1935 U.S. Open (golf)

The 1935 U.S. Open was the 39th U.S. Open, held June 6–8 at Oakmont Country Club in Oakmont, Pennsylvania, a suburb northeast of Pittsburgh. Sam Parks, Jr., a 25-year-old club pro at nearby South Hills Country Club with no prior tournament wins, prevailed by two strokes in difficult scoring conditions for his only major title.[5][6] The purse was $5,000 and the winner's share was $1,000.[4][7]

1935 U.S. Open
Tournament information
DatesJune 6–8, 1935
LocationOakmont, Pennsylvania
Course(s)Oakmont Country Club
Organized byUSGA
Tour(s)PGA Tour
FormatStroke play − 72 holes
Statistics
Par72[1]
Length6,981 yards (6,383 m)[2]
Field159 players,[3] 66 after cut
Cut161 (+17)
Prize fund$5,000[4]
Winner's share$1,000
Champion
Sam Parks, Jr.
299 (+11)
Oakmont 
Location in the United States
 Oakmont
Location in Pennsylvania

Jimmy Thomson owned the 36-hole lead after consecutive rounds of 73, despite severe weather that caused scores to soar.[8] Sam Parks trailed by four, but in the third round he recorded a 60-foot (18 m) chip-in for eagle to tie Thomson, who shot a 77. The weather only got worse during the final round, and Thomson could do no better than a 78. Parks, however, shot a 76 for a two-stroke victory. Walter Hagen briefly led during the final round, but four consecutive bogeys knocked him back to third.[5] It would be the last time that Hagen would contend in a major championship. Scoring conditions were so difficult that no player in contention broke 75 and 73 was the lowest score of the round.[9]

Parks was certainly helped by his preparation for the tournament. Every day for a month, he stopped at Oakmont to play a practice round before returning to his own club. This practice paid off particularly on Oakmont's notoriously difficult greens, where he three-putted just twice in 72 holes. His winning score of 299 was the highest since 1927, also at Oakmont, and he was the only player to break 300.[5] Born in nearby Bellevue, Parks was an alumnus of the University of Pittsburgh, where he had been captain of the golf team.[10]

The field of 159 included six entrants from Japan and one from South Africa; the rest from 31 states and the District of Columbia.[3] For the first time, a Japanese player made the cut at the Open. Kanekichi Nakamura was part of a tour of the U.S. by Japanese golfers and finished in 58th at 325. Chris Brinke captured low-amateur honors in 32nd place at 315, a stroke ahead of 1933 champion Johnny Goodman.[11]

Oakmont had previously hosted the U.S. Open in 1927, the PGA Championship in 1922, and the U.S. Amateur in 1919 and 1925.

The Stimpmeter was inspired by the fast greens of this Open. Edward Stimpson, Sr., the Massachusetts amateur champion and a former captain of the Harvard golf team,[12] devised a simple device and method to accurately measure the speed of greens.[13][14][15]

Course layout

Hole123456789Out101112131415161718InTotal
Yards4823634285363861873952534773,5074613956211643494752343024733,4746,981
Par544543435374453443443572

Source:[2][16]

Lengths of the course for previous major championships:

Past champions in the field

Made the cut

PlayerCountryYear(s) wonR1R2R3R4TotalTo parFinish
Walter Hagen United States1914, 191977767376302+143
Gene Sarazen United States1922, 193275747879306+18T6
Olin Dutra United States193477767877308+20T12
Billy Burke United States193177847579315+27T32
Johnny Goodman (a) United States193377788378316+28T36
Willie Macfarlane Scotland192577817884320+32T47
Johnny Farrell United States192877798482322+34T52

Source:[11][17]

Missed the cut

PlayerCountryYear wonR1R2TotalTo par
Tommy Armour Scotland
 United States
192774WD

Source:[17]

Round summaries

First round

Thursday, June 6, 1935

PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo par
1Butch Krueger United States71−1
2Roland MacKenzie United States72E
T3Herman Barron United States73+1
Cliff Spencer United States
Horton Smith United States
Jimmy Thomson Scotland
 United States
T7Tommy Armour United States74+2
Ed Dudley United States
Jim Foulis United States
Macdonald Smith Scotland
 United States

Source:[18]

Second round

Friday, June 7, 1935

PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo par
1Jimmy Thomson Scotland
 United States
73-73=146+2
2Butch Krueger United States71-77=148+4
3Gene Sarazen United States75-74=149+5
4Sam Parks, Jr. United States77-73=150+6
T5Al Espinosa United States75-76=151+7
Denny Shute United States78-73=151
Ted Turner United States80-71=151
T8Herman Barron United States73-79=152+8
Mortie Dutra United States75-77=152
Vincent Eldred United States75-77=152
Ray Mangrum United States76-76=152
Horton Smith United States73-79=152

