1940 U.S. Open (golf)

The 1940 U.S. Open was the 44th U.S. Open, June 6–9 at Canterbury Golf Club in Beachwood, Ohio, a suburb east of Cleveland. Lawson Little defeated Gene Sarazen in an 18-hole playoff to win his only professional major.[2][3]

1940 U.S. Open

Tournament information
Dates	June 6–9, 1940
Location	Beachwood, Ohio
Course(s)	Canterbury Golf Club
Organized by	USGA
Tour(s)	PGA Tour
Statistics
Par	72
Length	6,894 yards (6,304 m)[1]
Field	161 players, 66 after cut
Cut	153 (+9)
Winner's share	$1,000
Champion
Lawson Little
287 (−1), playoff

Canterbury 
Golf Club 

Location in the United States

Canterbury
Golf Club

Location in Ohio

Little started the final round a stroke behind leader Frank Walsh and carded a 73 to finish at 287. Sarazen made two birdies on the back nine and did not make a bogey to also post 287 and force a playoff on Sunday.[4][5]

After five holes in the playoff, Little had a four-stroke advantage and was ahead by three at the turn. Sarazen made birdie at 11 and 14 to close the gap to one stroke with four holes to play, but could draw no closer. Little birdied the next two holes and they halved the final two holes. Little won by three, 70 to 73, and became the fifth player to win both the U.S. Open and the U.S. Amateur.[3]

Six players were disqualified after the final round for starting their round too early to avoid a coming storm.[4] One of those players, Ed Oliver, actually tied Little and Sarazen, but his disqualification prevented his participation in the playoff.[5] Walter Hagen, in his final U.S. Open, was also disqualified for showing up late for his third round. Under current rules, Hagen would be penalised two strokes if he arrived within a grace period. Also under current rules, officials, with access to weather radar, reserve the right to accelerate the start of the final round and change its procedure (groups of three starting at the first and tenth tees, or a shotgun start).

The top eight finishers in the tournament were all past or future major champions, and are members of the World Golf Hall of Fame.

This was the first of three majors at Canterbury. The U.S. Open returned six years later in 1946, won by Lloyd Mangrum in two playoff rounds. It was the first U.S. Open in five years, due to World War II. The PGA Championship was played at the course in 1973, won by Jack Nicklaus.

Course layout

Hole	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Out	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	In	Total
Yards	430	369	176	440	410	477	200	412	553	3,467	367	170	374	483	403	371	588	230	441	3,427	6,894
Par	4	4	3	4	4	5	3	4	5	36	4	3	4	5	4	4	5	3	4	36	72

Source:[1]

Past champions in the field

Made the cut

Player	Country	Year(s) won	R1	R2	R3	R4	Total	To par	Finish
Gene Sarazen	United States	1922, 1932	71	74	70	72	287	−1	2
Ralph Guldahl	United States	1937, 1938	73	71	76	70	290	+2	T5
Byron Nelson	United States	1939	72	74	70	74	290	+2	T5
Tommy Armour	Scotland  United States	1927	73	74	75	71	293	+5	T12
Johnny Farrell	United States	1928	75	77	76	71	299	+11	28
Sam Parks, Jr.	United States	1935	69	74	79	78	300	+12	T29
Tony Manero	United States	1936	75	75	77	74	301	+13	T36

Source:[5]

Missed the cut

Player	Country	Year won	R1	R2	Total	To par
Olin Dutra	United States	1934	78	77	155	+11
Johnny Goodman	United States	1933	82	79	161	+17

Source:[6][7]

Round summaries

First round

Thursday, June 6, 1940

Place	Player	Country	Score	To par
1	Sam Snead	United States	67	−5
T2	Ed Oliver	United States	69	−3
	Sam Parks, Jr.	United States
	Horton Smith	United States
T5	Al Huske	United States	70	−2
	Vic Ghezzi	United States
	Ben Hogan	United States
T8	Bob Babbish (a)	United States	71	−1
	Andy Gibson	Scotland
	Duke Gibson	United States
	Henry Kaiser	United States
	Gene Sarazen	United States

Source:[8]

