1939 U.S. Open (golf)


The 1939 U.S. Open was the 43rd U.S. Open, held June 8–12 at Philadelphia Country Club in Gladwyne, Pennsylvania, a suburb northwest of Philadelphia. Byron Nelson won after two playoff rounds to prevail against Craig Wood and Denny Shute to claim his only U.S. Open title, and the second of his five major championships. It was the first playoff at the U.S. Open in eight years and the first three-way playoff since 1913.
Sam Snead led after each of the first two rounds but his triple-bogey on the 72nd hole dropped him to fifth place, two strokes back. Two years earlier, he was runner-up in his first U.S. Open in 1937. Following World War II, Snead finished second three more times, but never won the title to complete a career grand slam.
In his fourth U.S. Open, Ben Hogan made his first 36-hole cut at the championship and finished in a tie for 62nd. He finished in a tie for fifth the following year; after the war he won four U.S. Opens and contended in numerous others. He made every subsequent cut he played in at the U.S. Open, the last in 1967 at age 54.

Past champions in the field

Made the cut

Missed the cut

Source:

Round summaries

First round

Thursday, June 8, 1939
PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo Par
1Sam Snead68–1
T2Lawson Little69E
T2Bud Ward 69E
T2Matt Kowal69E
T5Craig Wood70+1
T5Tommy Armour70+1
T5Denny Shute70+1
T5Olin Dutra70+1
T5Lloyd Mangrum70+1
T5Harold "Jug" McSpaden70+1

Second round

Friday, June 9, 1939
PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo Par
1Sam Snead68-71=139+1
2Horton Smith72-68=140+2
3Craig Wood70-71=141+3
T4Denny Shute70-72=142+4
T4Bud Ward 69-73=142+4
T6Frank Moore73-70=143+5
T6Johnny Bulla72-71=143+5
T6Harry Cooper71-72=143+5
T6Harold "Jug" McSpaden70-73=143+5
T6Lawson Little69-74=143+5

Source:

Third round

Saturday, June 10, 1939 -
PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo Par
1Johnny Bulla72-71-68=211+4
T2Sam Snead68-71-73=212+5
T2Craig Wood70-71-71=212+5
T2Denny Shute70-72-70=212+5
5Bud Ward 69-73-71=213+6
T6Tommy Armour70-75-69=214+7
T6John E. Rogers75-70-69=214+7
T6Olin Dutra70-74-70=214+7
9Horton Smith72-68-75=215+8
T10Byron Nelson72-73-71=216+9
T10Ralph Guldahl71-73-72=216+9
T10Henry Picard72-72-72=216+9

Source:

Final round

Saturday, June 10, 1939 -
Nelson began the final round on Saturday afternoon five strokes back of leader Johnny Bulla and shot 68 to gain the clubhouse lead at 284. Wood birdied the 18th to also get to 284, while Shute also finished on that number after a bogey at 17. It appeared, however, that that number would not be enough. Snead stood on the par-5 18th needing only a par to win the championship. Snead believed he needed a birdie to win and played the hole aggressively. After finding two bunkers, he made a triple-bogey 8 and missed the playoff by two strokes.
PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo ParMoney
T1Byron Nelson72-73-71-68=284+8Playoff
T1Craig Wood70-71-71-72=284+8Playoff
T1Denny Shute70-72-70-72=284+8Playoff
4Bud Ward 69-73-71-72=285+90
5Sam Snead68-71-73-74=286+10600
6Johnny Bulla72-71-68-76=287+11450
T7Ralph Guldahl71-73-72-72=288+12325
T7Dick Metz76-72-71-69=288+12325
T9Ky Laffoon76-70-73-70=289+13175
T9Harold McSpaden70-73-71-75=289+13175
T9Paul Runyan76-70-71-72=289+13175

Source:

Playoff

Sunday, June 11, 1939

Monday, June 12, 1939
In the three-way 18-hole playoff on Sunday afternoon, Nelson and Wood each carded 68, while Shute shot a 76 and was eliminated. In the second 18-hole playoff on Monday morning, Nelson took control at the third hole with a birdie while Wood double-bogeyed. At the next hole, Nelson holed out for an eagle to take a five-stroke lead. With a three-shot lead at the turn, Nelson matched Wood on the back nine and finished with a 70 to Wood's 73.
PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo parMoney
1Byron Nelson68-70=138E1,000
2Craig Wood68-73=141+3800
3Denny Shute76-x+7700

Scorecards

Sunday, June 11, 1939
Hole 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 101112131415161718
Par434444344434344445
NelsonEEEE+1+1EE–1–1E–1EEE–1E–1
WoodEEEEE–1–1–1–1EEEEEEE–1–1
ShuteE+1+1+1+1+2+2+2+3+3+3+3+4+4+4+4+5+7

Monday, June 12, 1939
Hole 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 101112131415161718
Par434444344434344445
NelsonEE–1–3–2–1–1–1–1EE+1+1+1+1+1+1+1
Wood+1E+2+2+2+2+2+2+2+3+4+5+5+6+5+5+4+4

Cumulative playoff scores, relative to par