The 1956 U.S. Open was the 56th U.S. Open, held June 14–16 at the East Course of Oak Hill Country Club near Rochester, New York. Cary Middlecoff won his second U.S. Open title, one stroke ahead of runners-up Julius Boros and Ben Hogan, both former champions.[1][2][3][4]

1956 U.S. Open
Tournament information
DatesJune 14–16, 1956
LocationRochester, New York
Course(s)Oak Hill Country Club
East Course
Organized byUSGA
Tour(s)PGA Tour
Statistics
Par70
Length6,902 yards (6,311 m)[1]
Field159 players, 51 after cut
Cut149 (+9)
Prize fund$24,000
Winner's share$6,000
Champion
United States Cary Middlecoff
281 (+1)
← 1955
1957 →
Rochester is located in the United States
Rochester
Rochester
Oak Hill CC is located in New York
Oak Hill CC
Oak Hill CC

Middlecoff began the final round with a two-stroke lead over Hogan, Ted Kroll, and Wes Ellis. After an erratic finish where he bogeyed 16 and 17, he carded a third consecutive round of even-par 70 to post a 281 (+1) total and waited. Hogan, pursuing his record fifth U.S. Open, had a chance to tie Middlecoff but missed a 4-foot (1.2 m) par putt on the 17th to finish one back. Boros also had a chance to catch Middlecoff, but missed a 15-foot (4.5 m) birdie on the last and also finished a stroke behind. The last contender on the course, Kroll led by a stroke after a birdie at the 14th hole, but immediately followed it with a bogey and triple bogey and finished four strokes back.[1][4]

Reigning British Open champion Peter Thomson made a rare appearance in the United States and finished tied for fourth, his best finish at any other major. He was the 36-hole leader by a stroke over Hogan,[5][6] but fell back after a four-over 39 on the back nine in the third round.[7] Thomson won five British Opens, and his third consecutive (195456) came three weeks later at Royal Liverpool.

Several future champions made their mark at this U.S. Open. Arnold Palmer, 26, recorded the first of his thirteen top ten finishes at the U.S. Open, six strokes back in seventh place. Ken Venturi captured low-amateur honors in eighth place, two months after he lost a four-stroke lead at The Masters with an 80 in the final round. Billy Casper, 24, made his major championship debut and finished 14th.

Defending champion Jack Fleck, who upset Hogan in a Sunday playoff the year before at Olympic, shot 76-74 and missed the cut by a stroke. Jack Burke Jr., winner of the Masters two months earlier, also missed with a 152.[6]

A record-setting 13,914 were in attendance for the final two rounds on Saturday.[1]

This was the first of three U.S. Opens at the East Course at Oak Hill; Lee Trevino won in 1968 and Curtis Strange successfully defended in 1989. It also hosted the PGA Championship in 1980, 2003, and 2013, and the Ryder Cup in 1995.

Course layout

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Hole 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Out 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 In Total
Yards 445 390 208 571 440 170 423 432 416 3,495 420 192 380 602 327 133 441 463 449 3,407 6,902
Par 4 4 3 5 4 3 4 4 4 35 4 3 4 5 4 3 4 4 4 35 70

Round summaries

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First round

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Thursday, June 14, 1956

Place Player Score To par
1   Bob Rosburg 68 −2
2   Peter Thomson 70 E
T3   Errie Ball 71 +1
  Julius Boros
  Wes Ellis
  Doug Ford
  Ed Furgol
  Jay Hebert
  Cary Middlecoff
T10   Jerry Barber 72 +2
  Al Brosch
  Dave Douglas
  Fred Haas
  Dutch Harrison
  Ben Hogan
  Bill Hyndman (a)
  Ted Kroll
  Billy Maxwell
  Arnold Palmer
  Bud Taylor (a)

Source:[8]

