1946 U.S. Open (golf)

The 1946 U.S. Open was the 46th U.S. Open, held June 12–16 at Canterbury Golf Club in Beachwood, Ohio, a suburb east of Cleveland. In the first U.S. Open since 1941, Lloyd Mangrum, a World War II veteran and recipient of two Purple Hearts, defeated Byron Nelson and Vic Ghezzi in 36 playoff holes to win his only major title.[4]

1946 U.S. Open

Tournament information
Dates	June 12–16, 1946
Location	Beachwood, Ohio
Course(s)	Canterbury Golf Club
Organized by	USGA
Tour(s)	PGA Tour
Statistics
Par	72
Length	6,921 yards (6,329 m)[1]
Field	168 players, 62 after cut
Cut	151 (+7)
Prize fund	$8,000[2]
Winner's share	$1,833 [3]
Champion
Lloyd Mangrum
284 (−4), playoff

Canterbury
Golf Club

Location in United States

Canterbury
Golf Club

Location in Ohio

Nelson possibly cost himself the championship in the third round when his caddie accidentally kicked his ball and he was assessed a stroke penalty.[5] Two months after the championship, Nelson announced his retirement from the tour at age 34, though he continued to play at the Masters through 1966. He also played twice again at the U.S. Open (1949 and 1955), and once at the British Open in 1955.

The purse was $8,000 with a winner's share of $1,500.[2] The three participants received a playoff bonus of $333 each.[3]

This was the last playoff at the U.S. Open that ended in a tie without sudden-death. The next dozen 18-hole full round playoffs determined a winner without the need for extra holes. The first time sudden-death was used for the 91st hole was in 1990, Hale Irwin's third title. It was needed again in 1994 and 2008.

This was the second U.S. Open at Canterbury in six years; the 1940 edition was won by Lawson Little. It later hosted the PGA Championship in 1973, won by Jack Nicklaus.

Past champions in the field

Made the cut

Player	Country	Year won	R1	R2	R3	R4	Total	To par	Finish
Byron Nelson	United States	1939	71	71	69	73	284	−4	T2
Lawson Little	United States	1940	72	69	76	71	288	E	T10
Billy Burke	United States	1931	76	75	76	75	302	+14	T45

Source:[6]

Missed the cut

Player	Country	Year(s) won	R1	R2	Total	To par
Gene Sarazen	United States	1922, 1932	79	73	152	+8
Tommy Armour	Scotland  United States	1927	78	75	153	+9
Johnny Farrell	United States	1928	78	75	153	+9
Tony Manero	United States	1936	76	77	153	+9
Sam Parks, Jr.	United States	1935	79	74	153	+9
Craig Wood	United States	1941	78	75	153	+9
Ralph Guldahl	United States	1937, 1938	78	79	157	+13
Johnny Goodman (a)	United States	1933	83	79	162	+18
Willie Macfarlane	Scotland	1925	76	WD

Source:[7]

Round summaries

First round

Thursday, June 13, 1946

Place	Player	Country	Score	To par
T1	Toney Penna	Italy  United States	69	−3
	Sam Snead	United States
T3	Bob Hamilton	United States	70	−2
	Mike Turnesa	United States
T5	Skip Alexander	United States	71	−1
	Jimmy Demaret	United States
	Vic Ghezzi	United States
	Scudday Horner	United States
	Steve Kovach	United States
	Byron Nelson	United States
	Ed Oliver	United States
	Henry Picard	United States
	Henry Ransom	United States

Source:[8]

Second round

Friday, June 14, 1946

Place	Player	Country	Score	To par
T1	Vic Ghezzi	United States	71-69=140	−4
	Ben Hogan	United States	72-68=140
3	Lawson Little	United States	72-69=141	−3
T4	Ed Oliver	United States	71-71=142	−2
	Byron Nelson	United States	71-71=142
6	Steve Kovach	United States	71-72=143	−1
T7	Herman Barron	United States	72-72=144	E
	Lloyd Mangrum	United States	74-70=144
	Henry Picard	United States	71-73=144
	Henry Ransom	United States	71-73=144
	Sam Snead	United States	69-75=144

Source:[7]

Third round

Saturday, June 15, 1946 (morning)

Place	Player	Country	Score	To par
1	Byron Nelson	United States	71-71-69=211	−5
T2	Vic Ghezzi	United States	71-69-72=212	−4
	Lloyd Mangrum	United States	74-70-68=212
4	Ben Hogan	United States	72-68-73=213	−3
5	Henry Picard	United States	71-73-71=215	−1
T6	Herman Barron	United States	72-72-72=216	E
	Steve Kovach	United States	71-72-73=216
	Ed Oliver	United States	71-71-74=216
T9	Chick Harbert	United States	72-78-67=217	+1
	Chandler Harper	United States	76-74-67=217
	Henry Ransom	United States	71-73-73=217

