1926 U.S. Open (golf)


The 1926 U.S. Open was the 30th U.S. Open, held July 8–10 at Scioto Country Club in Columbus, Ohio. Noted amateur Bobby Jones, winner of the British Open two weeks earlier, won the second of his four U.S. Opens, one stroke ahead of runner-up Joe Turnesa.
After rounds of 70-79-71, Jones was three strokes behind third round leader Turnesa, who unraveled on the last nine on Saturday afternoon, with five bogeys in six holes. He managed to birdie the final hole for a 77 and 294 total for solo second. Jones got off to a slow start, with bogeys at three of his first five holes, then birdied the 7th and ran off a streak of nine consecutive fours. Needing a par on the par-5 18th to tie, Jones hit a tee shot, then followed with an approach to the green, leaving for eagle. Two-putting for birdie, Jones carded a one-over 73 to best Turnesa by a stroke. Bill Mehlhorn opened with 68 on Thursday, and led after both of the first two rounds, but was ten over par on Saturday and was four strokes back, in a four-way tie for third.
Jones became the first player to win the U.S. Open and British Open in the same year, and he won both again four years later in 1930, during his grand slam year. Later double Open winners were Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Lee Trevino, Tom Watson, and Tiger Woods. While Turnesa never won a major, he did finish second twice and his brother Jim won the PGA Championship in 1952. Another brother, Willie, won the U.S. Amateur twice and the British Amateur once. In total, eight Turnesa brothers played on the PGA Tour.
This was also the first year since 1919 that the tournament was extended to three days, because of the number of entries and the size of the gallery. The first two rounds were now played over two days, Thursday and Friday, with a 36-hole cut. The final two rounds continued to be played on one day, Saturday. This format continued through 1964, except for the following year in 1927, when it was held Tuesday through Thursday. The final round in 1959 was on Sunday due to weather delays.
Scioto was only ten years old at the time, and its club pro was George Sargent, the 1909 champion, who did not compete. It later hosted the Ryder Cup in 1931 and the PGA Championship in 1950. Scioto is also noteworthy as the club where Jack Nicklaus learned to play as a youth in the 1950s, under the tutelage of Jack Grout.

Past champions in the field

Made the cut

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Missed the cut

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Round summaries

First round

Thursday, July 8, 1926
PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo par
1Bill Mehlhorn68−4
T2Bobby Jones 70−2
T2John Junor70−2
T4Al Espinosa71−1
T4Joe Turnesa71−1
T6J.G. Collins72E
T6Pat Doyle
72E
T6Leo Diegel72E
T6Willie Macfarlane72E
T6Dan Williams72E

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Second round

Friday, July 9, 1926
PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo par
1Bill Mehlhorn68-75=143−1
2Joe Turnesa71-74=145+1
3Dan Williams72-74=146+2
T4Leo Diegel72-76=148+4
T4George McLean74-74=148+4
T6Jack Forrester
76-73=149+5
T6Bobby Jones 70-79=149+5
T8Al Espinosa71-79=150+6
T8Chick Evans 75-75=150+6
T8Walter Hagen73-77=150+6
T8John Junor70-80=150+6
T8Willie Klein76-74=150+6

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Third round

Saturday, July 10, 1926
PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo par
1Joe Turnesa71-74-72=217+1
2Bill Mehlhorn68-75-76=219+3
3Bobby Jones 70-79-71=220+4
4Willie Hunter
75-77-69=221+5
5Leo Diegel72-76-75=223+7
T6Johnny Farrell76-79-69=224+8
T6Walter Hagen73-77-74=224+8
8Willie Klein76-74-75=225+9
T9Tommy Armour
76-76-74=226+10
T9Macdonald Smith
82-76-68=226+10
T9Dan Williams72-74-80=226+10

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Final round

Saturday, July 10, 1926
PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo parMoney
1Bobby Jones 70-79-71-73=293+50
2Joe Turnesa71-74-72-77=294+6500
T3Leo Diegel72-76-75-74=297+9188
T3Johnny Farrell76-79-69-73=297+9188
T3Bill Mehlhorn68-75-76-78=297+9188
T3Gene Sarazen78-77-72-70=297+9188
7Walter Hagen73-77-74-74=298+1090
8Willie Hunter
75-77-69-79=300+1280
T9Tommy Armour
76-76-74-75=301+1368
T9Willie Klein76-74-75-76=301+1368
T9Macdonald Smith
82-76-68-75=301+1368
T9Dan Williams72-74-80-75=301+1368

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Amateurs: Jones, Evans, Johnston, MacDonald, Shute, Westland.

Scorecard

Final round
Hole123456789101112131415161718
Par444345453445434435
Jones+5+5+6+6+7+7+6+6+6+6+6+5+5+6+6+6+6+5
Turnesa+2+2+3+3+4+4+3+3+2+2+2+3+4+5+5+6+7+6
Melhorn+3+3+4+5+6+6+6+6+6+6+7+9+8+8+8+9+9+9

Cumulative tournament scores, relative to par
EagleBirdieBogeyDouble bogeyTriple bogey+

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