1927 U.S. Open (golf)

The 1927 U.S. Open was the 31st U.S. Open, held June 14–17 at Oakmont Country Club in Oakmont, Pennsylvania, a suburb northeast of Pittsburgh. Tommy Armour defeated Harry Cooper in an 18-hole playoff to win the first of his three major titles.

1927 U.S. Open
Tournament information
DatesJune 14–17, 1927
LocationOakmont, Pennsylvania
Course(s)Oakmont Country Club
Organized byUSGA
FormatStroke play − 72 holes
Statistics
Par72[1]
Length6,965 yards (6,369 m)[2][3]
Field148 players,[3] 62 after cut
Cut163 (+19)
Prize fund$2,000
Winner's share$500
Champion
Tommy Armour
301 (+13), playoff
Oakmont 
Location in the United States
 Oakmont
Location in Pennsylvania

The surprise second round leader was amateur Jimmy Johnston,[4][5] who won the U.S. Amateur two years later in 1929. In the third round on Thursday morning, he suffered two double bogeys on the front-nine, carded an 87 (+15), and finished in 19th place. Gene Sarazen, Walter Hagen, Bill Mehlhorn, and Emmet French were all in contention in the final round, but only French managed to break 40 on the back nine. Tommy Armour shot a final round 76 and 301 total, while Harry Cooper shot 77. Armour needed a 10-foot (3 m) putt for birdie on the par-4 18th to tie Cooper and force a playoff.[2][6] Neither player managed to break par during any round in the tournament.[7][8]

Both players were tied after nine holes of the Friday playoff, even though they only halved one hole. Cooper then took a two-shot lead, but an Armour birdie at 13 and a Cooper bogey at 15 brought the match to all square. On the 16th, Cooper found a bunker off the tee and recorded a double bogey, while Armour made par to gain a two-stroke advantage did not relinquish. Armour finished with a 76 to Cooper's 79.[1][9]

Armour's winning score of 301 was the highest since 1919, and the last time the winning score exceeded 300 strokes. Only one round under 70 was recorded, Al Espinosa's 69 in the final round. After Armour, no foreign-born player won the U.S. Open for another 38 years, until Gary Player in 1965. England's Ted Ray, the 1920 champion, played in his first Open since his win; it would also be his last. The 12th hole at Oakmont measured 621 yards (568 m), the longest in U.S. Open history until 1955.

While Armour won two more majors, Cooper never won one. His 31 PGA Tour victories are the most by a player without a major win, and he is often cited as the "best player to never win a major."

Defending champion Bobby Jones and Eddie Jones shared low-amateur honors and tied for eleventh. It was the only time in his eleven U.S. Open appearances that Bobby Jones finished outside the top ten.

This was the first U.S. Open held at Oakmont, which hosted its ninth in 2016. It has also hosted three PGA Championships; the first in 1922 was a match play event won by Gene Sarazen.

This was the last U.S. Open to commence on Tuesday; the following year the first round was scheduled for Thursday.

Past champions in the field

Made the cut

PlayerCountryYear(s) wonR1R2R3R4TotalTo parFinish
Gene Sarazen United States192274748074302+143
Walter Hagen United States1914, 191977737681307+196
Bobby Jones (a) United States1923, 192676777977309+21T11
Willie Macfarlane Scotland192582768073311+23T18
Jim Barnes England192178758179313+25T24
Ted Ray Jersey192076837778314+26T27
George Sargent England190980798083322+34T44

Source:[5][6]

Missed the cut

PlayerCountryYear wonR1R2TotalTo par
Chick Evans (a) United States19168878166+22

Source:[10]

Round summaries

First round

Tuesday, June 14, 1927

PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo par
T1Harry Hampton Scotland
 United States
73+1
Jimmy Johnston (a) United States
T3Harry Cooper England
 United States
74+2
Gene Sarazen United States
T5Emmet French United States75+3
Bill Mehlhorn United States
Larry Nabboltz United States
T8Bobby Jones (a) United States76+4
Ted Ray Jersey
T10Bobby Cruickshank Scotland
 United States
77+5
Walter Hagen United States
P.O. Hart United States
Bob MacDonald Scotland
 United States

Source:[11]

