1954 U.S. Open (golf)

1954 U.S. Open
Tournament information
Dates	June 17–19, 1954
Location	Springfield, New Jersey
Course(s)	Baltusrol Golf Club; Lower Course
Organized by	USGA
Tour(s)	PGA Tour
Statistics
Par	70
Length	7,027 yards (6,425 m)[1][2]
Field	159 players, 50 after cut
Cut	151 (+11)
Prize fund	$23,280[3]
Winner's share	$6,000
Champion
	Ed Furgol
	284 (+4)

Baltusrol

Location in the United States

Baltusrol

Location in New Jersey

Baltusrol

Location in
Union County

The 1954 U.S. Open was the 54th U.S. Open, held June 17–19 at Baltusrol Golf Club in Springfield, New Jersey, west of New York City. On the Lower Course, Ed Furgol won his only major title, one stroke ahead of runner-up Gene Littler.^[2]

Littler owned the 36-hole lead by two strokes over defending champion Ben Hogan and Furgol. After a 76 in the third round, Littler fell three strokes back of Furgol, who shot a 71 to take a one-stroke lead over Dick Mayer. Hogan made four bogeys at the first six holes and fell out of contention with a 76.

In the final round on Saturday afternoon, Littler rebounded with a 70, but it was not enough. Furgol was helped by a great recovery on the 18th. After hitting his drive into the trees, he played his escape shot onto the 18th fairway of Baltusrol's other course. From there he managed to make par, carding a 72 for a 284 total. Mayer was tied with Furgol as he played 18, but he double-bogeyed the hole to fall into third.^[4]^[5]

This U.S. Open was the first to be nationally televised, one hour of the final round,^[6] carried by NBC. It was also the first in which ropes were used to control the gallery, and prize money was increased by 20% over the previous year.^[3] This was the fourth U.S. Open at Baltusrol, but the first on the Lower Course, which later hosted in 1967, 1980, and 1993.

Course layout

Lower Course

Hole	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Out	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	In	Total
Yards	465	379	444	183	391	467	468	372	204	3,373	450	421	190	391	409	427	201	620	545	3,654	7,027
Par	4	4	4	3	4	4	4	4	3	34	4	4	3	4	4	4	3	5	5	36	70

Source:^[1]

Lengths of the courses for previous major championships at Baltusrol:

6,866 yards (6,278 m), par 72 - 1936 U.S. Open (Upper Course)
6,212 yards (5,680 m), par 74 - 1915 U.S. Open (Old Course) The Old Course was plowed under in 1918
6,003 yards (5,489 m), par - 1903 U.S. Open (Old Course)

Past champions in the field

Made the cut

Player	Country	Year(s) won	R1	R2	R3	R4	Total	To par	Finish
Lloyd Mangrum	United States	1946	72	71	72	71	286	+6	T3
Ben Hogan	United States	1948, 1950, 1951, 1953	71	70	76	72	289	+9	T6
Cary Middlecoff	United States	1949	72	71	72	75	290	+10	T11
Julius Boros	United States	1952	78	71	78	70	297	+17	T23
Lew Worsham	United States	1947	72	77	77	71	297	+17	T23
Lawson Little	United States	1940	78	73	73	77	301	+21	T35

Missed the cut

Player	Country	Year(s) won	R1	R2	Total	To par
Tony Manero	United States	1936	77	80	157	+17
Johnny Farrell	United States	1928	79	79	158	+18
Billy Burke	United States	1931	82	86	168	+28
Chick Evans (a)	United States	1916	88	85	173	+33
Gene Sarazen	United States	1922, 1932	79	WD

Source:^[7]

Round summaries

First round

Thursday, June 17, 1954

Place	Player	Country	Score	To par
1	Billy Joe Patton (a)	United States	69	−1
T2	Ted Kroll	United States	70	E
	Gene Littler	United States
	Bob Toski	United States
T5	Ed Furgol	United States	71	+1
	Ben Hogan	United States
	Al Mengert	United States
T8	Tommy Bolt	United States	72	+2
	Leland Gibson	United States
	Lloyd Mangrum	United States
	Dick Mayer	United States
	Cary Middlecoff	United States
	Johnny Revolta	United States
	Sam Snead	United States
	Robert Watson	United States
	Lew Worsham	United States

Source:^[8]

Second round

Friday, June 18, 1954

Place	Player	Country	Score	To par
1	Gene Littler	United States	70-69=139	−1
T2	Ed Furgol	United States	71-70=141	+1
T2	Ben Hogan	United States	71-70=141	+1
T4	Lloyd Mangrum	United States	72-71=143	+3
	Dick Mayer	United States	72-71=143
	Al Mengert	United States	71-72=143
	Cary Middlecoff	United States	72-71=143
T8	Tommy Bolt	United States	72-72=144	+4
	Dick Chapman (a)	United States	77-67=143
	Bobby Locke	South Africa	74-70=144
	Bob Toski	United States	70-74=144

