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1964 U.S. Open

Tournament information
Dates	June 18–20, 1964
Location	Bethesda, Maryland
Course(s)	Congressional Country Club Blue Course
Organized by	USGA
Tour(s)	PGA Tour
Statistics
Par	70
Length	7,053 yards (6,449 m)
Field	150 players, 55 after cut
Cut	150 (+10)
Winner's share	$17,000
Champion
Ken Venturi
278 (−2)
← 19631965 →

The 1964 U.S. Open was the 64th U.S. Open, held June 18–20 at the Blue Course of Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Maryland, a suburb northwest of Washington, D.C. Ken Venturi won his only major title, four strokes ahead of runner-up Tommy Jacobs.

Jacobs held the 36-hole lead after shooting a 64 (−6) in the second round, tying the U.S. Open record at the time for a round, set by Lee Mackey in 1950. In the third round on Saturday morning, he carded an even-par 70 and retained the lead after 54 holes, two strokes ahead of Venturi, who made up four shots with a 66 (−4). Masters champion Arnold Palmer had led after the first round, but hopes of a grand slam faded with a 75 in the third.

Before the final round began on Saturday afternoon, Venturi was advised by doctors to withdraw from the tournament. He was suffering dehydration due to an oppressive heat wave and had to take treatments with tea and salt tablets in between rounds. To play the final round, doctors warned, was to risk heat stroke. Venturi, however, ignored the advice and played on, then shot a 70 to Jacobs' 76 to claim a four-stroke victory. Venturi's score of 206 over the final 54 holes set a new U.S. Open record, as did his score of 136 over the last 36. The win was his first on tour in four years.

Future champion Raymond Floyd made his U.S. Open debut this year at age 21 and finished in 14th place. He played the final two rounds on Saturday with Venturi. This was the last time the championship was scheduled for three days (the final two rounds scheduled on Saturday); the next year it was expanded to four days, concluding on Sunday.

The Blue Course at Congressional was the longest in U.S. Open history to date, at 7,053 yards (6,449 m). A lack of rainfall in the previous six weeks reduced its effective length, and it played firm and fast.

Course layout

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Round summaries

First round

Thursday, June 18, 1964

Place	Player	Score	To par
1	Arnold Palmer	68	−2
2	Bill Collins	70	E
T3	William Campbell (a)	71	+1
	Billy Casper
	Tony Lema
	Johnny Pott
	Joe Zakarian
T8	Bob Charles	72	+2
	Bruce Crampton
	Richard Crawford
	Ed Furgol
	Labron Harris
	Tommy Jacobs
	Billy Martindale
	Stan Mosel
	Bobby Nichols
	Jack Nicklaus
	Bob Panasiuk
	Paul Scodeller
	Charlie Sifford
	Ken Venturi

Source:

Second round

Friday, June 19, 1964

Place	Player	Score	To par
1	Tommy Jacobs	72-64=136	−4
2	Arnold Palmer	68-69=137	−3
3	Bill Collins	70-71=141	+1
T4	Charlie Sifford	72-70=142	+2
	Ken Venturi	72-70=142
T6	Bruce Crampton	72-71=143	+3
	Raymond Floyd	73-70=143
	Tony Lema	71-72=143
T9	William Campbell (a)	71-73=144	+4
	Bob Charles	72-72=144
	Al Geiberger	74-70=144
	Gene Littler	73-71=144
	Bobby Nichols	72-72=144
	Johnny Pott	71-73=144

Source:

Third round

Saturday, June 20, 1964  (morning)

Place	Player	Score	To par
1	Tommy Jacobs	72-64-70=206	−4
2	Ken Venturi	72-70-66=208	−2
3	Arnold Palmer	68-69-75=212	+2
4	Billy Casper	71-74-69=214	+4
T5	Bob Charles	72-72-71=215	+5
	Bill Collins	70-71-74=215
	Raymond Floyd	73-70-72=215
T8	Dow Finsterwald	73-72-71=216	+6
	Bob Rosburg	73-73-70=216
10	Johnny Pott	71-73-73=217	+7

