Wikipedia

1940 U.S. Open (golf)

The 1940 U.S. Open was the 44th U.S. Open, June 6–9 at Canterbury Golf Club in Beachwood, Ohio, a suburb east of Cleveland. Lawson Little defeated Gene Sarazen in an 18-hole playoff to win his only professional major.[2][3]

1940 U.S. Open
Tournament information
DatesJune 6–9, 1940
LocationBeachwood, Ohio
Course(s)Canterbury Golf Club
Organized byUSGA
Tour(s)PGA Tour
Statistics
Par72
Length6,894 yards (6,304 m)[1]
Field161 players, 66 after cut
Cut153 ( 9)
Winner's share$1,000
Champion
United States Lawson Little
287 (−1), playoff
← 1939
1941 →
Canterbury  Golf Club  is located in the United States
Canterbury  Golf Club 
Canterbury 
Golf Club 
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Location in the United States
Canterbury Golf Club is located in Ohio
Canterbury Golf Club
Canterbury
Golf Club
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Location in Ohio

Little started the final round a stroke behind leader Frank Walsh and carded a 73 to finish at 287. Sarazen made two birdies on the back nine and did not make a bogey to also post 287 and force a playoff on Sunday.[4][5]

After five holes in the playoff, Little had a four-stroke advantage and was ahead by three at the turn. Sarazen made birdie at 11 and 14 to close the gap to one stroke with four holes to play, but could draw no closer. Little birdied the next two holes and they halved the final two holes. Little won by three, 70 to 73, and became the fifth player to win both the U.S. Open and the U.S. Amateur.[3]

Six players were disqualified after the final round for starting their round too early to avoid a coming storm.[4] One of those players, Ed Oliver, actually tied Little and Sarazen, but his disqualification prevented his participation in the playoff.[5] Walter Hagen, in his final U.S. Open, was also disqualified for showing up late for his third round. Under current rules, Hagen would be penalised two strokes if he arrived within a grace period. Also under current rules, officials, with access to weather radar, reserve the right to accelerate the start of the final round and change its procedure (groups of three starting at the first and tenth tees, or a shotgun start).

The top eight finishers in the tournament were all past or future major champions, and are members of the World Golf Hall of Fame.

This was the first of three majors at Canterbury. The U.S. Open returned six years later in 1946, won by Lloyd Mangrum in two playoff rounds. It was the first U.S. Open in five years, due to World War II. The PGA Championship was played at the course in 1973, won by Jack Nicklaus.

Course layout

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Main article: Canterbury Golf Club
Hole 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Out 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 In Total
Yards 430 369 176 440 410 477 200 412 553 3,467 367 170 374 483 403 371 588 230 441 3,427 6,894
Par 4 4 3 4 4 5 3 4 5 36 4 3 4 5 4 4 5 3 4 36 72

Source:[1]

Round summaries

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First round

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Thursday, June 6, 1940

Place Player Score To par
1   Sam Snead 67 −5
T2   Ed Oliver 69 −3
  Sam Parks, Jr.
  Horton Smith
T5   Al Huske 70 −2
  Vic Ghezzi
  Ben Hogan
T8   Bob Babbish (a) 71 −1
  Andy Gibson
  Duke Gibson
  Henry Kaiser
  Gene Sarazen

Source:[6]

Second round

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Friday, June 7, 1940

Place Player Score To par
T1   Lawson Little 72-69=141 −3
  Horton Smith 69-72=141
  Sam Snead 67-74=141
4   Frank Walsh 73-69=142 −2
T5   Ben Hogan 70-73=143 −1
  Sam Parks, Jr. 69-74=213
T7   Leonard Dodson 72-72=144 E
  Vic Ghezzi 70-74=144
  Ralph Guldahl 73-71=144
  Dutch Harrison 74-70=144

Source:[7][8]

Third round

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Saturday, June 8, 1940 (morning)

Place Player Score To par
1   Frank Walsh 73-69-71=213 −3
T2   Lawson Little 72-69-73=214 −2
  Sam Snead 67-74-73=214
4   Gene Sarazen 71-74-70=215 −1
T5   Lloyd Mangrum 75-70-71=216 E
  Jug McSpaden 74-72-70=216
  Byron Nelson 72-74-70=216
T8   Ben Hogan 70-73-74=217 1
  Henry Picard 73-73-71=217
  Craig Wood 72-73-72=217

Source:[5]

Final round

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Saturday, June 8, 1940 (afternoon)

Place Player Score To par Money ($)
T1   Lawson Little 72-69-73-73=287 −1 Playoff
  Gene Sarazen 71-74-70-72=287
3   Horton Smith 69-72-78-69=288 E 700
4   Craig Wood 72-73-72-72=289 1 600
T5   Ralph Guldahl 73-71-76-70=290 2 325
  Ben Hogan 70-73-74-73=290
  Lloyd Mangrum 75-70-71-74=290
  Byron Nelson 72-74-70-74=290
9   Dick Metz 75-72-72-72=291 3 175
T10   Ed Dudley 73-75-71-73=292 4 137
  Frank Walsh 73-69-71-79=292

Source:[4][5]

Playoff

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Sunday, June 9, 1940

Place Player Score To par Money ($)
1   Lawson Little 70 −2 1,000
2   Gene Sarazen 73 1 800

Scorecard

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Hole  1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9  10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18
Par 4 4 3 4 4 5 3 4 5 4 3 4 5 4 4 5 3 4
  Little E −1 −1 −1 −2 −2 −2 −2 −2 −2 −2 −1 −1 −1 −2 −3 −2 −2
  Sarazen 1 1 1 1 2 E 1 1 1 1 E E 1 E E E 1 1

Cumulative playoff scores, relative to par

Eagle Birdie Bogey

Source:[1][3][9]

References

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  1. ^ a b c Ferguson, Harry (June 10, 1940). "Lawson Little beats Gene Sarazen by three strokes in national open playoff". Youngstown Vindicator. (Ohio). United Press. p. 10.
  2. ^ "U.S. Open history: 1940". USGA. Archived from the original on May 11, 2012. Retrieved June 26, 2012.
  3. ^ a b c Bartlett, Charles (June 9, 1940). "Little defeats Sarazen for Open crown". Chicago Daily Tribune. p. 21.
  4. ^ a b c Bartlett, Charles (June 9, 1940). "Sarazen's 287 ties Little for Open crown". Chicago Sunday Tribune. p. 1, sec. 2.
  5. ^ a b c d McLemore, Henry (June 9, 1940). "Little and Sarazen tie for National Open golf title". Youngstown Vindicator. (Ohio). United Press. p. D1.
  6. ^ Bartlett, Charles (June 7, 1940). "Snead's record 67 leads National Open". Chicago Daily Tribune. p. 29.
  7. ^ Bartlett, Charles (June 8, 1940). "Little, Smith tie Snead in Open with 141". Chicago Daily Tribune. p. 19.
  8. ^ "National Open tourney scores". Youngstown Vindicator. (Ohio). (second round). June 8, 1940. p. 6.
  9. ^ "Little wins Open golf playoff, 70-73". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Associated Press. June 10, 1940. p. 15.
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41°28′08″N 81°31′16″W / 41.469°N 81.521°W / 41.469; -81.521

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