Second round

Friday, June 7, 1940

Place	Player	Country	Score	To par
T1	Lawson Little	United States	72-69=141	−3
	Horton Smith	United States	69-72=141
	Sam Snead	United States	67-74=141
4	Frank Walsh	United States	73-69=142	−2
T5	Ben Hogan	United States	70-73=143	−1
	Sam Parks, Jr.	United States	69-74=213
T7	Leonard Dodson	United States	72-72=144	E
	Vic Ghezzi	United States	70-74=144
	Ralph Guldahl	United States	73-71=144
	Dutch Harrison	United States	74-70=144

Source:[6][7]

Third round

Saturday, June 8, 1940 (morning)

Place	Player	Country	Score	To par
1	Frank Walsh	United States	73-69-71=213	−3
T2	Lawson Little	United States	72-69-73=214	−2
	Sam Snead	United States	67-74-73=214
4	Gene Sarazen	United States	71-74-70=215	−1
T5	Lloyd Mangrum	United States	75-70-71=216	E
	Jug McSpaden	United States	74-72-70=216
	Byron Nelson	United States	72-74-70=216
T8	Ben Hogan	United States	70-73-74=217	+1
	Henry Picard	United States	73-73-71=217
	Craig Wood	United States	72-73-72=217

Source:[5]

Final round

Saturday, June 8, 1940 (afternoon)

Place	Player	Country	Score	To par	Money ($)
T1	Lawson Little	United States	72-69-73-73=287	−1	Playoff
	Gene Sarazen	United States	71-74-70-72=287
3	Horton Smith	United States	69-72-78-69=288	E	700
4	Craig Wood	United States	72-73-72-72=289	+1	600
T5	Ralph Guldahl	United States	73-71-76-70=290	+2	325
	Ben Hogan	United States	70-73-74-73=290
	Lloyd Mangrum	United States	75-70-71-74=290
	Byron Nelson	United States	72-74-70-74=290
9	Dick Metz	United States	75-72-72-72=291	+3	175
T10	Ed Dudley	United States	73-75-71-73=292	+4	137
	Frank Walsh	United States	73-69-71-79=292

Source:[4][5]

Playoff

Sunday, June 9, 1940

Place	Player	Country	Score	To par	Money ($)
1	Lawson Little	United States	70	−2	1,000
2	Gene Sarazen	United States	73	+1	800

Scorecard

Hole	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18
Par	4	4	3	4	4	5	3	4	5	4	3	4	5	4	4	5	3	4
Little	E	−1	−1	−1	−2	−2	−2	−2	−2	−2	−2	−1	−1	−1	−2	−3	−2	−2
Sarazen	+1	+1	+1	+1	+2	E	+1	+1	+1	+1	E	E	+1	E	E	E	+1	+1

Cumulative playoff scores, relative to par

Eagle

Birdie

Bogey

Source:[1][3][9]

References

1. Ferguson, Harry (June 10, 1940). "Lawson Little beats Gene Sarazen by three strokes in national open playoff". Youngstown Vindicator. (Ohio). United Press. p. 10.
2. "U.S. Open history: 1940". USGA. Archived from the original on 2012-05-11. Retrieved June 26, 2012.
3. Bartlett, Charles (June 9, 1940). "Little defeats Sarazen for Open crown". Chicago Daily Tribune. p. 21.
4. Bartlett, Charles (June 9, 1940). "Sarazen's 287 ties Little for Open crown". Chicago Sunday Tribune. p. 1, sec. 2.
5. McLemore, Henry (June 9, 1940). "Little and Sarazen tie for National Open golf title". Youngstown Vindicator. (Ohio). United Press. p. D1.
6. Bartlett, Charles (June 8, 1940). "Little, Smith tie Snead in Open with 141". Chicago Daily Tribune. p. 19.
7. "National Open tourney scores". Youngstown Vindicator. (Ohio). (second round). June 8, 1940. p. 6.
8. Bartlett, Charles (June 7, 1940). "Snead's record 67 leads National Open". Chicago Daily Tribune. p. 29.
9. "Little wins Open golf playoff, 70-73". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Associated Press. June 10, 1940. p. 15.

External links

• About.com – 1940 U.S. Open
• USGA Championship Database