1969 U.S. Open (golf)
# 1969 U.S. Open (golf)

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.

A 14-year veteran of the U.S. Army, Moody entered the final round in second place, three shots behind Miller Barber. 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) missed the cut by a stroke; he won the title again in 1971.

The Cypress Creek Course hosted the Houston Champions International event on the PGA Tour, 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

| 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

### First round

Thursday, June 12, 1969

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

Source:

### Second round

Friday, June 13, 1969

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

Source:

### Third round

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 |
| T3 | Bunky Henry | 70-72-68=210 | E |
| 5 | Bob Rosburg | 70-69-72=211 | +1 |
| T6 | Charles Coody | 72-68-72=212 | +2 |
| T6 | Al Geiberger | 68-72-72=212 | +2 |
| T6 | Bobby Mitchell | 72-74-66=212 | +2 |
| T6 | Bob Murphy | 66-72-74=212 | +2 |
| T6 | Arnold Palmer | 70-73-69=212 | +2 |

Source:

### Final round

Sunday, June 15, 1969

Miller Barber began the final round with a three-stroke lead, 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. 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.

**Final leaderboard**

* 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 |
| T2 | Al Geiberger | 68-72-72-70=282 | +2 | 11,000 |
| T2 | Bob Rosburg | 70-69-72-71=282 | +2 | 11,000 |
| 5 | Bob Murphy | 66-72-74-71=283 | +3 | 7,000 |
| T6 | Miller Barber | 67-71-68-78=284 | +4 | 5,000 |
| T6 | Bruce Crampton | 73-72-68-71=284 | +4 | 5,000 |
| T6 | Arnold Palmer (c) | 70-73-69-72=284 | +4 | 5,000 |
| 9 | Bunky Henry | 70-72-68-75=285 | +5 | 3,500 |
| T10 | George Archer | 69-74-73-70=286 | +6 | 2,800 |
| T10 | Bruce Devlin | 73-74-70-69=286 | +6 | 2,800 |
| T10 | Dave Marr | 75-69-71-71=286 | +6 | 2,800 |

Leaderboard below the top 10 :

| Place | Player | Score | To par | Money ($) |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| T13 | Julius Boros (c) | 71-73-70-73=287 | +7 | 1,888 |
| T13 | Charles Coody | 72-68-72-75=287 | +7 | 1,888 |
| T13 | Dale Douglass | 76-69-70-72=287 | +7 | 1,888 |
| T13 | Raymond Floyd | 79-68-68-72=287 | +7 | 1,888 |
| T13 | Dave Hill | 73-74-70-70=287 | +7 | 1,888 |
| T13 | Howie Johnson | 72-73-72-70=287 | +7 | 1,888 |
| T13 | Dean Refram | 69-74-70-74=287 | +7 | 1,888 |
| T13 | Phil Rodgers | 76-70-69-72=287 | +7 | 1,888 |
| T13 | Kermit Zarley | 74-72-70-71=287 | +7 | 1,888 |
| T22 | Bob Stanton | 74-70-71-73=288 | +8 | 1,500 |
| T22 | Tom Weiskopf | 69-75-71-73=288 | +8 | 1,500 |
| T22 | Bert Yancey | 71-71-74-72=288 | +8 | 1,500 |
| T25 | Joe Campbell | 73-74-73-69=289 | +9 | 1,300 |
| T25 | Richard Crawford | 70-75-73-71=289 | +9 | 1,300 |
| T25 | Tony Jacklin | 71-70-73-75=289 | +9 | 1,300 |
| T25 | Bobby Mitchell | 72-74-66-77=289 | +9 | 1,300 |
| T25 | Jack Nicklaus (c) | 74-67-75-73=289 | +9 | 1,300 |
| T25 | Dave Stockton | 75-68-72-73=289 | +9 | 1,300 |

Source:

**Scorecard**

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:

