1950 U.S. Open (golf)

1950 U.S. Open
Tournament information
Dates June 8–11, 1950
Location Ardmore, Pennsylvania
Course(s) Merion Golf Club,
East Course
Organized by USGA
Tour(s) PGA Tour
Statistics
Par 70
Length 6,694 yards (6,121 m)[1]
Field 150 players, 52 after cut
Cut 149 (+9)
Prize fund $15,000[2]
Winner's share $4,000
Champion
United States Ben Hogan
287 (+7), playoff
«1949
1951»
Merion GC
Location in the United States
Merion GC 
Location in Pennsylvania

The 1950 U.S. Open was the 50th U.S. Open, held June 8–11 at the East Course of Merion Golf Club in Ardmore, Pennsylvania, a suburb northwest of Philadelphia. In what became known as the "Miracle at Merion," 1948 champion Ben Hogan won the second of his four U.S. Open titles in an 18-hole playoff over 1946 champion Lloyd Mangrum and George Fazio, just 16 months after being severely injured in an automobile accident.[3][4] It was the fourth of Hogan's nine major titles.[5]

Lee Mackey established a new tournament record by shooting a 64 in the first round,[6][7][8] but followed that up with an 81 and finished in 25th place.[9] His score of 64 was not bettered in any other major championship for 23 years, until Johnny Miller closed with a 63 at the U.S. Open in 1973 to win at Oakmont. Tommy Armour, three-time major champion and winner in 1927, played in his final major and missed the cut.

This was the second U.S. Open played at Merion's East Course, which previously hosted sixteen years earlier in 1934, won by Olin Dutra. Opened in 1912, the course was the site of the U.S. Amateur in 1916, 1924, and 1930; the first was the debut of Bobby Jones at age 14 (quarterfinalist) and the latter two he won. The 1930 victory was the fourth and final leg of his grand slam.

Hogan made his U.S. Open debut at Merion in 1934 at age 21. He shot 79 (+9) twice[10] and missed the 36-hole cut by three strokes. He made his first cut at the U.S. Open in 1939 and did not miss another; his last was in 1967 at age 54.

Course

East Course

Hole123456789Out101112131415161718InTotal
Yards3605551955954254353603671853,4773353784001334433954452304583,2176,694
Par453544443364443444343470

Source:[11]

Past champions in the field

Made the cut

Player Country Year(s) won R1 R2 R3 R4 Total To par Finish
Ben Hogan  United States 1948 72 69 72 74 287 +7 1
Lloyd Mangrum  United States 1946 72 70 69 76 287 +7 2
Cary Middlecoff  United States 1949 71 71 71 79 292 +12 T10
Gene Sarazen  United States 1922, 1932 72 72 82 76 302 +22 T38

Source:[9]

Missed the cut

Player Country Year won R1 R2 Total To par
Tommy Armour  Scotland
 United States 		1927 75 75 150 +10
Tony Manero  United States 1936 77 75 152 +12
Lawson Little  United States 1940 79 74 153 +13
Craig Wood  United States 1941 77 76 153 +13
Billy Burke  United States 1931 78 79 157 +17
Lew Worsham  United States 1947 82 76 158 +18
Johnny Farrell  United States 1928 79 81 160 +20

Source:[11][12][13]

Round summaries

First round

Thursday, June 8, 1950

PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo par
1 Lee Mackey  United States 64 –6
2 Al Brosch  United States 67 –3
T3 Skip Alexander  United States 68 –2
Julius Boros  United States
T5 Harold Williams  United States 69 –1
Henry Williams, Jr.  United States
T7 Pat Abbott  United States 71 +1
John Barnum  United States
Al Besselink  United States
Jim Ferrier  Australia
Claude Harmon  United States
Loddie Kempa  United States
Joe Kirkwood, Jr.  United States
Jack Mallon  United States
Cary Middlecoff  United States
Henry Picard  United States
Denny Shute  United States

Source:[7][8]