Source:[6]

Final round

Saturday, June 15, 1946 (afternoon)

Nelson began the final round with a one-stroke lead over Mangrum and Ghezzi. Ghezzi was the first to finish and carded a 72 and a 284 total. Nelson and Mangrum were playing together, and Nelson had a two-stroke advantage with three holes remaining. But after bogeys at his final two holes, combined with two pars by Mangrum, Nelson fell back into a tie and forced a three-way playoff.[6][9]

Place	Player	Country	Score	To par	Money ($)
T1	Lloyd Mangrum	United States	74-70-68-72=284	−4	Playoff
	Vic Ghezzi	United States	71-69-72-72=284
	Byron Nelson	United States	71-71-69-73=284
T4	Herman Barron	United States	72-72-72-69=285	−3	550
	Ben Hogan	United States	72-68-73-72=285
T6	Jimmy Demaret	United States	71-74-73-68=286	−2	350
	Ed Oliver	United States	71-71-74-70=286
T8	Chick Harbert	United States	72-78-67-70=287	−1	225
	Dick Metz	United States	76-70-72-69=287
T10	Dutch Harrison	United States	75-71-72-70=288	E	175
	Lawson Little	United States	72-69-76-71=288

Source:[6]

Playoff

Sunday, June 16, 1946

All three players shot even-par 72 during the first 18 holes on Sunday morning, which forced another 18-hole playoff in the afternoon, as there was no sudden-death playoff at the time. At the 9th, Mangrum nearly shot himself out of contention with an out of bounds tee shot, but a 70-foot (20 m) putt for bogey allowed him to minimize the damage. Nelson and Ghezzi were tied at the turn, with Mangrum two back. But Mangrum then collected two birdies, while Nelson bogeyed 13 and Ghezzi recorded bogeys at 14 and 15. Mangrum took a two-stroke lead with a birdie at 16, and despite a bogey-bogey finish, his 72 was good enough to hold off Nelson and Ghezzi by a stroke.[1][4]

Place	Player	Country	Score	To par	Money ($)
1	Lloyd Mangrum	United States	72-72=144	E	1,833
T2	Byron Nelson	United States	72-73=145	+1	1,208
	Vic Ghezzi	United States	72-73=145

• Prize money includes $333 playoff bonus for each.

Scorecards

Morning round

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
Mangrum	E	E	−1	E	−1	−1	−2	−2	−2	−2	−2	−3	−2	−1	−1	−1	E	E
Nelson	E	−1	−1	−1	−1	E	E	E	E	+1	+1	+1	E	E	E	E	E	E
Ghezzi	E	E	−1	−1	−2	−2	−1	−1	−2	−2	−2	−1	−2	−2	−1	E	E	E

Afternoon round

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
Mangrum	−1	E	E	E	−1	−1	−1	−1	E	E	E	+1	E	E	−1	−2	−1	E
Nelson	E	E	E	E	E	−1	−2	−2	−2	−2	−1	−1	E	E	E	E	+1	+1
Ghezzi	E	E	E	E	E	−1	−1	−1	−2	−2	−1	−2	−2	−1	E	E	E	+1

Cumulative playoff scores, relative to par

Birdie

Bogey

Source:[1][3][4]

References

1. Sixty, Billy (June 17, 1946). "Mangrum wins 'Open' title in play-off in heavy storm". Milwaukee Journal. p. 4-L.
2. "U.S. Open history: 1946". USGA. Archived from the original on July 6, 2012. Retrieved June 25, 2012.
3. Cavagnaro, Bob (June 17, 1946). "Lloyd Mangrum captures national open; beats Nelson, Ghezzi in 36-hole playoff". Youngstown Vindicator. (Ohio). Associated Press. p. 10.
4. Bartlett, Charles (June 17, 1946). "Mangrum, war veteran, wins U.S. Open". Chicago Daily Tribune. p. 25.
5. Fraley, Oscar (June 16, 1946). "Nelson, Mangrum, Ghezzi tie for National Open title". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). United Press. p. 10.
6. Bartlett, Charles (June 16, 1946). "Nelson plays off today for Open title". Chicago Sunday Tribune. p. 1, part 2.
7. "National Open golf scores". Chicago Daily Tribune. June 15, 1946. p. 18.
8. Bartlett, Charles (June 14, 1946). "Snead, Penna lead Open golf with 69s". Chicago Daily Tribune. p. 29.
9. Sixty, Billy (June 16, 1946). "Nelson, Mangrum and Ghezzi tie in U.S. Open". Milwaukee Journal. p. 1-sec. III.

External links

• 1946 U.S. Open
• USGA Championship Database