1951 U.S. Open (golf)

1951 U.S. Open
Tournament information
Dates	June 14–16, 1951
Location	Birmingham, Michigan
Course(s)	Oakland Hills Country Club South Course
Organized by	USGA
Tour(s)	PGA Tour
Statistics
Par	70
Length	6,927 yards (6,334 m)^[1]
Field	160 players, 55 after cut
Cut	152 (+12)
Winner's share	$4,000
Champion
Ben Hogan
287 (+7)
«1950 1952»

Oakland Hills Country Club

Location in the United States

Oakland Hills Country Club

Location in Michigan

The 1951 U.S. Open was the 51st U.S. Open, held June 14–16 at the South Course of Oakland Hills Country Club in Birmingham, Michigan, a suburb northwest of Detroit. Ben Hogan won his second consecutive U.S. Open title, two strokes ahead of runner-up Clayton Heafner. Hogan missed the 1949 U.S. Open due to an automobile accident; this was his third title in his last three attempts.^[1]

The South Course, dubbed "The Monster," played exceptionally tough for the first three rounds. No player was able to break par the first two days, and Jimmy Demaret's 70 was the only score to equal par in Saturday morning's third round. Sam Snead owned the first round lead at 71 (+1), while Bobby Locke led after the second round at 144 (+4) and shared the lead with Demaret after the third at 218 (+8).

Two strokes back after a 71 in the third round on Saturday morning, Hogan played one of the finest rounds in U.S. Open history that afternoon. Even-par on the front nine, he birdied the 10th and 13th holes. After a bogey at 14, he responded with another birdie at 15. At the 72nd hole, Hogan hit his approach shot on the par-4 to 15 feet (5 m) and sank the birdie putt to post a 67 (−3), the lowest round of the week, one of two sub-par rounds for the round (and championship).^[2] His 287 (+7) was two ahead of Heafner, who shot 69, the only other round under 70. At the trophy presentation, Hogan uttered the famous quote: "I'm glad I brought this course—this monster—to its knees."^[3]

This was the first U.S. Open that was notably toughened up by the USGA with narrow fairways and deep rough, attributing to "The Monster" nickname. The course also underwent a redesign by Robert Trent Jones prior to the championship, modifying the original Donald Ross design.^[4]

The South Course previously hosted the U.S. Open in 1924 and 1937; the winning score in 1937 was 281, sixteen strokes less than in 1924.^[4] It later hosted in 1961, 1985, and 1996, and the PGA Championship in 1972, 1979, and 2008.

Since Hogan repeated as champion in 1951, only Curtis Strange has won consecutive U.S. Open titles, in 1988 and 1989.

Past champions in the field

Made the cut

Player	Country	Year(s) won	R1	R2	R3	R4	Total	To par	Finish
Ben Hogan	United States	1948, 1950	76	73	71	67	287	+7	1
Lloyd Mangrum	United States	1946	75	74	74	70	293	+13	T4
Lew Worsham	United States	1947	76	71	76	73	296	+16	T14
Cary Middlecoff	United States	1949	76	73	79	73	301	+21	T24
Gene Sarazen	United States	1922, 1932	74	76	76	77	303	+23	T35
Craig Wood	United States	1941	76	72	82	77	307	+27	T47

Missed the cut

Player	Country	Year won	R1	R2	Total	To par
Billy Burke	United States	1931	77	77	154	+14
Lawson Little	United States	1940	76	79	155	+15
Tony Manero	United States	1936	77	79	156	+16
Sam Parks, Jr.	United States	1935	79	79	158	+18

Source:^[5]^[6]

Round summaries

First round

Thursday, June 14, 1951

Place	Player	Country	Score	To par
1	Sam Snead	United States	71	+1
T2	Al Besselink	United States	72	+2
T2	Clayton Heafner	United States	72	+2
T4	Sam Bernardi	United States	73	+3
	Al Brosch	United States
	Sammy Byrd	United States
	Dutch Harrison	United States
	Charles Klein	United States
	Bobby Locke	South Africa
	Johnny Palmer	United States
	Smiley Quick	United States
	Paul Runyan	United States
	Denny Shute	United States