Scorecard

Hole 1  2  3 456789101112131415161718
Par453544443 444344434
United States Mackey EEE−1−1−1−2−3−3−3−4−4−5−5−6−6−5−6

Source:[8]

Second round

Friday, June 9, 1950

PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo par
1 Dutch Harrison  United States 72-67=139 –1
T2 Julius Boros  United States 68-72=140 E
Johnny Bulla  United States 74-66=140
Jim Ferrier  Australia 71-69=140
5 Ben Hogan  United States 72-69=141 +1
T6 Skip Alexander  United States 68-74=142 +2
Lloyd Mangrum  United States 72-70=142
Cary Middlecoff  United States 71-71=142
Henry Picard  United States 71-71=142
Skee Riegel  United States 73-69=142
Bob Toski  United States 73-69=142

Source:[11][12][13]

Third round

Saturday, June 10, 1950   (morning)

PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo par
1 Lloyd Mangrum  United States 72-70-69=211 +1
2 Dutch Harrison  United States 72-67-73=212 +2
T3 Ben Hogan  United States 72-69-72=213 +3
Cary Middlecoff  United States 71-71-71=213
Johnny Palmer  United States 73-70-70=213
6 Jim Ferrier  Australia 71-69-74=214 +4
7Henry Ransom  United States 72-71-73=216 +6
T8 Julius Boros  United States 68-72-77=217 +7
George Fazio  United States 73-72-72=217
Bill Nary  United States 73-70-74=217

Source:

Final round

Saturday, June 10, 1950   (afternoon)

Mangrum began the final round with a one-shot lead over Dutch Harrison and a two-stroke lead over Hogan, defending champion Cary Middlecoff, and Johnny Palmer. Fazio was the first to post 287 (+7) after an even-par 70. Mangrum struggled early in his round, carding six bogeys on the first seven holes and shot 76 (+6), which also left him at 287. Hogan had a chance to win the tournament in regulation but missed a short putt for par at 15 and then bogeyed the par-3 17th. In a three-way tie for the lead going to the difficult 18th, Hogan hit one of his most famous shots, a 1-iron approach to 40 feet (12 m).[14] He two-putted for par to join Mangrum and Fazio in the Sunday playoff.[15][16] Middlecoff and Palmer both shot 79 and fell to tenth place.

PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo parMoney ($)
T1 Ben Hogan  United States 72-69-72-74=287 +7 Playoff
Lloyd Mangrum  United States 72-70-69-76=287
George Fazio  United States 73-72-72-70=287
4 Dutch Harrison  United States 72-67-73-76=288 +8 800
T5 Jim Ferrier  Australia 71-69-74-75=289 +9 500
Joe Kirkwood, Jr.  United States 71-74-74-70=289
Henry Ransom  United States 72-71-73-73=289
8 Bill Nary  United States 73-70-74-73=290 +10 350
9 Julius Boros  United States 68-72-77-74=291 +11 300
T10 Cary Middlecoff  United States 71-71-71-79=292 +12 225
Johnny Palmer  United States 73-70-70-79=292

Source:[9][16]

Scorecard

Hole  1    2    3    4    5    6    7    8    9   10  11  12  13  14  15  16  17  18 
Par453544443 444344434
United States Hogan +3+3+4+4+4+4+4+4+4+4+4+5+5+5+6+6+7+7
United States Mangrum +2+3+2+3+4+5+6+6+6+6+6+6+6+6+7+7+7+7
United States Fazio +7+6+7+7+7+7+8+8+8+8+8+8+7+8+7+7+7+7
United States Harrison +3+2+4+5+5+5+5+6+7+7+7+8+8+8+8+8+8+8
Australia Ferrier +7+6+7+7+7+7+8+8+8+8+9+9+9+9+10+9+9+9
United States Middlecoff +3+4+4+5+7+7+7+6+6+8+8+8+8+8+9+11+12+12
United States Palmer +4+4+5+5+7+8+8+8+8+8+9+10+11+11+11+11+11+12

Cumulative tournament scores, relative to par
Source:[11]