Source:^[7]

Third round

Ed Furgol in 1954

Saturday, June 19, 1954 (morning)

Place	Player	Country	Score	To par
1	Ed Furgol	United States	71-70-71=212	+2
2	Dick Mayer	United States	72-71-70=213	+3
T3	Gene Littler	United States	70-69-76=215	+5
	Lloyd Mangrum	United States	72-71-72=215
	Cary Middlecoff	United States	72-71-72=215
T6	Al Mengert	United States	71-72-73=216	+6
T6	Billy Joe Patton (a)	United States	69-76-71=216	+6
T8	Tommy Bolt	United States	72-72-73=217	+7
	Fred Haas	United States	73-73-71=217
	Jay Hebert	United States	77-70-70=217
	Ben Hogan	United States	71-70-76=217
	Sam Snead	United States	72-73-72=217

Source:^[2]^[4]^[5]

Final round

Saturday, June 19, 1954 (afternoon)

Place	Player	Country	Score	To par	Money ($)
1	Ed Furgol	United States	71-70-71-72=284	+4	6,000
2	Gene Littler	United States	70-69-76-70=285	+5	3,600
T3	Lloyd Mangrum	United States	72-71-72-71=286	+6	1,500
T3	Dick Mayer	United States	72-71-70-73=286	+6	1,500
5	Bobby Locke	South Africa	74-70-74-70=288	+8	960
T6	Tommy Bolt	United States	72-72-73-72=289	+9	570
	Fred Haas	United States	73-73-71-72=289
	Ben Hogan	United States	71-70-76-72=289
	Shelley Mayfield	United States	73-75-72-69=289
	Billy Joe Patton (a)	United States	69-76-71-73=289		0

Source:^[2]^[4]^[5]

(a) denotes amateur

References

1 2 "54th U.S. Open Championship: Baltusrol, Lower Course". Eugene Register-Guard. Oregon. June 17, 1954. p. 1D.
1 2 3 4 Grimsley, Will (June 20, 1954). "Furgol wins Open in dramatic finish". Spokesman-Review. Spokane, Washington. Associated Press. p. 1-sports.
1 2 "U.S. Open history:1954". USGA. Retrieved July 26, 2012.
1 2 3 "Furgol wins Open, Mayer ties for third". St. Petersburg Times. Florida. June 20, 1954. p. 1C.
1 2 3 Fraley, Oscar (June 20, 1954). "Ed Furgol wins US Open". Eugene Register-Guard. Oregon. United Press. p. 1C.
↑ "Open on TV". Milwaukee Sentinel. Associated Press. June 18, 1954. p. 4, part 2.
1 2 "National Open golf scores". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Associated Press. June 19, 1954. p. 11.
↑ "Amateur Patton fires 1-under 69 to lead Open". Milwaukee Sentinel. Associated Press. June 18, 1954. p. 4, part 2.

External links

About.com – 1954 U.S. Open
USOpen.com - 1954

Coordinates: 40°42′18″N 74°19′41″W / 40.705°N 74.328°W / 40.705; -74.328

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[csemap-1] 1 2 "54th U.S. Open Championship: Baltusrol, Lower Course". Eugene Register-Guard. Oregon. June 17, 1954. p. 1D.

[sr54usord4-2] 1 2 3 4 Grimsley, Will (June 20, 1954). "Furgol wins Open in dramatic finish". Spokesman-Review. Spokane, Washington. Associated Press. p. 1-sports.

[usga54-3] 1 2 "U.S. Open history:1954". USGA. Retrieved July 26, 2012.

[spt54usord4-4] 1 2 3 "Furgol wins Open, Mayer ties for third". St. Petersburg Times. Florida. June 20, 1954. p. 1C.

[erg54usord4-5] 1 2 3 Fraley, Oscar (June 20, 1954). "Ed Furgol wins US Open". Eugene Register-Guard. Oregon. United Press. p. 1C.

[opentvms-6] "Open on TV". Milwaukee Sentinel. Associated Press. June 18, 1954. p. 4, part 2.

[nogs-7] 1 2 "National Open golf scores". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Associated Press. June 19, 1954. p. 11.

[apfstrd-8] "Amateur Patton fires 1-under 69 to lead Open". Milwaukee Sentinel. Associated Press. June 18, 1954. p. 4, part 2.

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