1929 U.S. Open (golf)


The 1929 U.S. Open was the 33rd U.S. Open, held June 27–30 at Winged Foot Golf Club in Mamaroneck, New York, a suburb northeast of New York City. Bobby Jones won his third U.S. Open title in a 36-hole playoff, besting Al Espinosa by 23 strokes on the West Course.
Jones opened with a 69 in the first round to grab the lead, then followed with a 75.
After a third round 71, he had a three-stroke lead over Gene Sarazen and was four clear of Espinosa after 54 holes. Sarazen fell out of contention in the final round with a 78 and fell to a tie for third place. Espinosa shot a 75 and a 294 total, but it appeared like it would not be enough to overtake Jones. Beginning with the 15th, Jones needed only three bogeys and a par to win the championship. However, he triple-bogeyed the 15th and then made another bogey on 16 and his lead was gone. He made par at the 17th, but his approach on the 18th found a greenside bunker. Needing to get up-and-down to save par and force a playoff, Jones rolled in a putt for the tie.
Jones dominated the 36-hole playoff on Sunday, with a 72 in the morning round to grab a 12-shot lead. Espinosa struggled again on the second 18, shooting an 80 to Jones' 69, and Jones won the playoff by 23 shots. He won his fourth U.S. Open in 1930 and the grand slam. The 23-stroke win is the largest margin of victory in a major golf tournament.
This was the first of five U.S. Opens at Winged Foot's West Course; it later hosted in 1959, 1974, 1984, and 2006, as well as the PGA Championship in 1997.

Course layout

West Course

Past champions in the field

Made the cut

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Missed the cut

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Round summaries

First round

Thursday, June 27, 1929
PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo par
1Bobby Jones 69−3
2Al Espinosa70−2
3Gene Sarazen71−1
T4Chris Hilgendorf72E
T4Jack White72E
T6Leonard Schnutte73+1
T6Denny Shute73+1
T8Tommy Armour
74+2
T8Wiffy Cox74+2
T8Jack Cummins 74+2
T8Leo Diegel74+2
T8Ted Longworth74+2
T8Larry Nabholtz74+2

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Second round

Friday, June 28, 1929
PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo par
T1Gene Sarazen71-71=142−2
T1Al Espinosa70-72=142−2
T3Bobby Jones 69-75=144E
T3Denny Shute73-71=144E
5Tommy Armour
74-71=145+1
T6Leo Diegel74-74=148+4
T6Leonard Schnutte73-75=148+4
T8George Von Elm 79-70=149+5
T9Wiffy Cox74-76=150+6
T9Peter O'Hara74-76=150+6
T9Craig Wood79-71=150+6

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Third round

Saturday, June 29, 1929
PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo par
1Bobby Jones 69-75-71=215−1
2Gene Sarazen71-71-76=218+2
3Al Espinosa70-72-77=219+3
4Denny Shute73-71-76=220+4
5Tommy Armour
74-71-76=221+5
T6George Von Elm 79-70-74=223+7
T6Peter O'Hara74-76-73=223+7
T8Henry Ciuci78-74-72=224+8
T8Leo Diegel74-74-76=224+8
10Horton Smith76-77-74=227+11

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Final round

Saturday, June 29, 1929
PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo parMoney
T1Bobby Jones 69-75-71-79=294+6Playoff
T1Al Espinosa70-72-77-75=294+6Playoff
T3Gene Sarazen71-71-76-78=296+8700
T3Denny Shute73-71-76-76=296+8700
T5Tommy Armour
74-71-76-76=297+9550
T5George Von Elm 79-70-74-74=297+90
7Henry Ciuci78-74-72-75=299+11450
T8Leo Diegel74-74-76-77=301+13300
T8Peter O'Hara74-76-73-78=301+13300
10Horton Smith76-77-74-75=302+14150

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Scorecard

Final round
Hole 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18
Par443454345345344544
Jones−1E−1−1−1−1−1+2+1+2+2+2+3+3+6+6+6+6
Espinosa+4+4+3+4+3+3+4+4+3+4+5+8+8+8+8+7+6+6
Sarazen+3+3+3+3+4+5+5+7+7+7+7+7+7+7+8+7+8+8
Shute+6+7+7+7+8+7+7+7+6+7+6+6+6+6+7+7+7+8

Cumulative tournament scores, relative to par
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Playoff

Sunday, June 30, 1929
PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo parMoney
1Bobby Jones 72-69=141−30
2Al Espinosa84-80=164+201,000

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Scorecards

Morning round
Hole 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18
Par443454345345344544
Jones+2+2+3+3+2+1+1+1+1+1E−1E−1+1EEE
EspinosaE+1+1+1+1+1+2+3+3+5+5+8+8+8+8+9+11+12

Afternoon round
Hole 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 101112131415161718
Par443454345345344544
JonesE+1+1+1+1+1EEEEE−1−1−1−2−3−3−3
Espinosa+13+13+14+14+16+17+17+17+16+18+18+18+18+18+18+17+18+20

Cumulative playoff scores, relative to par
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