Source:[17]

Third round

Saturday, June 8, 1935 (morning)

PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo par
T1Sam Parks, Jr. United States77-73-73=223+7
Jimmy Thomson Scotland
 United States
73-73-77=223
3Ray Mangrum United States76-76-72=224+8
T4Walter Hagen United States77-76-73=226+10
Butch Krueger United States71-77-78=266
T6Henry Picard United States79-78-70=227+11
Gene Sarazen United States75-74-78=227
Denny Shute United States78-73-76=227
T9Vincent Eldred United States75-75-77=229+13
Al Espinosa United States75-76-78=229
Dick Metz United States77-76-76=229

Source:[4][7][11]

Final round

Saturday, June 8, 1935 (afternoon)

PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo parMoney ($)
1Sam Parks, Jr. United States77-73-73-76=299+111,000
2Jimmy Thomson Scotland
 United States
73-73-77-78=301+13750
3Walter Hagen United States77-76-73-76=302+14650
T4Ray Mangrum United States76-76-72-79=303+15500
Denny Shute United States78-73-76-76=303
T6Butch Krueger United States71-77-78-80=306+18218
Henry Picard United States79-78-70-79=306
Gene Sarazen United States75-74-78-79=306
Horton Smith United States73-79-79-75=306
T10Dick Metz United States77-76-76-78=307+1995
Paul Runyan United States76-77-79-75=307

Source:[4][7][11]

Scorecard

Hole 1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9 101112131415161718
Par544543435445344344
Parks+6+7+8+9+9+9+9+9+8+8+8+8+8+8+9+10+10+11
Thomson+7+7+6+5+6+7+8+10+9+9+9+9+9+10+11+12+12+13
Hagen+9+9+9+8+9+11+11+11+10+11+12+13+14+14+14+15+14+14
Shute+11+12+13+13+14+14+14+14+13+13+13+14+14+14+13+15+15+15

Cumulative tournament scores, relative to par

Birdie Bogey Double bogey

Source:[19][20]

References

  1. Bell, Jack (June 7, 1935). "Tricky Oakmont links baffles golfers in Open". Miami News. p. 12.
  2. "Oakmont course par and yardage". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. June 6, 1935. p. 18.
  3. Taggart, Bert P. (June 6, 1935). "Open field set to tee off at Oakmont today". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. p. 1.
  4. "Here's how prize money was dealt in National Open". Chicago Sunday Tribune. June 9, 1935. p. 7, part 2.
  5. Bartlett, Charles (June 9, 1935). "Parks takes U.S. Open golf title with 299". Chicago Sunday Tribune. p. 1, sec. 2.
  6. Rice, Grantland (June 9, 1935). "Unknown Sam Parks wins National Open tourney". Miami News. p. 10.
  7. "$5,000 in prizes to Open winners". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. June 10, 1935. p. 17.
  8. Bartlett, Charles (June 8, 1935). "Thomson's 146 tops National Open golf". Chicago Daily Tribune. p. 21.
  9. "Parks, 26-year-old Pittsburgher, new U.S. Open champion". Montreal Gazette. Associated Press. June 10, 1935. p. 15.
  10. Huhn, Joe (June 6, 1932). "Sam Parks, Ted Luther lead at Oakmont". Pittsburgh Press. p. 26.
  11. "National Open scores". Chicago Sunday Tribune. June 9, 1935. p. 7, part 2.
  12. "E. S. Stimpson '27 elected to lead Crimson golf team". Harvard Crimson. (Cambridge, Massachusetts). November 28, 1925. Retrieved May 18, 2016.
  13. Dvorchak, Robert (June 13, 2007). "Reading the greens". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. p. E-6.
  14. "Edward S. Stimpson". New York Times. UPI. March 28, 1985. Retrieved May 18, 2016.
  15. McCabe, Jim (June 15, 2016). "The real history of Edward Stimpson's special gift: The Stimpmeter". Golfweek. Retrieved April 20, 2017.
  16. "Sarazen first choice as Open begins today". Chicago Daily Tribune. June 6, 1935. p. 19.
  17. "National Open scores". Chicago Daily Tribune. June 8, 1935. p. 23.
  18. Bartlett, Charles (June 7, 1935). "Krueger shoots 71 to lead National Open". Chicago Daily Tribune. p. 25.
  19. "Winner's cards". Chicago Sunday Tribune. June 9, 1935. p. 7, sec. 2.
  20. "How Parks won". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. June 10, 1935. p. 16.

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