1936 U.S. Open (golf)


The 1936 U.S. Open was the 40th U.S. Open, held June 4–6 at Baltusrol Golf Club in Springfield, New Jersey, west of New York City.
Tony Manero, a relatively unknown pro from New York playing out of North Carolina, surpassed third round leader Harry Cooper in the final round to claim his only major title. The purse was $5,000 and the winner's share was $1,000. The Upper Course was used for this championship; the Lower Course has been used for all subsequent majors at Baltusrol.
Entering the final round, Cooper led Manero by four strokes. Manero's final round 67 was a course record and gave him a 72-hole total of 282, two strokes ahead of Cooper, who shot 73 for 284. Manero's total of 282 set a new U.S. Open tournament record by four shots; the previous record of 286 was set in 1916.
Manero was fortunate to even be in the championship, because during sectional qualifying, he needed a chip-in on his final hole just to qualify. His victory was not without controversy. During the final round he was paired with Gene Sarazen, whose tournament scoring record he would break. Sarazen apparently requested the pairing as he believed he could help the notoriously high-strung Manero, a close friend, stay calm. Afterwards a complaint was filed with the USGA alleging that Sarazen was actually giving advice to Manero, a violation of the rules. After a meeting, the USGA ruled that there was no evidence of any wrongdoing, and Manero was allowed to keep the championship.
In contrast to the previous year, scoring conditions at the Open were ideal throughout the week. For the tournament, 38 players broke par and the scoring average was 76.04, both numbers setting U.S. Open records. Chuck Kocsis finished as low amateur in a tie for 14th place.
A record field of 1,278 entered the qualifying for this U.S. Open, up from 1,177 in 1935.

Course

Upper Course
Hole123456789Out101112131415161718InTotal
Yards4714231863903854392165383463,394158602340365401404395634653,4726,866
Par543444354363544434543672

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Lengths of the courses for previous major championships at Baltusrol:

Made the cut

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Missed the cut

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Round summaries

First round

Thursday, June 4, 1936
PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo Par
T1Clarence Clark69−3
T1Ray Mangrum69−3
T1Paul Runyan69−3
T4Vic Ghezzi70−2
T4Tom Kerrigan70−2
T4Leslie Madison70−2
T4Frank Moore70−2
T4Henry Picard70−2
T4Johnny Revolta70−2
T10Johnny Bulla71−1
T10Harry Cooper
71−1
T10Ky Laffoon71−1
T10Ted Longworth71−1
T10Craig Wood71−1
T10--71−1
T10--71−1
T10--71−1
T10--71−1

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Second round

Friday, June 5, 1936
PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo Par
T1Vic Ghezzi70-70=140−4
T1Ray Mangrum69-71=140−4
T3Harry Cooper
71-70=141−3
T3Henry Picard70-71=141−3
T3Johnny Revolta70-71=141−3
T3Denny Shute72-69=141−3
7Tony Manero73-69=142−2
T8Ralph Guldahl73-70=143−1
T8Chuck Kocsis 72-71=143−1
T10Clarence Clark69-75=144E
T10Frank Moore70-74=144E
T10Jack Munger 74-70=144E
T10Paul Runyan69-75=144E

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Third round

Saturday, June 6, 1936
PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo Par
1Harry Cooper
71-70-70=211−5
2Vic Ghezzi70-70-73=213−3
3Denny Shute72-69-73=214−2
T4Clarence Clark69-75-71=215−1
T4Ky Laffoon71-74-70=215−1
T4Tony Manero73-69-73=215−1
T4Henry Picard70-71-74=215−1
T8Herman Barron73-74-69=216E
T8Ralph Guldahl73-70-73=216E
T8Chuck Kocsis 72-71-73=216E
T8Ray Mangrum69-71-76=216E

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Final round

Saturday, June 6, 1936
PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo ParMoney
1Tony Manero73-69-73-67=282−61,000
2Harry Cooper
71-70-70-73=284−4750
3Clarence Clark69-75-71-72=287−1650
4Macdonald Smith
73-73-72-70=288E550
T5Wiffy Cox74-74-69-72=289+1350
T5Ky Laffoon71-74-70-74=289+1350
T5Henry Picard70-71-74-74=289+1350
T8Ralph Guldahl73-70-73-74=290+2137
T8Paul Runyan69-75-73-73=290+2137
10Denny Shute72-69-73-77=291+3100

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