Second round

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Friday, June 15, 1956

Place Player Score To par
1   Peter Thomson 70-69=139 −1
2   Ben Hogan 72-68=140 E
T3   Jerry Barber 72-69=141 +1
  Wes Ellis 71-70=141
  Ed Furgol 71-70=141
  Cary Middlecoff 71-70=141
T7   Julius Boros 71-71=142 +2
  Ted Kroll 72-70=142
  Arnold Palmer 72-70=142
T10   Fred Haas 72-71=143 +3
  Billy Maxwell 72-71=143
  Bud Taylor (a) 72-71=143

Source:[5][6]

Amateurs: Taylor (+3), Ward (+7), Hyndman (+8), Patton (+8), Venturi (+8), Garrett (+9), Magee (+10), Ervasti (+11), Rodgers (+11), Simmons (+11), Dahlbender (+12), Holland (+12), Croonquist (+15), Shields (+16), Kuntz (+17), Moore Jr (+18), Aldrich (+19), Dixon (+20), Kelly (+23), Beman (+24), Myers (+25), Kleist (+27), Deal (+30), Watson (+34), Mandeville (+35), Brownell (WD).

Third round

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Saturday, June 16, 1956 (morning)

Place Player Score To par
1   Cary Middlecoff 71-70-70=211 +1
T2   Wes Ellis 71-70-71=212 +2
  Ben Hogan 72-68-72=212
  Ted Kroll 72-70-70=212
5   Julius Boros 71-71-71=213 +3
T6   Ed Furgol 71-70-73=214 +4
  Arnold Palmer 72-70-72=214
  Peter Thomson 70-69-75=214
T9   Jerry Barber 72-69-74=215 +5
  Fred Haas 72-71-72=215

Source:[2][4][9]

Final round

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Saturday, June 16, 1956 (afternoon)

Place Player Score To par Money ($)
1   Cary Middlecoff 71-70-70-70=281 +1 6,000
T2   Julius Boros 71-71-71-69=282 +2 2,650
  Ben Hogan 72-68-72-70=282
T4   Ed Furgol 71-70-73-71=285 +5 1,033
  Ted Kroll 72-70-70-73=285
  Peter Thomson 70-69-75-71=285
7   Arnold Palmer 72-70-72-73=287 +7 600
8   Ken Venturi (a) 77-71-68-73=289 +9 0
T9   Jerry Barber 72-69-74-75=290 +10 416
  Wes Ellis 71-70-71-78=290
  Doug Ford 71-75-70-74=290

Source:[2][4][9]

Amateurs: Venturi (+9), Patton (+12), Taylor (+18), Hyndman (+20), Ward (+25), Garrett (+29).

References

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  1. ^ a b c d "Middlecoff wins US Open with 281". Milwaukee Journal. Associated Press. June 17, 1956. p. 1-sports.
  2. ^ a b c Bartlett, Charles (June 17, 1956). "Middlecoff wins Open by stroke". Chicago Sunday Tribune. p. 1, sec. 2.
  3. ^ Drum, Bob (June 17, 1956). "Middlecorr edges Hogan, Boros for Open title". Pittsburgh Press. p. 1, sec. 4.
  4. ^ a b c d Wind, Herbert Warren (June 25, 1956). "The Chase of the Doc at Oak Hill". Sports Illustrated. p. 6.
  5. ^ a b Bartlett, Charles (June 16, 1956). "Thomson leads Hogan by stroke in Open". Chicago Daily Tribune. p. 1, sec. 3.
  6. ^ a b c "Peter Thomson shoots 139, leads Open". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. June 16, 1956. p. 11.
  7. ^ "US Open led by Middlecoff". Eugene Register-Guard. Associated Press. June 16, 1956. p. 10.
  8. ^ Bartlett, Charles (June 15, 1956). "Rosburg scores 68 for lead in National Open". Chicago Daily Tribune. p. 1, sec. 4.
  9. ^ a b "Middlecoff edges Hogan, Boros to win US Open golf". Montreal Gazette. Associated Press. June 18, 1956. p. 26.
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43°06′47″N 77°31′59″W / 43.113°N 77.533°W / 43.113; -77.533