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]
| 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) | |
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 edit
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)
Round summaries edit
First round edit
Thursday, June 17, 1954
| Place | Player | Score | To par |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Billy Joe Patton (a) |
69 | −1 |
| T2 | Ted Kroll |
70 | E |
| Gene Littler
| |||
| Bob Toski
| |||
| T5 | Ed Furgol |
71 | +1 |
| Ben Hogan
| |||
| Al Mengert
| |||
| T8 | Tommy Bolt |
72 | +2 |
| Leland Gibson
| |||
| Lloyd Mangrum
| |||
| Dick Mayer
| |||
| Cary Middlecoff
| |||
| Johnny Revolta
| |||
| Sam Snead
| |||
| Robert Watson
| |||
| Lew Worsham
|
Source:[7]
Second round edit
Friday, June 18, 1954
| Place | Player | Score | To par |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gene Littler |
70-69=139 | −1 |
| T2 | Ed Furgol |
71-70=141 | +1 |
| Ben Hogan |
71-70=141 | ||
| T4 | Lloyd Mangrum |
72-71=143 | +3 |
| Dick Mayer |
72-71=143 | ||
| Al Mengert |
71-72=143 | ||
| Cary Middlecoff |
72-71=143 | ||
| T8 | Tommy Bolt |
72-72=144 | +4 |
| Dick Chapman (a) |
77-67=143 | ||
 Bobby Locke |
74-70=144 | ||
| Bob Toski |
70-74=144 |
Source:[8]
Third round edit
Saturday, June 19, 1954 (morning)
| Place | Player | Score | To par |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ed Furgol |
71-70-71=212 | +2 |
| 2 | Dick Mayer |
72-71-70=213 | +3 |
| T3 | Gene Littler |
70-69-76=215 | +5 |
| Lloyd Mangrum |
72-71-72=215 | ||
| Cary Middlecoff |
72-71-72=215 | ||
| T6 | Al Mengert |
71-72-73=216 | +6 |
| Billy Joe Patton (a) |
69-76-71=216 | ||
| T8 | Tommy Bolt |
72-72-73=217 | +7 |
| Fred Haas |
73-73-71=217 | ||
| Jay Hebert |
77-70-70=217 | ||
| Ben Hogan |
71-70-76=217 | ||
| Sam Snead |
72-73-72=217 |
Final round edit
Saturday, June 19, 1954 (afternoon)
| Place | Player | Score | To par | Money ($) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ed Furgol |
71-70-71-72=284 | +4 | 6,000 |
| 2 | Gene Littler |
70-69-76-70=285 | +5 | 3,600 |
| T3 | Lloyd Mangrum |
72-71-72-71=286 | +6 | 1,500 |
| Dick Mayer |
72-71-70-73=286 | |||
| 5 | Bobby Locke |
74-70-74-70=288 | +8 | 960 |
| T6 | Tommy Bolt |
72-72-73-72=289 | +9 | 570 |
| Fred Haas |
73-73-71-72=289 | |||
| Ben Hogan |
71-70-76-72=289 | |||
| Shelley Mayfield |
73-75-72-69=289 | |||
| Billy Joe Patton (a) |
69-76-71-73=289 | 0 |
- (a) denotes amateur
References edit
- ^ a b "54th U.S. Open Championship: Baltusrol, Lower Course". Eugene Register-Guard. Oregon. June 17, 1954. p. 1D.
- ^ a b c d Grimsley, Will (June 20, 1954). "Furgol wins Open in dramatic finish". Spokesman-Review. Spokane, Washington. Associated Press. p. 1-sports.
- ^ a b "U.S. Open history:1954". USGA. Archived from the original on December 12, 2013. Retrieved July 26, 2012.
- ^ a b c "Furgol wins Open, Mayer ties for third". St. Petersburg Times. Florida. June 20, 1954. p. 1C.
- ^ a b c 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.
- ^ "Amateur Patton fires 1-under 69 to lead Open". Milwaukee Sentinel. Associated Press. June 18, 1954. p. 4, part 2.
- ^ "National Open golf scores". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Associated Press. June 19, 1954. p. 11.