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.
The surprise second round leader was amateur Jimmy Johnston, 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, 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 putt for birdie on the par-4 18th to tie Cooper and force a playoff. Neither player managed to break par during any round in the tournament.
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.
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, 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

Source:

Missed the cut

Source:

Round summaries

First round

Tuesday, June 14, 1927
PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo par
T1Harry Hampton
73+1
T1Jimmy Johnston 73+1
T3Harry Cooper
74+2
T3Gene Sarazen74+2
T5Emmet French75+3
T5Bill Mehlhorn75+3
T5Larry Nabboltz75+3
T8Bobby Jones 76+4
T8Ted Ray76+4
T10Bobby Cruickshank
77+5
T10Walter Hagen77+5
T10P.O. Hart77+5
T10Bob MacDonald
77+5

Source:

Second round

Wednesday, June 15, 1927
PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo par
1Jimmy Johnston 73-74=147+3
2Gene Sarazen74-74=148+4
3Tommy Armour
78-71=149+5
T4Harry Cooper
74-76=150+6
T4Walter Hagen77-73=150+6
6Harry Hampton
73-78=151+7
T7Fred Baroni80-72=152+8
T7Leo Diegel78-74=152+8
T7Bill Mehlhorn75-77=152+8
T10Jim Barnes78-75=153+9
T10Archie Compston79-74=153+9
T10Bobby Jones 76-77=153+9
T10Eddie Loos78-75=153+9

Source:

Third round

Thursday, June 16, 1927
PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo par
1Harry Cooper
74-76-74=224+8
2Tommy Armour
78-71-76=225+9
3Walter Hagen77-73-76=226+10
4Gene Sarazen74-74-80=228+12
5Archie Compston79-74-76=229+13
T6Bobby Cruickshank
77-78-76=231+15
T6Emmet French75-79-77=231+15
T6Harry Hampton
73-78-80=231+15
T9Leo Diegel78-74-80=232+16
T9Johnny Farrell81-73-78=232+16
T9Eddie Loos78-75-79=232+16
T9Bill Mehlhorn75-77-80=232+16

Source:

Final round

Thursday, June 16, 1927
PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo parMoney
T1Tommy Armour
78-71-76-76=301+13Playoff
T1Harry Cooper
74-76-74-77=301+13Playoff
3Gene Sarazen74-74-80-74=302+14200
4Emmet French75-79-77-73=304+16150
5Bill Mehlhorn75-77-80-73=305+17100
6Walter Hagen77-73-76-81=307+1990
T7Archie Compston79-74-76-79=308+2073
T7Johnny Farrell81-73-78-76=308+2073
T7Johnny Golden83-77-75-73=308+2073
T7Harry Hampton
73-78-80-77=308+2073

Source:

Playoff

Friday, June 17, 1927
PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo parMoney
1Tommy Armour
39-37=76+4500
2Harry Cooper
39-40=79+7300

Source:

Scorecard

EagleBirdieBogeyDouble bogeyTriple bogey+

Source: