1909 U.S. Open (golf)


The 1909 U.S. Open was the fifteenth U.S. Open, held June 24–25 at Englewood Golf Club in Englewood, New Jersey, north of downtown New York City. George Sargent established a new U.S. Open scoring record to win his only major title, four strokes ahead of runner-up Tom McNamara.
In the opening round on Thursday morning, David Hunter made U.S. Open history as the first player to break 70, but he had some problems in the second round when he hit his ball into a brook and subsequently used four niblick shots in getting out. After reaching the turn in 47 he made a nice recovery on the back nine and came home in 37 for 84. McNamara also had a sub-70 score with 69 in the second round and led by four strokes midway at 142.
McNamara carried a two-stroke lead over Sargent into the final round on Friday afternoon. Sargent birdied the final hole for 71 and his third consecutive round of 72 or better. McNamara struggled over the final 18 holes with 77 and finished four back of Sargent. Sargent's winning total of 290 broke the U.S. Open scoring record by five shots. Bob Peebles was well positioned after three rounds on 222 but struggled and fell back into the pack with a final round 78.
John McDermott made his U.S. Open debut at age 17 and was 49th. He placed in the top-ten in each of the next five, with consecutive wins in 1911 and 1912, the first American-born champion. Four-time champion Willie Anderson tied for fourth in his penultimate U.S. Open. Horace Rawlins, the inaugural champion fourteen years earlier in 1895, made his last cut in the championship and finished sixtieth.

Past champions in the field

Source:
Did not play: Harry Vardon, Willie Smith, Fred Herd,
Joe Lloyd, James Foulis.

Round summaries

First round

Thursday, June 24, 1909
PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo par
1David Hunter68−4
2Andrew Campbell71−1
T3Walter Travis 72E
T3F.R. Upton 72E
T5Tom McNamara73+1
T5Gilbert Nicholls73+1
T7John Campbell74+2
T7Charles Rowe74+2
T7Herbert Barker75+3
T7Jack Burke Sr.75+3
T7Alex Campbell75+3
T7George Sargent75+3
T7Herbert Strong75+3

Source:

Second round

Thursday, June 24, 1909
PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo par
1Tom McNamara73-69=142−2
2Andrew Campbell71-75=146+2
3George Sargent75-72=147+3
T4Alex Campbell75-73=148+4
T4Gilbert Nicholls73-75=148+4
T6Bob Peebles76-73=149+5
T6Alex Smith76-73=149+5
8Walter Travis 72-78=150+6
T9Peter Robertson79-72=151+7
T9Charles Rowe74-77=151+7
T9F.R. Upton 72-79=151+7

Source:

Third round

Friday, June 25, 1909
PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo par
1Tom McNamara73-69-75=217+1
2George Sargent75-72-72=219+3
3Bob Peebles76-73-73=222+6
T4Andrew Campbell71-75-77=223+7
T4Alex Smith76-73-74=223+7
6Jack Hobens75-78-72=225+9
7Isaac Mackie77-75-74=226+10
T8Tom Anderson, Jr.78-74-75=227+11
T8Herbert Barker75-79-73=227+11
T8Mike Brady76-77-74=227+11
T8George Low78-75-74=227+11
T8Gilbert Nicholls73-75-79=227+11
T8Charles Rowe74-77-76=227+11

Source:

Final round

Friday, June 25, 1909
PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo parMoney
1George Sargent75-72-72-71=290+2300
2Tom McNamara73-69-75-77=294+6150
3Alex Smith76-73-74-72=295+7100
T4Willie Anderson79-74-76-70=299+1170
T4Jack Hobens75-78-72-74=299+1170
T4Isaac Mackie77-75-74-73=299+1170
T7Tom Anderson, Jr.78-74-75-73=300+1235
T7Herbert Barker75-79-73-73=300+1235
T7Andrew Campbell71-75-77-77=300+1235
T7Bob Peebles76-73-73-78=300+1235
T7Walter Travis 72-78-77-73=300+120

Source:
Amateurs: Travis, Upton, Douglas, Tiffany,
Morgan, Behr, Kirkby, Watson