The 1971 U.S. Open and Merion Today
Merion Golf Club hosted the 1971 US Open and my friend Jim Simons of Butler, Pennsylvania, by way of Wake Forest University and then an Amateur, nearly won the tournament with Trevino and Nicklaus ending up in a Monday 18 hole playoff. Jim lead after three rounds and for much of the final round, only to meet Merion’s pitfalls over the closing stretch. When I asked Jim why Merion suited his game, he didn’t hesitate to state that the course demands precision, yet remains a fun ride on every shot. He went on to recount his approach to each hole and how playing junior golf at the great classic courses of Pittsburgh prepared him for Merion’s demands. To this day, I think of Jim’s descriptions and their relevance to the Merion of today. Simons consistently emphasized that Merion’s relative shortness did not translate to a golf course that you could overpower. For anyone that has played or studied Merion, this statement will elicit a laugh and an affirmative nod. To put its yardage in perspective, seven par fours would be considered drive-able by PGA Tour standards. However, it is highly inadvisable for Rory or Bryson to pull the Driver on numbers 1, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 or 15. For instance, a mere five yard variance on Merion’s opener will most certainly result in a ball bounding down Ardmore Avenue. The targets are situate in strategic and often tight locations with misses being severely punished.
Conversely, the longer holes at Merion seem to play even longer than the raw yardage. Holes 5 and 6 play uphill and against the contour. The approach on 5 is complicated by a right to left canting green where seventy yard run-outs are possible. On the outward half par 5’s (the only on the course), gnarly rough and devilish bunkers await the wayward shot. On the inward half, similar fates for the stray shot abound.
In the 1971 Open, Simons shot 65 in the third round and vaulted into the lead. Jim claimed that he was in an undisturbable zone, but his card shows a player in total command of his game. Seven birdies, two bogies and a two shot lead over playing partner Jack Nicklaus and a four shot lead over Trevino. Viewing clips of the ABC coverage from ’71, Simons drove it straight (regularly outdriven by Nicklaus), used green contours to perfection and converted clutch putts. 65 was the low round of the tournament by two shots and stoked grumblings that perhaps the game had passed Merion by. Of course, this talk was quickly extinguished when no player in the field finished under par. Nicklaus and Trevino finished at 280, even par, two clear of second and three clear of Simons. Jim’s finish is the highest by an Amateur in the modern era along with Nicklaus’ similar position at the Cherry Hills Open in 1960.
Merion remains a test of golf and is among the USGA’s “anchor” sites for the foreseeable future. My friend Jim would smile at such a thing some 54 years after his remarkable performance at Merion.
Ben