By Travis Puterbaugh, Curator at World Golf Hall of Fame & Museum

At the time, Sports Illustrated writer and World Golf Hall of Fame Member Dan Jenkins called it “golf the way it ought to be played.” Fast-forward 43 years later and Johnny Miller’s 63 in the final round of the 1973 U.S. Open remains the standard to which all Major final rounds are measured. It isn’t just that Miller turned in the lowest single-round score in U.S. Open history; it was how he did it and who he did it against.

Johnny Miller started the final round at 3-over par and six shots off the lead, trailing fellow Hall of Famers Arnold Palmer, Julius Boros, Lee Trevino, Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player and Sir Bob Charles. These golfers had already combined to win 35 Majors, exactly 35 more than Miller who had yet to win his first. Not only that, he slayed the mighty Oakmont Country Club, one of the most difficult courses in the U.S. Open rotation.

Beginning with his win at Oakmont on June 17, 1973, Miller embarked on one of the great – albeit brief – stretches of dominance golf has ever seen.

His career took off in 1974, when he led the TOUR in earnings and won eight tournaments, the most in a single season since Arnold Palmer in 1960. He followed up in 1975 with four more tournament wins, played in his first Ryder Cup, and partnered with Lou Graham to capture the World Cup of Golf. In that two-year stretch, Miller was arguably the hottest, if not the best, golfer in the world.

Miller capped his Hall of Fame career by winning the Open Championship in 1976 at Royal Birkdale Golf Club. He would finish his career with 25 PGA TOUR wins and earned Induction into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1998.

The story of Miller’s greatest career achievement – shooting a final round 63 in the 1973 U.S. Open – is well-represented in the collection of the World Golf Hall of Fame & Museum. On display in the Major Moments exhibition are two of the clubs Miller used during the final round, his 3-iron and 9-iron. The 3-iron kick-started his historic round, as he used it to set up a five-foot birdie putt on the first hole. On the next hole, he barely missed an eagle using his 9-iron to set up a one-foot tap-in for birdie. Just like that, back-to-back opening birdies set the table for Miller’s unprecedented run.

Visitors to the Hall of Fame can also see one of the MacGregor #3 Tourney golf balls used by Miller in the final round, as well as the gold championship medal presented to Miller during the awards ceremony.

Also within the collection are the rest of the clubs in Miller’s bag during the U.S. Open: his 1961 MacGregor Velocitized Tourney driver, a 1945 MacGregor Tommy Armour 3-Wood, a 1941 MacGregor Tommy Armour 4-Wood, an Acushnet Bullseye putter, and his set of 1945 MacGregor Tommy Armour (2-7) and 1972 Tourney Custom (8-PW) irons, including today’s rarely seen 10-iron wedge.

One of the more unique items collected by Miller is on display in his Hall of Fame Member locker – the #44 license plate from the courtesy car he used the week of the U.S. Open. The license plate is signed by Miller, as well as fellow competitors John Schlee, Billy Casper, Gary Player, Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus.

In a sport where records are made to be broken, Miller’s final-round 63 has stood the test of time for 43 years. Only three other players have shot a 63 at the U.S. Open since Miller: Tom Weiskopf and Jack Nicklaus in 1980, and Vijay Singh in 2003. None of their rounds, however, came in the final round.

Oakmont Country Club itself has fought back against the field. In the three U.S. Opens played at Oakmont since Miller’s record final round (1983, 1994, 2007), only two golfers – winner Larry Nelson in 1983 and Anthony Kim (T-20) in 2007 – have gone as low as 67 in the final round. If history is any indication, Miller’s final-round 63 looks to be upheld at Oakmont this year, continuing to exist as one of the tournament’s most elusive records.