1963 U.S. Open (golf)


The 1963 U.S. Open was the 63rd U.S. Open, held June 20–23 at The Country Club in Brookline, Massachusetts, a suburb southwest of Boston. Julius Boros won his second U.S. Open title in an 18-hole Sunday playoff with Jacky Cupit and Arnold Palmer. The U.S. Open returned to The Country Club for the first time in fifty years to celebrate the golden anniversary of Francis Ouimet's playoff victory in 1913. Boros won eleven years earlier in 1952, and won a third major at age 48 at the PGA Championship in 1968.
At 43, Boros was the second-oldest winner in U.S. Open history, and only a month younger than Ted Ray when he won the 1920 Open. For Palmer, it was the second consecutive year he lost in a playoff at the Open.
High winds made scoring conditions extremely difficult throughout the entire week, especially on Saturday during the final two rounds, when gusts approached. The winning score of 293 remains the highest in post-World War II U.S. Open history, while the 77.4 final-round scoring average set a record for the post-war era, later broken in 1972 at Pebble Beach. For the first time in U.S. Open history, no amateur made the cut.
Defending champion and Masters winner Jack Nicklaus missed the cut by a stroke; his next missed cut at the U.S. Open came 22 years later in 1985. He rebounded in the next two majors in 1963, missing the playoff at the Open Championship in England by a stroke for third place and won the PGA Championship in Dallas the following week.
This U.S. Open was played the week after Father's Day.

Past champions in the field

Made the cut

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Missed the cut

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Round summaries

First round

Thursday, June 20, 1963
PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo par
1Bob Gajda69−2
2Jacky Cupit70−1
T3Julius Boros71E
T3Lionel Hebert71E
T3Tony Lema71E
T3Davis Love Jr.71E
T7Walter Burkemo72+1
T7Don January72+1
T7Paul Kelly72+1
T7Dean Refram72+1

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Second round

Friday, June 21, 1963
PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo par
T1Jacky Cupit70-72=142E
T1Dow Finsterwald73-69=142E
T1Arnold Palmer73-69=142E
T4Walter Burkemo72-71=143+1
T4Dean Refram72-71=143+1
T6Julius Boros71-74=145+3
T6Tony Lema71-74=145+3
T6Davis Love Jr.71-74=145+3
T9Bruce Crampton74-72=146+4
T9Don January72-74=146+4
T9Billy Maxwell73-73=146+4

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Third round

Saturday, June 22, 1963
PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo par
1Jacky Cupit70-72-76=218+5
T2Walter Burkemo72-71-76=219+6
T2Tony Lema71-74-74=219+6
T2Arnold Palmer73-69-77=219+6
T5Julius Boros71-74-76=221+8
T5Bruce Crampton74-72-75=221+8
T5Dow Finsterwald73-69-79=221+8
T5Paul Harney78-70-73=221+8
T5Billy Maxwell73-73-75=221+8
T10Davis Love Jr.71-74-78=223+10
T10Dan Sikes77-73-73=223+10

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Final round

Saturday, June 22, 1963
Cupit owned the 54-hole lead by a stroke over Palmer, Tony Lema, and Walter Burkemo, with Boros in a group three behind. Boros recorded two birdies on his final three holes to post a 72 and 293 total. Cupit still held the lead until a double-bogey on the 17th dropped him into a tie with Boros and Palmer. He then missed a putt for birdie at the last that would have won the championship.
PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo parMoney
T1Julius Boros71-74-76-72=293+9Playoff
T1Jacky Cupit70-72-76-75=293+9Playoff
T1Arnold Palmer73-69-77-74=293+9Playoff
4Paul Harney78-70-73-73=294+105,000
T5Bruce Crampton74-72-75-74=295+113,166
T5Tony Lema71-74-74-76=295+113,166
T5Billy Maxwell73-73-75-74=295+113,166
T8Walter Burkemo72-71-76-77=296+121,875
T8Gary Player74-75-75-72=296+121,875
10Dan Sikes77-73-73-74=297+131,550

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Playoff

Sunday, June 23, 1963
Boros took command early in the playoff and had a three-stroke lead at the turn. Palmer took himself out of contention with a triple-bogey at 11, while Cupit bogeyed the same hole. Boros cruised to the win from there, carding a 70 to Cupit's 73 and Palmer's 76.
First prize was $16,000, and each of the three playoff participants received a bonus of $1,500 from the playoff gate receipts.
PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo parMoney
1Julius Boros70−117,500
T2Jacky Cupit73+28,500
T2Arnold Palmer76+58,500

Cumulative playoff scores, relative to par
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