1956 U.S. Open (golf)


The 1956 U.S. Open was the 56th U.S. Open, held June 14–16 at the East Course of Oak Hill Country Club near Rochester, New York. Cary Middlecoff won his second U.S. Open title, one stroke ahead of runners-up Julius Boros and Ben Hogan, both former champions.
Middlecoff began the final round with a two-stroke lead over Hogan, Ted Kroll, and Wes Ellis. After an erratic finish where he bogeyed 16 and 17, he carded a third consecutive round of even-par 70 to post a 281 total and waited. Hogan, pursuing his record fifth U.S. Open, had a chance to tie Middlecoff but missed a par putt on the 17th to finish one back. Boros also had a chance to catch Middlecoff, but missed a birdie on the last and also finished a stroke behind. The last contender on the course, Kroll led by a stroke after a birdie at the 14th hole, but immediately followed it with a bogey and triple bogey and finished four strokes back.
Reigning British Open champion Peter Thomson made a rare appearance in the United States and finished tied for fourth, his best finish at any other major. He was the 36-hole leader by a stroke over Hogan, but fell back after a four-over 39 on the back nine in the third round. Thomson won five British Opens, and his third consecutive came three weeks later at Royal Liverpool.
Several future champions made their mark at this U.S. Open. Arnold Palmer, 26, recorded the first of his thirteen top ten finishes at the U.S. Open, six strokes back in seventh place. Ken Venturi captured low-amateur honors in eighth place, two months after he lost a four-stroke lead at The Masters with an 80 in the final round. Billy Casper, 24, made his major championship debut and finished 14th.
Defending champion Jack Fleck, who upset Hogan in a Sunday playoff the year before at Olympic, shot 76-74 and missed the cut by a stroke. Jack Burke, Jr., winner of the Masters two months earlier, also missed with a 152.
A record-setting 13,914 were in attendance for the final two rounds on Saturday.
This was the first of three U.S. Opens at the East Course at Oak Hill; Lee Trevino won in 1968 and Curtis Strange successfully defended in 1989. It also hosted the PGA Championship in 1980, 2003, and 2013, and the Ryder Cup in 1995.

Past champions in the field

Made the cut

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Missed the cut

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Round summaries

First round

Thursday, June 14, 1956
PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo par
1Bob Rosburg68−2
2Peter Thomson70E
T3Errie Ball71+1
T3Julius Boros71+1
T3Wes Ellis71+1
T3Doug Ford71+1
T3Ed Furgol71+1
T3Jay Hebert71+1
T3Cary Middlecoff71+1
T10Jerry Barber72+2
T10Al Brosch72+2
T10Dave Douglas72+2
T10Fred Haas72+2
T10Dutch Harrison72+2
T10Ben Hogan72+2
T10Bill Hyndman 72+2
T10Ted Kroll72+2
T10Billy Maxwell72+2
T10Arnold Palmer72+2
T10Bud Taylor 72+2

Source:

Second round

Friday, June 15, 1956
PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo par
1Peter Thomson70-69=139−1
2Ben Hogan72-68=140E
T3Jerry Barber72-69=141+1
T3Wes Ellis71-70=141+1
T3Ed Furgol71-70=141+1
T3Cary Middlecoff71-70=141+1
T7Julius Boros71-71=142+2
T7Ted Kroll72-70=142+2
T7Arnold Palmer72-70=142+2
T10Fred Haas72-71=143+3
T10Billy Maxwell72-71=143+3
T10Bud Taylor 72-71=143+3

Source:
Amateurs: Taylor, Ward, Hyndman, Patton, Venturi, Garrett , Magee, Ervasti, Rodgers, Simmons, Dahlbender, Holland, Croonquist, Shields, Kuntz, Moore Jr, Aldrich, Dixon, Kelly, Beman, Myers, Kleist, Deal, Watson, Mandeville, Brownell.

Third round

Saturday, June 16, 1956
PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo par
1Cary Middlecoff71-70-70=211+1
T2Wes Ellis71-70-71=212+2
T2Ben Hogan72-68-72=212+2
T2Ted Kroll72-70-70=212+2
5Julius Boros71-71-71=213+3
T6Ed Furgol71-70-73=214+4
T6Arnold Palmer72-70-72=214+4
T6Peter Thomson70-69-75=214+4
T9Jerry Barber72-69-74=215+5
T9Fred Haas72-71-72=215+5

Source:

Final round

Saturday, June 16, 1956
PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo parMoney
1Cary Middlecoff71-70-70-70=281+16,000
T2Julius Boros71-71-71-69=282+22,650
T2Ben Hogan72-68-72-70=282+22,650
T4Ed Furgol71-70-73-71=285+51,033
T4Ted Kroll72-70-70-73=285+51,033
T4Peter Thomson70-69-75-71=285+51,033
7Arnold Palmer72-70-72-73=287+7600
8Ken Venturi 77-71-68-73=289+90
T9Jerry Barber72-69-74-75=290+10416
T9Wes Ellis71-70-71-78=290+10416
T9Doug Ford71-75-70-74=290+10416

Source:
Amateurs: Venturi, Patton, Taylor, Hyndman, Ward, Garrett.