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.
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.
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.
Six players were disqualified after the final round for starting their round too early to avoid a coming storm. One of those players, Ed Oliver, actually tied Little and Sarazen, but his disqualification prevented his participation in the playoff. 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.
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

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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 6, 1940
PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo par
1Sam Snead67−5
T2Ed Oliver69−3
T2Sam Parks, Jr.69−3
T2Horton Smith69−3
T5Al Huske70−2
T5Vic Ghezzi70−2
T5Ben Hogan70−2
T8Bob Babbish 71−1
T8Andy Gibson71−1
T8Duke Gibson71−1
T8Henry Kaiser71−1
T8Gene Sarazen71−1

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Second round

Friday, June 7, 1940
PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo par
T1Lawson Little72-69=141−3
T1Horton Smith69-72=141−3
T1Sam Snead67-74=141−3
4Frank Walsh73-69=142−2
T5Ben Hogan70-73=143−1
T5Sam Parks, Jr.69-74=213−1
T7Leonard Dodson72-72=144E
T7Vic Ghezzi70-74=144E
T7Ralph Guldahl73-71=144E
T7Dutch Harrison74-70=144E

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Third round

Saturday, June 8, 1940
PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo par
1Frank Walsh73-69-71=213−3
T2Lawson Little72-69-73=214−2
T2Sam Snead67-74-73=214−2
4Gene Sarazen71-74-70=215−1
T5Lloyd Mangrum75-70-71=216E
T5Jug McSpaden74-72-70=216E
T5Byron Nelson72-74-70=216E
T8Ben Hogan70-73-74=217+1
T8Henry Picard73-73-71=217+1
T8Craig Wood72-73-72=217+1

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Final round

Saturday, June 8, 1940
PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo parMoney
T1Lawson Little72-69-73-73=287−1Playoff
T1Gene Sarazen71-74-70-72=287−1Playoff
3Horton Smith69-72-78-69=288E700
4Craig Wood72-73-72-72=289+1600
T5Ralph Guldahl73-71-76-70=290+2325
T5Ben Hogan70-73-74-73=290+2325
T5Lloyd Mangrum75-70-71-74=290+2325
T5Byron Nelson72-74-70-74=290+2325
9Dick Metz75-72-72-72=291+3175
T10Ed Dudley73-75-71-73=292+4137
T10Frank Walsh73-69-71-79=292+4137

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Playoff

Sunday, June 9, 1940
PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo parMoney
1Lawson Little70−21,000
2Gene Sarazen73+1800

Scorecard

Cumulative playoff scores, relative to par
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