1954 U.S. Open (golf)


The 1954 U.S. Open was the 54th U.S. Open, held June 17–19 at Baltusrol Golf Club in Springfield, New Jersey, west of New York City. On the Lower Course, Ed Furgol won his only major title, one stroke ahead of runner-up Gene Littler.
Littler owned the 36-hole lead by two strokes over defending champion Ben Hogan and Furgol. After a 76 in the third round, Littler fell three strokes back of Furgol, who shot a 71 to take a one-stroke lead over Dick Mayer. Hogan made four bogeys at the first six holes and fell out of contention with a 76.
In the final round on Saturday afternoon, Littler rebounded with a 70, but it was not enough. Furgol was helped by a great recovery on the 18th. After hitting his drive into the trees, he played his escape shot onto the 18th fairway of Baltusrol's other course. From there he managed to make par, carding a 72 for a 284 total. Mayer was tied with Furgol as he played 18, but he double-bogeyed the hole to fall into third.
This U.S. Open was the first to be nationally televised, one hour of the final round, carried by NBC. It was also the first in which ropes were used to control the gallery, and prize money was increased by 20% over the previous year. This was the fourth U.S. Open at Baltusrol, but the first on the Lower Course, which later hosted in 1967, 1980, and 1993.

Course layout

Lower Course
Hole123456789Out101112131415161718InTotal
Yards4653794441833914674683722043,3734504211903914094272016205453,6547,027
Par444344443344434443553670

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Lengths of the courses for previous major championships at Baltusrol:

Made the cut

Missed the cut

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Round summaries

First round

Thursday, June 17, 1954
PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo par
1Billy Joe Patton 69−1
T2Ted Kroll70E
T2Gene Littler70E
T2Bob Toski70E
T5Ed Furgol71+1
T5Ben Hogan71+1
T5Al Mengert71+1
T8Tommy Bolt72+2
T8Leland Gibson72+2
T8Lloyd Mangrum72+2
T8Dick Mayer72+2
T8Cary Middlecoff72+2
T8Johnny Revolta72+2
T8Sam Snead72+2
T8Robert Watson72+2
T8Lew Worsham72+2

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Second round

Friday, June 18, 1954
PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo par
1Gene Littler70-69=139−1
T2Ed Furgol71-70=141+1
T2Ben Hogan71-70=141+1
T4Lloyd Mangrum72-71=143+3
T4Dick Mayer72-71=143+3
T4Al Mengert71-72=143+3
T4Cary Middlecoff72-71=143+3
T8Tommy Bolt72-72=144+4
T8Dick Chapman 77-67=143+4
T8Bobby Locke74-70=144+4
T8Bob Toski70-74=144+4

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Third round

Saturday, June 19, 1954
PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo par
1Ed Furgol71-70-71=212+2
2Dick Mayer72-71-70=213+3
T3Gene Littler70-69-76=215+5
T3Lloyd Mangrum72-71-72=215+5
T3Cary Middlecoff72-71-72=215+5
T6Al Mengert71-72-73=216+6
T6Billy Joe Patton 69-76-71=216+6
T8Tommy Bolt72-72-73=217+7
T8Fred Haas73-73-71=217+7
T8Jay Hebert77-70-70=217+7
T8Ben Hogan71-70-76=217+7
T8Sam Snead72-73-72=217+7

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Final round

Saturday, June 19, 1954
PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo parMoney
1Ed Furgol71-70-71-72=284+46,000
2Gene Littler70-69-76-70=285+53,600
T3Lloyd Mangrum72-71-72-71=286+61,500
T3Dick Mayer72-71-70-73=286+61,500
5Bobby Locke74-70-74-70=288+8960
T6Tommy Bolt72-72-73-72=289+9570
T6Fred Haas73-73-71-72=289+9570
T6Ben Hogan71-70-76-72=289+9570
T6Shelley Mayfield73-75-72-69=289+9570
T6Billy Joe Patton 69-76-71-73=289+90

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