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
Lawson Little
287 (−1), playoff
Canterbury 
Golf Club 
Location in the United States
Canterbury
Golf Club
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

Hole123456789Out101112131415161718InTotal
Yards4303691764404104772004125533,4673671703744834033715882304413,4276,894
Par443445345364345445343672

Source:[1]

Past champions in the field

Made the cut

PlayerCountryYear(s) wonR1R2R3R4TotalTo parFinish
Gene Sarazen United States1922, 193271747072287−12
Ralph Guldahl United States1937, 193873717670290+2T5
Byron Nelson United States193972747074290+2T5
Tommy Armour Scotland
 United States
192773747571293+5T12
Johnny Farrell United States192875777671299+1128
Sam Parks, Jr. United States193569747978300+12T29
Tony Manero United States193675757774301+13T36

Source:[5]

Missed the cut

PlayerCountryYear wonR1R2TotalTo par
Olin Dutra United States19347877155+11
Johnny Goodman United States19338279161+17

Source:[6][7]

Round summaries

First round

Thursday, June 6, 1940

PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo par
1Sam Snead United States67−5
T2Ed Oliver United States69−3
Sam Parks, Jr. United States
Horton Smith United States
T5Al Huske United States70−2
Vic Ghezzi United States
Ben Hogan United States
T8Bob Babbish (a) United States71−1
Andy Gibson Scotland
Duke Gibson United States
Henry Kaiser United States
Gene Sarazen United States

Source:[8]

Second round

Friday, June 7, 1940

PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo par
T1Lawson Little United States72-69=141−3
Horton Smith United States69-72=141
Sam Snead United States67-74=141
4Frank Walsh United States73-69=142−2
T5Ben Hogan United States70-73=143−1
Sam Parks, Jr. United States69-74=213
T7Leonard Dodson United States72-72=144E
Vic Ghezzi United States70-74=144
Ralph Guldahl United States73-71=144
Dutch Harrison United States74-70=144

Source:[6][7]

Third round

Saturday, June 8, 1940 (morning)

PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo par
1Frank Walsh United States73-69-71=213−3
T2Lawson Little United States72-69-73=214−2
Sam Snead United States67-74-73=214
4Gene Sarazen United States71-74-70=215−1
T5Lloyd Mangrum United States75-70-71=216E
Jug McSpaden United States74-72-70=216
Byron Nelson United States72-74-70=216
T8Ben Hogan United States70-73-74=217+1
Henry Picard United States73-73-71=217
Craig Wood United States72-73-72=217

Source:[5]

Final round

Saturday, June 8, 1940 (afternoon)

PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo parMoney ($)
T1Lawson Little United States72-69-73-73=287−1Playoff
Gene Sarazen United States71-74-70-72=287
3Horton Smith United States69-72-78-69=288E700
4Craig Wood United States72-73-72-72=289+1600
T5Ralph Guldahl United States73-71-76-70=290+2325
Ben Hogan United States70-73-74-73=290
Lloyd Mangrum United States75-70-71-74=290
Byron Nelson United States72-74-70-74=290
9Dick Metz United States75-72-72-72=291+3175
T10Ed Dudley United States73-75-71-73=292+4137
Frank Walsh United States73-69-71-79=292

Source:[4][5]

Playoff

Sunday, June 9, 1940

PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo parMoney ($)
1Lawson Little United States70−21,000
2Gene Sarazen United States73+1800

Scorecard

Hole 1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9 101112131415161718
Par443445345434544534
LittleE−1−1−1−2−2−2−2−2−2−2−1−1−1−2−3−2−2
Sarazen+1+1+1+1+2E+1+1+1+1EE+1EEE+1+1

Cumulative playoff scores, relative to par

Eagle Birdie Bogey

Source:[1][3][9]

References

  1. 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 2012-05-11. Retrieved June 26, 2012.
  3. Bartlett, Charles (June 9, 1940). "Little defeats Sarazen for Open crown". Chicago Daily Tribune. p. 21.
  4. Bartlett, Charles (June 9, 1940). "Sarazen's 287 ties Little for Open crown". Chicago Sunday Tribune. p. 1, sec. 2.
  5. 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 8, 1940). "Little, Smith tie Snead in Open with 141". Chicago Daily Tribune. p. 19.
  7. "National Open tourney scores". Youngstown Vindicator. (Ohio). (second round). June 8, 1940. p. 6.
  8. Bartlett, Charles (June 7, 1940). "Snead's record 67 leads National Open". Chicago Daily Tribune. p. 29.
  9. "Little wins Open golf playoff, 70-73". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Associated Press. June 10, 1940. p. 15.

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