Source:^[7]

Second round

Friday, June 15, 1951

Place	Player	Country	Score	To par
1	Bobby Locke	South Africa	73-71=144	+4
2	Dave Douglas	United States	75-70=145	+5
3	Bo Wininger (a)	United States	75-71=146	+6
T4	Al Brosch	United States	73-74=147	+7
	Clayton Heafner	United States	72-75=147
	Charles Klein	United States	73-74=147
	Paul Runyan	United States	73-74=147
	Lew Worsham	United States	76-71=147
T9	Julius Boros	United States	74-74=148	+8
	Jimmy Demaret	United States	74-74=148
	Fred Hawkins	United States	76-72=148
	George Kinsman	United States	75-73=148
	Henry Ransom	United States	74-74=148
	Earl Stewart	United States	74-74=148
	Craig Wood	United States	76-72=148

Source:^[5]

Third round

Saturday, June 16, 1951 (morning)

Place	Player	Country	Score	To par
T1	Jimmy Demaret	United States	74-74-70=218	+8
T1	Bobby Locke	South Africa	73-71-74=218	+8
T3	Julius Boros	United States	74-74-71=219	+9
T3	Paul Runyan	United States	73-74-72=219	+9
T5	Dave Douglas	United States	75-70-75=220	+10
	Clayton Heafner	United States	72-75-73=220
	Ben Hogan	United States	76-73-71=220
8	Al Besselink	United States	72-77-72=221	+11
T9	Johnny Revolta	United States	78-72-72=222	+12
T9	Skee Riegel	United States	75-76-71=222	+12

Source:^[6]

Final round

Saturday, June 16, 1951 (afternoon)

Place	Player	Country	Score	To par	Money ($)
1	Ben Hogan	United States	76-73-71-67=287	+7	4,000
2	Clayton Heafner	United States	72-75-73-69=289	+9	2,000
3	Bobby Locke	South Africa	73-71-74-73=291	+11	1,500
T4	Julius Boros	United States	74-74-71-74=293	+13	700
T4	Lloyd Mangrum	United States	75-74-74-70=293	+13	700
T6	Al Besselink	United States	72-77-72-73=294	+14	387
	Dave Douglas	United States	75-70-75-74=294
	Fred Hawkins	United States	76-72-75-71=294
	Paul Runyan	United States	73-74-72-75=294
T10	Al Brosch	United States	73-74-76-72=295	+15	187
	Smiley Quick	United States	73-76-74-72=295
	Skee Riegel	United States	75-76-71-73=295
	Sam Snead	United States	71-78-72-74=295

Source:^[6]

References

1 2 "Hogan fires 3-under 67 to win third Open crown". Milwaukee Sentinel. Associated Press. June 17, 1951. p. 1B.
↑ "Mighty Hogan baffles par to cop Open". Eugene Register-Guard. Oregon. Associated Press. June 17, 1951. p. 14.
↑ Owosso, Michigan (July 26, 1991). "Still a 'monster'". Argus-Press. Associated Press. p. 11.
1 2 Garrity, John (June 10, 1996). "Making the Monster". Sports Illustrated. p. G32.
1 2 "National Open tourney scores". Youngtown Vindicator. Ohio. Associated Press. June 16, 1951. p. 7.
1 2 3 "National Open tourney scores". Youngtown Vindicator. Ohio. Associated Press. June 17, 1951. p. D-1.
↑ "Nation Open golf scores". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Associated Press. June 15, 1951. p. 22.

External links

About.com – 1951 U.S. Open

1951 Men's Major Golf Championships

The Masters U.S. Open The Open Championship PGA Championship

U.S. Open Championships

1895 1896 1897 1898 1899

1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909

1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919

1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929

1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939

1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949

1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959

1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969

1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979

1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989

1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999

2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017

Coordinates: 42°32′38″N 83°16′37″W / 42.544°N 83.277°W / 42.544; -83.277

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 9/19/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.