Return to the Brute: Oakmont’s Unique Brand of Carnage Ready for 2025 U.S. Open
And yet it is where Miller shot a final-round 63, setting a U.S. Open scoring record in the process to win.
“Those greens are the toughest greens in the country,’’ said Miller, who was 26 at the time of his victory. “You just have to be a great ball striker. You have to put the ball underneath the hole. In that 63, I only had two balls above the hole in 18 greens hit. That was the secret to that round.”
Miller was not the only player to go low during that final day. Lanny Wadkins had a chance to match Miller with a birdie at the closing hole but made a bogey for 65. But there were just two other rounds in the 60s. (Par was 71 in 1973; it will be a par-70 this year.) For the week, there were just 24 scores in the 60s.
To look closely at the final round is to marvel at what Miller accomplished.
He birdied the first four holes, his only bogey coming at the 8th—where he three-putted. He then rebounded with a near-eagle and an easy birdie at the 9th, with more birdies at the 11th, 12th, 13th and 15th. His round ended with three pars, missing a 10-footer for birdie at the 17th, and lipping out at the 18th.
Miller missed just two fairways and hit all 18 greens in regulation.
The score led many to believe that the USGA was not going to see a course manhandled like that again. The following year’s conditions led to it being dubbed “The Massacre at Winged Foot” where Hale Irwin won at 7 over par.