Playoff

Sunday, June 11, 1950

The three players were within one stroke of each other as late as the 13th hole, with Hogan at even par and Fazio and Mangrum at one-over. Fazio bogied four of the last five holes to fall out of contention, while Hogan led Mangrum by a single stroke through 15. Mangrum's tee shot at 16 went into heavy rough but his third shot stopped 15 feet (4.6 m) from the hole. As he putted to save par, he picked up his ball to remove a bug that had landed on it, a violation of the rules (then rule 10, paragraph 2).[3] Mangrum rolled it in, but was assessed a two-stroke penalty at the next tee; the double-bogey allowed Hogan to cruise to a four-stroke victory.[1][3] Hogan had just one bogey, while Fazio had seven and Mangrum four, plus the double-bogey for the rules violation.

PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo parMoney ($)
1Ben Hogan  United States 69 −14,000
2Lloyd Mangrum  United States 73 +32,500
3George Fazio  United States 75 +51,000

Source:[1][3]

Scorecard

Hole  1    2    3    4    5    6    7    8    9   10  11  12  13  14  15  16  17  18 
Par453544443 444344434
United States Hogan EEEEEE−1EEEEEEEEE−1−1
United States Mangrum E−1EEEEEEE+1E+1+1+2+1+3+3+3
United States Fazio +1EEEE+1+2+1+1+1+1+1+1+2+3+4+4+5

Source:[1][3]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Hogan shoots 69, one under, to win Open golf". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Associated Press. June 12, 1950. p. 19.
  2. ↑ "U.S. Open history: 1950". USGA. Retrieved June 23, 2012.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Bartlett, Charles (June 12, 1950). "Hogan wins Open title on 69 in playoff". Chicago Daily Tribune. p. 1, part 6.
  4. ↑ Trostel, Michael (May 28, 2013). "Looking Back...1950 U.S. Open at Merion". USGA. Retrieved May 29, 2013.
  5. ↑ "Defining Moment". Golf Digest. June 2013. Retrieved June 11, 2013.
  6. ↑ Bernstein, Ralph (June 9, 1950). "Harold Williams has good chance to win Open". Tuscaloosa News. Alabama. Associated Press. p. 11.
  7. 1 2 "Lee Mackey, Jr., shoots 64 to lead National Open". Wilmington Morning Star. North Carolina. Associated Press. June 9, 1950. p. 12.
  8. 1 2 3 Bartlett, Charles (June 9, 1950). "Record 64 by golf unknown leads Open". Chicago Daily Tribune. p. 1, part 4.
  9. 1 2 3 "Top U.S. Open scorers". Milwaukee Sentinel. June 11, 1950. p. 2-B.
  10. ↑ Cavagnaro, Bob (June 9, 1934). "Bobby Cruickshank has three-stroke lead as 64 golfers battle for Open title". Youngstown Vindicator. Ohio. Associated Press. p. 6.
  11. 1 2 3 4 "1950 U.S. Open news, cards, pairings, scores" (PDF). Trenham Golf History. Retrieved May 8, 2013.
  12. 1 2 Bartlett, Charles (June 10, 1950). "Harrison shoots 67; leads Open with 139". Chicago Daily Tribune. p. 1, part 2.
  13. 1 2 "National Open tourney scores". Youngtown Vindicator. Ohio. Associated Press. June 10, 1950. p. 7.
  14. ↑ Balicki, Ron (September 11, 2009). "Remembering the 1-iron at Merion". Golfweek. Retrieved December 6, 2012.
  15. ↑ Talbot, Gayle (June 11, 1950). "Hogan, Mangrum, Fazio tie; Ben's legs give out". Milwaukee Sentinel. Associated Press. p. 1-B.
  16. 1 2 Bartlett, Charles (June 11, 1950). "Hogan limps into U.S. Open tie with 287". Chicago Sunday Tribune. p. 1, part 2.

External links

Coordinates: 40°00′04″N 75°18′43″W / 40.001°N 75.312°W / 40.001; -75.312

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