Misplaced Pages

1954 U.S. Open (golf)

Article snapshot taken from Wikipedia with creative commons attribution-sharealike license. Give it a read and then ask your questions in the chat. We can research this topic together.
(Redirected from 1954 U.S. Open Golf Championship)

Golf tournament
1954 U.S. Open
Tournament information
DatesJune 17–19, 1954
LocationSpringfield, New Jersey
Course(s)Baltusrol Golf Club
Lower Course
Organized byUSGA
Tour(s)PGA Tour
Statistics
Par70
Length7,027 yards (6,425 m)
Field159 players, 50 after cut
Cut151 (+11)
Prize fund$23,280
Winner's share$6,000
Champion
United States Ed Furgol
284 (+4)
← 19531955 →
Baltusrol  is located in the United StatesBaltusrol Baltusrol class=notpageimage| Location in the United States Baltusrol  is located in New JerseyBaltusrol Baltusrol class=notpageimage| Location in New Jersey Baltusrol is located in Union County, New JerseyBaltusrolBaltusrolclass=notpageimage| Location in
Union County

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

Main article: Baltusrol Golf Club

Lower Course

Hole 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Out 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 In Total
Yards 465 379 444 183 391 467 468 372 204 3,373 450 421 190 391 409 427 201 620 545 3,654 7,027
Par 4 4 4 3 4 4 4 4 3 34 4 4 3 4 4 4 3 5 5 36 70

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

Source:

Second round

Friday, June 18, 1954

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

Source:

Third round

1954 US Open Champion Ed Furgol
Ed Furgol in 1954

Saturday, June 19, 1954 (morning)

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

Source:

Final round

Saturday, June 19, 1954 (afternoon)

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

1954 Men's major golf championships
U.S. Open Championships
Golf Channel (NBC)
U.S. Open
Ryder Cup
Presidents Cup
Open Championship
Other events
Majors and
special events
Former events
Key figures
By event
Music composers
Related articles

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

Categories: