1950 U.S. Open (golf) explained

1950 U.S. Open
Dates:	June 8–11, 1950
Location:	Ardmore, Pennsylvania
Course:	Merion Golf Club, East Course
Org:	USGA
Tour:	PGA Tour
Par:	70
Yardage:	^[1]
Field:	150 players, 52 after cut
Cut:	149 (+9)
Purse:	$15,000^[2]
Winners Share:	$4,000
Champion:	Ben Hogan
Score:	287 (+7), playoff
Previous:	1949
Next:	1951

The 1950 U.S. Open was the 50th U.S. Open, held June 8–11 at the East Course of Merion Golf Club in Ardmore, Pennsylvania, a suburb northwest of Philadelphia. In what became known as the "Miracle at Merion," 1948 champion Ben Hogan won the second of his four U.S. Open titles in an 18-hole playoff over 1946 champion Lloyd Mangrum and George Fazio, just 16 months after being severely injured in an automobile accident.^{[3] [4]} It was the fourth of Hogan's nine major titles.^[5]

Lee Mackey established a new tournament record by shooting a 64 in the first round,^{[6] [7] [8]} but followed that up with an 81 and finished in 25th place.^[9] His score of 64 was not bettered in any other major championship for 23 years, until Johnny Miller closed with a 63 at the U.S. Open in 1973 to win at Oakmont. Tommy Armour, three-time major champion and winner in 1927, played in his final major and missed the cut.

This was the second U.S. Open played at Merion's East Course, which previously hosted sixteen years earlier in 1934, won by Olin Dutra. Opened in 1912, the course was the site of the U.S. Amateur in 1916, 1924, and 1930; the first was the debut of Bobby Jones at age 14 (quarterfinalist) and the latter two he won. The 1930 victory was the fourth and final leg of his grand slam.

Hogan made his U.S. Open debut at Merion in 1934 at age 21. He shot 79 (+9) twice^[10] and missed the 36-hole cut by three strokes. He made his first cut at the U.S. Open in 1939 and did not miss another; his last was in 1967 at age 54.

Course

See also: Merion Golf Club. East Course

Hole	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Out	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	In	Total
Yards	360	555	195	595	425	435	360	367	185	3,477	335	378	400	133	443	395	445	230	458	3,217	6,694
Par	4	5	3	5	4	4	4	4	3	36	4	4	4	3	4	4	4	3	4	34	70

Source:^[11]

Round summaries

First round

Thursday, June 8, 1950

Place	Player	Score	To par
1	Lee Mackey	64	−6
2		67	−3
T3		68	−2
T5	Harold Williams	69	−1
T7		71	+1
John Barnum
Al Besselink
Loddie Kempa
Jack Mallon

Source:^{[7] [8]}

Scorecard

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

Source:^[8]

Second round

Friday, June 9, 1950

Place	Player	Score	To par
1		72-67=139	−1
T2		68-72=140	E
	74-66=140
	71-69=140
5		72-69=141	+1
T6		68-74=142	+2
	72-70=142
	71-71=142
	71-71=142
	73-69=142
	73-69=142

Source:^{[11] [12] [13]}

Third round

Saturday, June 10, 1950   (morning)

Place	Player	Score	To par
1		72-70-69=211	+1
2		72-67-73=212	+2
T3		72-69-72=213	+3
	71-71-71=213
	73-70-70=213
6		71-69-74=214	+4
7		72-71-73=216	+6
T8		68-72-77=217	+7
	73-72-72=217
	73-70-74=217

Source:

Final round

Saturday, June 10, 1950   (afternoon)

Mangrum began the final round with a one-shot lead over Dutch Harrison and a two-stroke lead over Hogan, defending champion Cary Middlecoff, and Johnny Palmer. Fazio was the first to post 287 (+7) after an even-par 70. Mangrum struggled early in his round, carding six bogeys on the first seven holes and shot 76 (+6), which also left him at 287. Hogan had a chance to win the tournament in regulation but missed a short putt for par at 15 and then bogeyed the par-3 17th. In a three-way tie for the lead going to the difficult 18th, Hogan hit one of his most famous shots, a 1-iron approach to 40feet.^[14] He two-putted for par to join Mangrum and Fazio in the Sunday playoff.^{[15] [16]} Middlecoff and Palmer both shot 79 and fell to tenth place.

Place	Player	Score	To par	Money ($)
T1		72-69-72-74=287	+7	Playoff
	72-70-69-76=287
	73-72-72-70=287
4		72-67-73-76=288	+8	800
T5		71-69-74-75=289	+9	500
	71-74-74-70=289
	72-71-73-73=289
8		73-70-74-73=290	+10	350
9		68-72-77-74=291	+11	300
T10		71-71-71-79=292	+12	225
	73-70-70-79=292

Source:^{[9] [16]}

Scorecard

Hole	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18
Par	4	5	3	5	4	4	4	4	3	4	4	4	3	4	4	4	3	4
Hogan	+3	+3	+4	+4	+4	+4	+4	+4	+4	+4	+4	+5	+5	+5	+6	+6	+7	+7
Mangrum	+2	+3	+2	+3	+4	+5	+6	+6	+6	+6	+6	+6	+6	+6	+7	+7	+7	+7
Fazio	+7	+6	+7	+7	+7	+7	+8	+8	+8	+8	+8	+8	+7	+8	+7	+7	+7	+7
Harrison	+3	+2	+4	+5	+5	+5	+5	+6	+7	+7	+7	+8	+8	+8	+8	+8	+8	+8
Ferrier	+7	+6	+7	+7	+7	+7	+8	+8	+8	+8	+9	+9	+9	+9	+10	+9	+9	+9
Middlecoff	+3	+4	+4	+5	+7	+7	+7	+6	+6	+8	+8	+8	+8	+8	+9	+11	+12	+12
Palmer	+4	+4	+5	+5	+7	+8	+8	+8	+8	+8	+9	+10	+11	+11	+11	+11	+11	+12

Cumulative tournament scores, relative to par
Source:^[11]

Playoff

Sunday, June 11, 1950

The three players were within one stroke of each other as late as the 13th hole, with Hogan at even par and Fazio and Mangrum at one-over. Fazio bogeyed four of the last five holes to fall out of contention, while Hogan led Mangrum by a single stroke through 15. Mangrum's tee shot at 16 went into heavy rough but his third shot stopped from the hole. As he putted to save par, he picked up his ball to remove a bug that had landed on it, a violation of the rules (then rule 10, paragraph 2).^[3] Mangrum rolled it in, but was assessed a two-stroke penalty at the next tee; the double-bogey allowed Hogan to cruise to a four-stroke victory.^{[1] [3]} Hogan had just one bogey, while Fazio had seven and Mangrum four, plus the double-bogey for the rules violation.

Place	Player	Score	To par	Money ($)
align=center	1	Ben Hogan	69	align=center	−1	4,000
align=center	2		73	align=center	+3	2,500
align=center	3		75	align=center	+5	1,000

Source:^{[1] [3]}

• This was the final three-way playoff at the U.S. Open that determined a third-place finisher; at the next in 1963, non-winners tied for second.

Scorecard

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

Eagle-->

Birdie

Bogey

Double bogey

Triple bogey+ -->

Source:^{[1] [3]}

External links

• USGA Championship Database
• USOpen.com – 1950
• Trenham Golf History – 1950 U.S. Open

40.001°N -75.312°W

Notes and References

1. News: Hogan shoots 69, one under, to win Open golf . Pittsburgh Post-Gazette . Associated Press . June 12, 1950 . 19.
2. Web site: U.S. Open history: 1950 . USGA . June 23, 2012 . https://web.archive.org/web/20130618145347/http://www.usopen.com/en_US/champ_experience/pastchamps/1950.html . 2013-06-18 . dead . mdy-all.
3. News: Hogan wins Open title on 69 in playoff . Chicago Daily Tribune . Bartlett . Charles . June 12, 1950 . 1, part 6.
4. Web site: Looking Back...1950 U.S. Open at Merion . USGA . Trostel . Michael . May 28, 2013 . May 29, 2013 . https://archive.today/20130615103021/http://www.usga.org/news/2013/May/Looking-Back--1950-U-S--Open-At-Merion/ . 2013-06-15 . dead .
5. Defining Moment . June 2013 . Golf Digest . June 11, 2013.
6. News: Harold Williams has good chance to win Open . Tuscaloosa News . Alabama . Bernstein . Ralph . Associated Press . June 9, 1950 . 11 .
7. News: Lee Mackey, Jr., shoots 64 to lead National Open . Wilmington Morning Star . North Carolina . Associated Press . June 9, 1950 . 12 .
8. News: Record 64 by golf unknown leads Open . Chicago Daily Tribune . Bartlett . Charles . June 9, 1950 . 1, part 4.
9. News: Top U.S. Open scorers . Milwaukee Sentinel . June 11, 1950 . 2-B .
10. News: Bobby Cruickshank has three-stroke lead as 64 golfers battle for Open title . Youngstown Vindicator . Ohio . Associated Press . Cavagnaro . Bob . June 9, 1934 . 6.
11. Web site: 1950 U.S. Open news, cards, pairings, scores . Trenham Golf History . May 8, 2013 .
12. News: Harrison shoots 67; leads Open with 139 . Chicago Daily Tribune . Bartlett . Charles . June 10, 1950 . 1, part 2.
13. News: National Open tourney scores . Youngtown Vindicator . Ohio . Associated Press . June 10, 1950 . 7 .
14. Remembering the 1-iron at Merion . . Ron . Balicki . September 11, 2009 . December 6, 2012.
15. News: Hogan, Mangrum, Fazio tie; Ben's legs give out . Milwaukee Sentinel . Associated Press . Talbot . Gayle . June 11, 1950 . 1-B .
16. News: Hogan limps into U.S. Open tie with 287 . Chicago Sunday Tribune . Bartlett . Charles . June 11, 1950 . 1, part 2.