69 76 71 72 288 +8 T37
Andy North United States 1978 73 74 72 71 290 +10 T43
Hale Irwin United States 1974, 1979 72 75 73 72 292 +12 T58

Missed the cut

Player Country Year(s) won R1 R2 Total To par
Lee Trevino United States 1968, 1971 72 76 148 +8
Lou Graham United States 1975 76 74 150 +10
Arnold Palmer United States 1960 77 78 155 +15

Round summaries

First round

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

Second round

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

Third round

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

Final round

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

Scorecard

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
Graham −5 −6 −6 −6 −5 −5 −5 −5 −5 −5 −5 −5 −5 −6 −7 −7 −7 −7
Burns −7 −7 −7 −6 −6 −6 −6 −6 −6 −5 −5 −5 −5 −5 −5 −4 −5 −4
Rogers −3 −3 −3 −3 −3 −2 −2 −3 −4 −3 −3 −4 −4 −4 −4 −3 −3 −4
  Birdie   Bogey
Steve Robinson