1939 U.S. Open (golf)

1939 U.S. Open
Tournament information
DatesJune 8–12, 1939
LocationGladwyne, Pennsylvania
Course(s)Philadelphia Country Club
Spring Mill Course[1]
Organized byUSGA
Tour(s)PGA Tour
Statistics
Par69[2]
Length6,786 yards (6,205 m)[1]
Field161 players, 65 after cut
Cut152 (+14)
Prize fund$5,000[3]
Winner's share$1,000
Champion
Byron Nelson
284 (+8), playoff
Philadelphia 
Country Club
Location in the United States

The 1939 U.S. Open was the 43rd U.S. Open, held June 8–12 at Philadelphia Country Club in Gladwyne, Pennsylvania, a suburb northwest of Philadelphia. Byron Nelson won after two playoff rounds to prevail against Craig Wood and Denny Shute to claim his only U.S. Open title,[2] and the second of his five major championships. It was the first playoff at the U.S. Open in eight years and the first three-way playoff since 1913.

Sam Snead led after each of the first two rounds but his triple-bogey on the 72nd hole dropped him to fifth place, two strokes back. Two years earlier, he was runner-up in his first U.S. Open in 1937. Following World War II, Snead finished second three more times, but never won the title to complete a career grand slam.

In his fourth U.S. Open, Ben Hogan made his first 36-hole cut at the championship and finished in a tie for 62nd. He finished in a tie for fifth the following year; after the war he won four U.S. Opens and contended in numerous others. He made every subsequent cut he played in at the U.S. Open, the last in 1967 at age 54.

Round summaries

First round

Thursday, June 8, 1939

Place Player Score To Par
1 Sam Snead 68 −1
T2 Lawson Little 69 E
Bud Ward (a)
Matt Kowal
T5 Craig Wood 70 +1
Tommy Armour
Denny Shute
Olin Dutra
Lloyd Mangrum
Harold "Jug" McSpaden

Second round

Friday, June 9, 1939

Place Player Score To Par
1 Sam Snead 68-71=139 +1
2 Horton Smith 72-68=140 +2
3 Craig Wood 70-71=141 +3
T4 Denny Shute 70-72=142 +4
Bud Ward (a) 69-73=142
T6 Frank Moore 73-70=143 +5
Johnny Bulla 72-71=143
Harry Cooper 71-72=143
Harold "Jug" McSpaden 70-73=143
Lawson Little 69-74=143

Source:[4][5]

Third round

Saturday, June 10, 1939 - (morning)

Place Player Score To Par
1 Johnny Bulla 72-71-68=211 +4
T2 Sam Snead 68-71-73=212 +5
Craig Wood 70-71-71=212
Denny Shute 70-72-70=212
5 Bud Ward (a) 69-73-71=213 +6
T6 Tommy Armour 70-75-69=214 +7
John E. Rogers 75-70-69=214
Olin Dutra 70-74-70=214
9 Horton Smith 72-68-75=215 +8
T10 Byron Nelson 72-73-71=216 +9
Ralph Guldahl 71-73-72=216
Henry Picard 72-72-72=216

Source:[6]

Final round

Saturday, June 10, 1939 - (afternoon)

Nelson began the final round on Saturday afternoon five strokes back of leader Johnny Bulla and shot 68 to gain the clubhouse lead at 284. Wood birdied the 18th to also get to 284, while Shute also finished on that number after a bogey at 17. It appeared, however, that that number would not be enough. Snead stood on the par-5 18th needing only a par to win the championship. Snead believed he needed a birdie to win and played the hole aggressively. After finding two bunkers, he made a triple-bogey 8 and missed the playoff by two strokes.

Place Player Score To Par Money ($)
T1 Byron Nelson 72-73-71-68=284 +8 Playoff
Craig Wood 70-71-71-72=284
Denny Shute 70-72-70-72=284
4 Bud Ward (a) 69-73-71-72=285 +9 0
5 Sam Snead 68-71-73-74=286 +10 600
6 Johnny Bulla 72-71-68-76=287 +11 450
T7 Ralph Guldahl 71-73-72-72=288 +12 325
Dick Metz 76-72-71-69=288
T9 Ky Laffoon 76-70-73-70=289 +13 175
Harold McSpaden 70-73-71-75=289
Paul Runyan 76-70-71-72=289
(a) denotes amateur

Source:[7][8]

Playoff

Sunday, June 11, 1939
Monday, June 12, 1939

In the three-way 18-hole playoff on Sunday afternoon, Nelson and Wood each carded 68 (−1), while Shute shot a 76 (+7) and was eliminated. In the second 18-hole playoff on Monday morning, Nelson took control at the third hole with a birdie while Wood double-bogeyed. At the next hole, Nelson holed out for an eagle to take a five-stroke lead. With a three-shot lead at the turn, Nelson matched Wood on the back nine and finished with a 70 to Wood's 73.

Place Player Score To par Money ($)
1 Byron Nelson 68-70=138 E 1,000
2 Craig Wood 68-73=141 +3 800
3 Denny Shute 76-x +7 700

Scorecards

Sunday, June 11, 1939

Hole  1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9  10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18
Par 4 3 4 4 4 4 3 4 4 4 3 4 3 4 4 4 4 5
Nelson E E E E +1 +1 E E −1 −1 E −1 E E E −1 E −1
Wood E E E E E −1 −1 −1 −1 E E E E E E E −1 −1
Shute E +1 +1 +1 +1 +2 +2 +2 +3 +3 +3 +3 +4 +4 +4 +4 +5 +7
Source:[8]

Monday, June 12, 1939

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

Cumulative playoff scores, relative to par

Eagle Birdie Bogey Double bogey
Source:[9]

References

  1. ^ a b "Nelson, Shute and Wood to decide Open title today". Palm Beach Post. Associated Press. June 11, 1939. p. 11.
  2. ^ a b "U.S. Open history: 1939". USGA. Archived from the original on July 6, 2012. Retrieved June 26, 2012.
  3. ^ "Nelson captures playoff". Vancouver Sun. June 12, 1939. p. 20.
  4. ^ "National Open golf scores (second round)". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Associated Press. June 10, 1939. p. 14.
  5. ^ "Scores in U.S. Open golf". Montreal Gazette. June 10, 1939. p. 12.
  6. ^ "Open scores". Milwaukee Journal. June 10, 1939. p. 6.
  7. ^ "Prize winners". Milwaukee Journal. June 12, 1939. p. 3-L.
  8. ^ a b Boni, Bill (June 12, 1939). "Nelson and Wood deadlocked after 18-hole playoff in U.S. Open golf". Montreal Gazette. Associated Press. p. 19.
  9. ^ "Byron Nelson takes national open golf championship". Spokane Daily Chronicle. Associated Press. June 12, 1939. p. 11.

40°03′43″N 75°17′31″W / 40.062°N 75.292°W / 40.062; -75.292

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