1946 U.S. Open (golf)

The 1946 U.S. Open was the 46th U.S. Open, held June 12–16 at Canterbury Golf Club in Beachwood, Ohio, a suburb east of Cleveland. In the first U.S. Open since 1941, Lloyd Mangrum, a World War II veteran and recipient of two Purple Hearts, defeated Byron Nelson and Vic Ghezzi in 36 playoff holes to win his only major title.

1946 U.S. Open

Tournament information
Dates	June 12–16, 1946
Location	Beachwood, Ohio
Course(s)	Canterbury Golf Club
Organized by	USGA
Tour(s)	PGA Tour
Statistics
Par	72
Length	6,921 yards (6,329 m)
Field	168 players, 62 after cut
Cut	151 (+7)
Prize fund	$8,000
Winner's share	$1,833
Champion
Lloyd Mangrum
284 (−4), playoff

Canterbury
Golf Club

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Location in United States

Canterbury
Golf Club

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Location in Ohio

Nelson's caddie possibly cost Nelson the championship in the third round when he accidentally kicked Nelson's ball; Nelson was assessed a one stroke penalty. Two months after the championship, Nelson announced his retirement from the tour at age 34, though he continued to play at the Masters through 1966. He also played twice again at the U.S. Open (1949 and 1955), and once at the British Open in 1955.

The purse was $8,000 with a winner's share of $1,500. The three participants received a playoff bonus of $333 each.

This was the last playoff at the U.S. Open that ended in a tie without sudden-death. The next dozen 18-hole full round playoffs determined a winner without the need for extra holes. The first time sudden-death was used for the 91st hole was in 1990, Hale Irwin's third title. It was needed again in 1994 and 2008.

This was the second U.S. Open at Canterbury in six years; the 1940 edition was won by Lawson Little. It later hosted the PGA Championship in 1973, won by Jack Nicklaus.

Round summaries

First round

Thursday, June 13, 1946

Place	Player	Score	To par
T1	Toney Penna	69	−3
	Sam Snead
T3	Bob Hamilton	70	−2
	Mike Turnesa
T5	Skip Alexander	71	−1
	Jimmy Demaret
	Vic Ghezzi
	Scudday Horner
	Steve Kovach
	Byron Nelson
	Ed Oliver
	Henry Picard
	Henry Ransom

Source:

Second round

Friday, June 14, 1946

Place	Player	Score	To par
T1	Vic Ghezzi	71-69=140	−4
	Ben Hogan	72-68=140
3	Lawson Little	72-69=141	−3
T4	Ed Oliver	71-71=142	−2
	Byron Nelson	71-71=142
6	Steve Kovach	71-72=143	−1
T7	Herman Barron	72-72=144	E
	Lloyd Mangrum	74-70=144
	Henry Picard	71-73=144
	Henry Ransom	71-73=144
	Sam Snead	69-75=144

Source:

Third round

Saturday, June 15, 1946 (morning)

Place	Player	Score	To par
1	Byron Nelson	71-71-69=211	−5
T2	Vic Ghezzi	71-69-72=212	−4
	Lloyd Mangrum	74-70-68=212
4	Ben Hogan	72-68-73=213	−3
5	Henry Picard	71-73-71=215	−1
T6	Herman Barron	72-72-72=216	E
	Steve Kovach	71-72-73=216
	Ed Oliver	71-71-74=216
T9	Chick Harbert	72-78-67=217	+1
	Chandler Harper	76-74-67=217
	Henry Ransom	71-73-73=217

Source:

Final round

Saturday, June 15, 1946 (afternoon)

Nelson began the final round with a one-stroke lead over Mangrum and Ghezzi. Ghezzi was the first to finish and carded a 72 and a 284 total. Nelson and Mangrum were playing together, and Nelson had a two-stroke advantage with three holes remaining. But after bogeys at his final two holes, combined with two pars by Mangrum, Nelson fell back into a tie and forced a three-way playoff.

Place	Player	Score	To par	Money ($)
T1	Lloyd Mangrum	74-70-68-72=284	−4	Playoff
	Vic Ghezzi	71-69-72-72=284
	Byron Nelson	71-71-69-73=284
T4	Herman Barron	72-72-72-69=285	−3	550
	Ben Hogan	72-68-73-72=285
T6	Jimmy Demaret	71-74-73-68=286	−2	350
	Ed Oliver	71-71-74-70=286
T8	Chick Harbert	72-78-67-70=287	−1	225
	Dick Metz	76-70-72-69=287
T10	Dutch Harrison	75-71-72-70=288	E	175
	Lawson Little	72-69-76-71=288

Source:

Playoff

Sunday, June 16, 1946

All three players shot even-par 72 during the first 18 holes on Sunday morning, which forced another 18-hole playoff in the afternoon, as there was no sudden-death playoff at the time. At the 9th, Mangrum nearly shot himself out of contention with an out of bounds tee shot, but a 70-foot (20 m) putt for bogey allowed him to minimize the damage. Nelson and Ghezzi were tied at the turn, with Mangrum two back. But Mangrum then collected two birdies, while Nelson bogeyed 13 and Ghezzi recorded bogeys at 14 and 15. Mangrum took a two-stroke lead with a birdie at 16, and despite a bogey-bogey finish, his 72 was good enough to hold off Nelson and Ghezzi by a stroke.

Place	Player	Score	To par	Money ($)
1	Lloyd Mangrum	72-72=144	E	1,833
T2	Byron Nelson	72-73=145	+1	1,208
	Vic Ghezzi	72-73=145

• Prize money includes $333 playoff bonus for each.

Scorecards

Morning round

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
Mangrum	E	E	−1	E	−1	−1	−2	−2	−2	−2	−2	−3	−2	−1	−1	−1	E	E
Nelson	E	−1	−1	−1	−1	E	E	E	E	+1	+1	+1	E	E	E	E	E	E
Ghezzi	E	E	−1	−1	−2	−2	−1	−1	−2	−2	−2	−1	−2	−2	−1	E	E	E

Afternoon round

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
Mangrum	−1	E	E	E	−1	−1	−1	−1	E	E	E	+1	E	E	−1	−2	−1	E
Nelson	E	E	E	E	E	−1	−2	−2	−2	−2	−1	−1	E	E	E	E	+1	+1
Ghezzi	E	E	E	E	E	−1	−1	−1	−2	−2	−1	−2	−2	−1	E	E	E	+1

Cumulative playoff scores, relative to par

Birdie

Bogey

Source:

External links

• USGA Championship Database