Emperor of Japanese Golf
Isao Aoki breaks scoring record and finishes second in the 1980 U.S. Open
Wow, those scores were low in Vegas for the Shriners Children’s Open. TPC Summerlin didn’t put up much of a challenge. Congratulations to Tom Kim for taking the title. He went through the whole week without scoring a bogey or worse. Quite the feat.
This week, the PGA TOUR returns to Japan for the Zozo Championship at Accordia Golf Narashino Country Club in Chiba. Hideki Matsuyama is the defending champion. This tournament only dates back to 2019, so there isn’t a lot of DNA available for us to work with, but it does give us a chance to highlight Isao Aoki, the best Japanese golfer of the 1970s and 1980s. We’re going to backspin to the 1980 U.S. Open at Baltusrol where Jack Nicklaus and Aoki broke scoring records. Scroll down to read.
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Jack Nicklaus Holds Off Isao Aoki To Win His Fourth U.S. Open Title
Jack Nicklaus (l) and Isao Aoki (r) at the 1980 U.S. Open (photo: USGA Archives)
It is Sunday, June 15th, 1980, a hot and muggy day at Baltusrol Golf Club in Springfield, New Jersey. It’s the final round of the U.S. Open and the final group is about to tee off. Jack Nicklaus, fighting out of a two-year slump and re-committed to his game, is tied for first place with Isao Aoki, the pride of Japan. Aoki is looking to become the first Asian to win a major championship. This would mark the fourth straignt round that the two played together and both players were eyeing the four round U.S. Open scoring record.
Already in this Open a scoring record was equaled as Nicklaus, along with Tom Weiskopf, shot 63 in the first round tying the 18-hole record set by Johnny Miller at the 1973 U.S. Open at Oakmont. In fact, Nicklaus missed a dinky three-footer on the final hole that would have given him a 62.
The low scoring at Baltusrol, a course that was remodeled by Robert Trent Jones who stretched the yardage out while simultaneously lowering the par, was a surprise. Nicklaus also set the 36-hole record with his total of 134 and his three-round total of 204 set the 54-hole scoring record. Yet he was unable to separate himself from the pack and was tied with Aoki as the fourth round commenced. And Tom Watson, who scored an ace on the fourth hole in the opening round, lurked just two strokes behind the leaders.
“I said to myself, ‘I will have to play golf to win this tournament.’”
The short-hitting Aoki relied on his short game and unique putting stroke to go low on Balustrol. He addressed putts with the toe of the putter up in the air and then struck the ball off the heal of his putter with a popping stroke.
Isao Aoki’s distinctive putter address position (photo: Sports Illustrated)
Nicklaus seemed ready to finally run away from his pursuers when he birdied the third hole to take a two-stroke lead over Aoki, who had two bogeys in the first four holes, and Lon Hinkle, who was mounting a charge at the leader. Another stroke back was Watson while Keith Fergus and Mark Hayes were another stroke back. But then Nicklaus bogeyed both the fourth and seventh holes and fell into a tie with Fergus who had made two birdies. Aoki then drilled his approach shot to the eighth hole to within a foot of the hole and narrowed the gap between him and Nicklaus to one shot.
Nicklaus made the turn having shot a one-over-par 35 and knew he would have to play well if he was going to win his fourth U.S. Open title.
“I said to myself, ‘I will have to play golf to win this tournament,’” Nicklaus told reporters after his round.
“I knew he was going to make his putt.”
And he did, even by his exacting standards. He birdied the tenth hole and went on to play what he described “as fine a nine holes golf as I’ve played in a long time.” Even so, he was dogged by Aoki throughout the back nine. The two arrived at the tee at 17, a par five, with Nicklaus holding a two-shot lead. Nicklaus hit his approach shot to about 20-feet away from the hole. Aoki then stuffed his approach to three feet from the cup.
“I knew he was going to make his putt,” Nicklaus said and then described what he was thinking looking over his putt. “I wanted to be able to play number 18 the way I wanted to, so I went after it.”
He then stood over the putt for a long time, which was customary for Nicklaus, before stroking the putt into the hole. As the putt dropped, he held his putter aloft and his face went into a jubilant smile. Aoki made his birdie putt, but Nicklaus, with his putt had made the outcome a fait accompli.
Both players birdied the last hole and Nicklaus had his fourth U.S. Open. After Nicklaus made his birdie putt, the crowd broke through the retaining ropes and past the marshals as they rushed the green. Singlehandedly, Nicklaus controlled the crowd, holding his arms up to stop the clamoring so that Aoki could hit his putt and finish his round.
Nicklaus set a new 72-hole scoring record, while Aoki’s score also broke the old record. Aoki finished alone in second place becoming the highest finisher by an Asian in the U.S. Open, or any major championship. Combined with his record in Japan and his victory at the World Match Play Championship in 1978, Aoki finished 1980 ranked third on the unofficial McCormick’s World Golf Rankings, a forerunner of the Official World Golf Rankings.
Jack Nicklaus celebrates after making birdie on the 17th hole in the final round of the 1980 U.S. Open (photo: Kelly Russell for the USGA)
There was a bonus of $50,000 on the line at the 1980 U.S. Open and one of the players, who qualified for the bonus, didn’t even know it existed. Scroll down to read our Bonus Story.
Our playlist this week has 18 songs with ties to Japan. Listen to Rockin’ In Japan HERE.
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Larry Baush
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Tour Backspin Quiz | 1980 U.S. Open Trivia
What did Seve Ballesteros do in the 1980 U.S. Open that made news?
Answers below
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Bonus Story
A national golf magazine put out a challenge for the 1980 U.S. Open awarding any player who broke the scoring record $50,000. Like most experts, the magazine thought that a scoring record on the long, demanding Baltusrol course, that was revised with a vengeance by Robert Trent Jones, was out of the question. The low scoring during the week, in which Jack Nicklaus equaled, or set, scoring records and had more players shooting subpar rounds than in any other U.S. Open to date, proved the experts wrong.
Rains early in the week softened the greens at Baltusrol making them receptive to approach shots. The softer greens did not putt with the speed and quickness that one expects from a U.S. Open course setup.
Both Jack Nicklaus and Isao Aoki broke the 72-hole record of 275 that Nicklaus set in 1967 and Trevino tied the next year. Nicklaus beat the record by three shots while Aoki beat it by one shot.
Nicklaus added $50,000 to his first-place check of $55,000 while Aoki added his $50,000 to his second-place check of $29,500. Aoki didn’t even know about the bonus until he was informed of it in the press tent after he finished the final round.
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Tour Backspin Quiz Answer:
Seve Ballesteros, the reigning British Open and Masters Champion failed to make his 9:45 tee time and was disqualified. Ballesteros shot a 75 in the opening round.
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