Second round

Wednesday, June 15, 1927

PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo par
1Jimmy Johnston (a) United States73-74=147+3
2Gene Sarazen United States74-74=148+4
3Tommy Armour Scotland
 United States
78-71=149+5
T4Harry Cooper England
 United States
74-76=150+6
Walter Hagen United States77-73=150
6Harry Hampton Scotland
 United States
73-78=151+7
T7Fred Baroni United States80-72=152+8
Leo Diegel United States78-74=152
Bill Mehlhorn United States75-77=152
T10Jim Barnes United States78-75=153+9
Archie Compston England79-74=153
Bobby Jones (a) United States76-77=153
Eddie Loos United States78-75=153

Source:[5]

Third round

Thursday, June 16, 1927 (morning)

PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo par
1Harry Cooper England
 United States
74-76-74=224+8
2Tommy Armour Scotland
 United States
78-71-76=225+9
3Walter Hagen United States77-73-76=226+10
4Gene Sarazen United States74-74-80=228+12
5Archie Compston England79-74-76=229+13
T6Bobby Cruickshank Scotland
 United States
77-78-76=231+15
Emmet French United States75-79-77=231
Harry Hampton Scotland
 United States
73-78-80=231
T9Leo Diegel United States78-74-80=232+16
Johnny Farrell United States81-73-78=232
Eddie Loos United States78-75-79=232
Bill Mehlhorn United States75-77-80=232

Source:[6]

Final round

Thursday, June 16, 1927 (afternoon)

PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo parMoney ($)
T1Tommy Armour Scotland
 United States
78-71-76-76=301+13Playoff
Harry Cooper England
 United States
74-76-74-77=301
3Gene Sarazen United States74-74-80-74=302+14200
4Emmet French United States75-79-77-73=304+16150
5Bill Mehlhorn United States75-77-80-73=305+17100
6Walter Hagen United States77-73-76-81=307+1990
T7Archie Compston England79-74-76-79=308+2073
Johnny Farrell United States81-73-78-76=308
Johnny Golden United States83-77-75-73=308
Harry Hampton Scotland
 United States
73-78-80-77=308

Source:[5][6]

Playoff

Friday, June 17, 1927

PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo parMoney ($)
1Tommy Armour Scotland
 United States
39-37=76+4500
2Harry Cooper England
 United States
39-40=79+7300

Source:[1]

Scorecard

Hole 1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9 101112131415161718
Par544543435445344344
Armour–1–1EE+1+1+2+2+2+3+4+4+4+5+5+5+4+4
CooperEEE+1+1+2+2+3+2+2+2+2+3+4+5+7+6+7
Eagle Birdie Bogey Double bogey Triple bogey+

Source:[1][9]

References

  1. Gould, Alan (June 18, 1927). "Tommy Armour Open Champ". Milwaukee Sentinel. Associated Press. p. 1-part.
  2. Shefter, David (February 28, 2007). "Getting their due: Jones, Parks, Hogan tasted victory at Oakmont". USGA. Retrieved May 19, 2016.
  3. Rohm, Harland (June 14, 1927). "148 golfers to start play in U.S. Open". Chicago Daily Tribune. p. 25.
  4. Brown, Warren (June 16, 1927). "Johnston on top in Open golf tourney". Milwaukee Sentinel. Universal Service. p. 1, part 2.
  5. Rohm, Harland (June 16, 1927). "Johnston leads U.S. Open play with 147 total". Chicago Daily Tribune. p. 15.
  6. Rohm, Harland (June 17, 1927). "Armour ties Cooper for National Open title". Chicago Daily Tribune. p. 17.
  7. "Cooper and Armour play off today for U.S. golf laurels". Montreal Gazette. Associated Press. June 17, 1927. p. 17.
  8. Gould, Alan J. (June 17, 1927). "Two pros contest for title today". Milwaukee Sentinel. Associated Press. p. 11.
  9. Rohm, Harland (June 18, 1927). "Armour wins National Open golf championship". Chicago Daily Tribune. p. 19.
  10. "Scores for 36 holes in Open golf tourney". Pittsburgh Press. June 15, 1927. p. 1.
  11. Rohm, Harland (June 15, 1927). "Hampton, Johnston tie for National Open lead". Chicago Daily Tribune. p. 23.

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