Source:

Final round

Saturday, June 20, 1964  (afternoon)

Place	Player	Score	To par	Money ($)
1	Ken Venturi	72-70-66-70=278	−2	17,000
2	Tommy Jacobs	72-64-70-76=282	+2	8,500
3	Bob Charles	72-72-71-68=283	+3	6,000
4	Billy Casper	71-74-69-71=285	+5	5,000
T5	Gay Brewer	76-69-73-68=286	+6	3,750
	Arnold Palmer	68-69-75-74=286
7	Bill Collins	70-71-74-72=287	+7	3,000
8	Dow Finsterwald	73-72-71-72=288	+8	2,500
T9	Johnny Pott	71-73-73-72=289	+9	1,950
	Bob Rosburg	73-73-70-73=289

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	3	4	4	4	4	3	4	5	4	4	3	4	4	5	3	4	4
Venturi	−2	−2	−2	−2	−2	−1	−1	−1	−2	−2	−2	−2	−3	−2	−2	−2	−2	−2
Jacobs	−4	−2	−2	−1	−1	−1	−1	−1	E	+1	E	E	+1	+2	+3	+2	+2	+2
Palmer	+1	+1	+1	+2	+2	+3	+3	+2	+2	+2	+2	+2	+3	+4	+4	+5	+6	+6

Cumulative tournament scores, relative to par

Source:

Video

• USGA: 1964 U.S. Open win by Venturi

References

1. Wright, Alfred (June 29, 1964). "'Poor Ken' hits it rich again". Sports Illustrated. p. 12.
2. Gundelfinger, Phil Jr. (June 22, 1964). "Ken Venturi fulfills golfdom's prophecy". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. p. 23.
3. ^ "Venturi wins Open tourney on comeback". Eugene Register-Guard. Associated Press. June 21, 1964. p. 2B.
4. ^ Bartlett, Charles (June 21, 1964). "Exhausted Ken Venturi Open champ". Chicago Tribune. p. 1, section 2.
5. ^ "Venturi beats heats, wins U.S. Open". Sunday Star-News. Wilmington, North Carolina. UPI. June 21, 1964. p. 1C.
6. ^ Shedloski, Dave (May 29, 2011). "Californian overcomes heat exhaustion on steamy 36-hole marathon final day at Congressional C.C." USGA. Retrieved June 29, 2020.
7. ^ Bartlett, Charles (June 20, 1964). "Jacobs passes Palmer on 64 in Open!". Chicago Tribune. p. 1, section 2.
8. ^ Gundelfinger, Phil (June 20, 1964). "Jacobs passes Arnie, shoots blistering 64". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. p. 1.
9. Gundelfinger, Phil (June 19, 1964). "Palmer fires 2-under 68, leads Open". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. p. 1.
10. "Palmer 198 holes from golf's Slam". Eugene Register-Guard. Oregon. Associated Press. June 19, 1964. p. 2B.
11. Gundelfinger, Phil (June 18, 1964). "Congressional set to resist golfing fraternity in 'Open'". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. p. 30.
12. Bartlett, Charles (June 14, 1964). "Hole-by-hole of U.S. Open site". Chicago Tribune. p. 3, section 2.
13. Wright, Alfred (June 15, 1964). "Congressional: where a small splash will cost big money". Sports Illustrated. p. 38.
14. "National Open scoreboard". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. June 19, 1964. p. 21.
15. "U.S. Open History". USGA. Retrieved April 4, 2020.

External links

• USOpen.com - 1964
• USGA – Looking back: Venturi wins 1964 U.S. Open

38°57′58″N 77°10′35″W / 38.966°N 77.1765°W / 38.966; -77.1765

• U.S. Open (golf)
• Golf tournaments in Maryland
• Bethesda, Maryland
• 1964 in golf
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• June 1964 sports events in the United States