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1954 U.S. Open

Tournament information
Dates	June 17–19, 1954
Location	Springfield, New Jersey
Course(s)	Baltusrol Golf Club Lower Course
Organized by	USGA
Tour(s)	PGA Tour
Statistics
Par	70
Length	7,027 yards (6,425 m)
Field	159 players, 50 after cut
Cut	151 (+11)
Prize fund	$23,280
Winner's share	$6,000
Champion
Ed Furgol
284 (+4)
← 19531955 →

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

Source:

Lengths of the courses for previous major championships at Baltusrol:

• 6,866 yards (6,278 m), par 72 - 1936 U.S. Open (Upper Course)
• 6,212 yards (5,680 m), par 74 - 1915 U.S. Open (Old Course)   The Old Course was plowed under in 1918
• 6,003 yards (5,489 m), par      - 1903 U.S. Open (Old Course)

Round summaries

First round

Thursday, June 17, 1954

Place	Player	Score	To par
1	Billy Joe Patton (a)	69	−1
T2	Ted Kroll	70	E
	Gene Littler
	Bob Toski
T5	Ed Furgol	71	+1
	Ben Hogan
	Al Mengert
T8	Tommy Bolt	72	+2
	Leland Gibson
	Lloyd Mangrum
	Dick Mayer
	Cary Middlecoff
	Johnny Revolta
	Sam Snead
	Robert Watson
	Lew Worsham

Source:

Second round

Friday, June 18, 1954

Place	Player	Score	To par
1	Gene Littler	70-69=139	−1
T2	Ed Furgol	71-70=141	+1
	Ben Hogan	71-70=141
T4	Lloyd Mangrum	72-71=143	+3
	Dick Mayer	72-71=143
	Al Mengert	71-72=143
	Cary Middlecoff	72-71=143
T8	Tommy Bolt	72-72=144	+4
	Dick Chapman (a)	77-67=143
	Bobby Locke	74-70=144
	Bob Toski	70-74=144

Source:

Third round

Saturday, June 19, 1954 (morning)

Place	Player	Score	To par
1	Ed Furgol	71-70-71=212	+2
2	Dick Mayer	72-71-70=213	+3
T3	Gene Littler	70-69-76=215	+5
	Lloyd Mangrum	72-71-72=215
	Cary Middlecoff	72-71-72=215
T6	Al Mengert	71-72-73=216	+6
	Billy Joe Patton (a)	69-76-71=216
T8	Tommy Bolt	72-72-73=217	+7
	Fred Haas	73-73-71=217
	Jay Hebert	77-70-70=217
	Ben Hogan	71-70-76=217
	Sam Snead	72-73-72=217

Source:

Final round

Saturday, June 19, 1954 (afternoon)

Place	Player	Score	To par	Money ($)
1	Ed Furgol	71-70-71-72=284	+4	6,000
2	Gene Littler	70-69-76-70=285	+5	3,600
T3	Lloyd Mangrum	72-71-72-71=286	+6	1,500
	Dick Mayer	72-71-70-73=286
5	Bobby Locke	74-70-74-70=288	+8	960
T6	Tommy Bolt	72-72-73-72=289	+9	570
	Fred Haas	73-73-71-72=289
	Ben Hogan	71-70-76-72=289
	Shelley Mayfield	73-75-72-69=289
	Billy Joe Patton (a)	69-76-71-73=289		0

Source:

(a) denotes amateur

References

1. ^ "54th U.S. Open Championship: Baltusrol, Lower Course". Eugene Register-Guard. Oregon. June 17, 1954. p. 1D.
2. ^ Grimsley, Will (June 20, 1954). "Furgol wins Open in dramatic finish". Spokesman-Review. Spokane, Washington. Associated Press. p. 1-sports.
3. ^ "U.S. Open history:1954". USGA. Archived from the original on December 12, 2013. Retrieved July 26, 2012.
4. ^ "Furgol wins Open, Mayer ties for third". St. Petersburg Times. Florida. June 20, 1954. p. 1C.
5. ^ Fraley, Oscar (June 20, 1954). "Ed Furgol wins US Open". Eugene Register-Guard. Oregon. United Press. p. 1C.
6. "Open on TV". Milwaukee Sentinel. Associated Press. June 18, 1954. p. 4, part 2.
7. "Amateur Patton fires 1-under 69 to lead Open". Milwaukee Sentinel. Associated Press. June 18, 1954. p. 4, part 2.
8. "National Open golf scores". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Associated Press. June 19, 1954. p. 11.

External links

• USOpen.com - 1954

40°42′18″N 74°19′41″W / 40.705°N 74.328°W / 40.705; -74.328

• U.S. Open (golf)
• Golf tournaments in New Jersey
• Springfield Township, Union County, New Jersey
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• June 1954 sports events in the United States