The 1957 U.S. Open was the 57th U.S. Open, held June 12–15 at Inverness Club in Toledo, Ohio. Dick Mayer defeated defending champion Cary Middlecoff in an 18-hole playoff to win his only major title.[4]

1957 U.S. Open
Tournament information
DatesJune 13–16, 1957
LocationToledo, Ohio
Course(s)Inverness Club
Organized byUSGA
Tour(s)PGA Tour
Statistics
Par70
Length6,919 yards (6,327 m)[1][2]
Field157 players, 53 after cut
Cut150 (+10)
Prize fund$30,000[3]
Winner's share$7,200
Champion
United States Dick Mayer
282 (+2), playoff
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1958 →
Toledo is located in the United States
Toledo
Toledo
Toledo is located in Ohio
Toledo
Toledo

Amateur Billy Joe Patton was the 36-hole co-leader with Mayer,[5] but fell back with consecutive 76s and tied for eighth. The 54-hole lead was held by Jimmy Demaret, age 47, attempting to become the oldest U.S. Open champion. Mayer was a shot back, while Middlecoff, Julius Boros, and Roberto De Vicenzo were two back.[6]

With temperatures soaring in the final round with high humidity, Demaret was five-over through eleven holes. He rebounded with three birdies on the back nine to post a 72 and a 283 total, a shot out of the playoff. Mayer carded a 70 and a 282 total, while Middlecoff birdied the last to force a playoff.[6][7] The Sunday playoff turned out to be a one-sided affair, as Mayer shot 72 to Middlecoff's 79. Temperatures again approached 100 °F (38 °C) and only one birdie was carded.[8][9]

This U.S. Open witnessed the debut of 17-year-old amateur Jack Nicklaus,[10] who had consecutive rounds of 80 and missed the cut.[11] It was just the beginning for Nicklaus, as he won a record-tying four U.S. Open titles and a record 18 major championships. While Nicklaus was making his debut, three-time major winner Denny Shute was playing his last Open; he too missed the cut. Two-time champion Gene Sarazen, at 55 in his penultimate Open, also missed the cut. After receiving medical attention for a back ailment, four-time champion and pre-tournament favorite Ben Hogan withdrew prior to his first round on Thursday.[12][13][14]

The course was scheduled to play to a length of 6,961 yards (6,365 m), but heavy rains caused several new tee boxes to become unplayable and the course was shortened by about 100 yards (90 m).[2]

This was the third U.S. Open at Inverness, which hosted in 1920 and 1931. The U.S. Open returned in 1979 and the PGA Championship followed in 1986 and 1993.

Course layout edit

Hole 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Out 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 In Total
Yards 394 384 175 466 423 385 400 212 466 3,305 400 380 527 167 479 468 412 451 330 3,614 6,919
Par 4 4 3 4 4 4 4 3 4 34 4 4 5 3 4 4 4 4 4 36 70

Source:[1]

Lengths of the course for previous major championships:

Round summaries edit

First round edit

Thursday, June 13, 1957

Place Player Score To par
1   Jimmy Demaret 68 −2
T2   Julius Boros 69 −1
  Doug Ford
  Ken Venturi
T5   Billy Maxwell 70 E
  Dick Mayer
  Billy Joe Patton (a)
  Bud Ward
  Bo Wininger
T10   Jack Burke Jr. 71 +1
  Cary Middlecoff
  Sam Penecale
  Peter Thomson
  Don Whitt

Source:[15]

Second round edit

Friday, June 14, 1957

Place Player Score To par
T1   Dick Mayer 70-68=138 −2
  Billy Joe Patton (a) 70-68=138
T3   Doug Ford 69-71=140 E
  Ken Venturi 69-71=140
T5   Jimmy Demaret 68-73=141 +1
  Bo Wininger 70-71=141
7   Roberto De Vicenzo 72-70=142 +2
8   Peter Thomson 71-72=143 +3
T9   Julius Boros 69-75=144 +4
  Fred Hawkins 72-72=144
  Sam Penecale 71-73=144
  Bud Ward 70-74=144

Source:[5]

Third round edit

Saturday, June 15, 1957 (morning)

Place Player Score To par
1   Jimmy Demaret 68-73-70=211 +1
2   Dick Mayer 70-68-74=212 +2
T3   Julius Boros 69-75-70=214 +4
  Roberto De Vicenzo 72-70-72=214
  Cary Middlecoff 71-75-68=214
  Billy Joe Patton (a) 70-68-76=214
  Bud Ward 70-74-70=214
T8   Fred Hawkins 72-72-71=215 +5
  Ken Venturi 69-71-75=215
10   Mike Fetchick 74-71-71=216 +6

Source:[6][7]

Final round edit

Saturday, June 15, 1957 (afternoon)

Place Player Score To par Money ($)
T1   Dick Mayer 70-68-74-70=282 +2 Playoff
  Cary Middlecoff 71-75-68-68=282
3   Jimmy Demaret 68-73-70-72=283 +3 2,160
T4   Julius Boros 69-75-70-70=284 +4 1,380
  Walter Burkemo 74-73-72-65=284
T6   Fred Hawkins 72-72-71-71=286 +6 840
  Ken Venturi 69-71-75-71=286
T8   Roberto De Vicenzo 72-70-72-76=290 +10 465
  Chick Harbert 68-79-71-72=290
  Billy Maxwell 70-76-72-72=290
  Sam Snead 74-74-69-73=290
  Billy Joe Patton (a) 70-68-76-76=290 0

Source:[6][7]

(a) denotes amateur

Playoff edit

Sunday, June 16, 1957

Place Player Score To par Money ($)
1   Dick Mayer 72 +2 7,200
2   Cary Middlecoff 79 +9 4,200

Scorecard edit

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 4 4 3 4 4 4 5 3 4 4 4 4 4
  Mayer E +1 +1 +1 +1 E E E +1 +1 +1 +1 +1 +1 +2 +2 +2 +2
  Middlecoff +1 +1 +1 +1 +2 +2 +3 +4 +4 +6 +6 +6 +6 +6 +8 +8 +9 +9

Cumulative playoff scores, relative to par

Birdie Bogey Double bogey

Source:[8][9]

References edit

  1. ^ a b "Yardage, par for Inverness". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Associated Press. June 13, 1957. p. 33.
  2. ^ a b "Weather creates another Open record". Toledo Blade. (Ohio). June 16, 1957. p. 2, sec.4.
  3. ^ "U.S. Open history:1957". USGA. Archived from the original on July 6, 2012. Retrieved June 23, 2012.
  4. ^ Bartlett, Charles (June 17, 1957). "Mayer beats Middlecoff by 7 strokes". Chicago Daily Tribune. p. 1, sec. 4.
  5. ^ a b Bartlett, Charles (June 15, 1957). "Patton, Mayer tie 36-hole Open record". Chicago Daily Tribune. p. 1, sec. 2.
  6. ^ a b c d Bartlett, Charles (June 16, 1957). "Middlecoff ties Mayer for Open title". Chicago Sunday Tribune. p. 1, sec. 2.
  7. ^ a b c Grimsley, Will (June 16, 1957). "Cary, Mayer survive pressure in Open tie". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. p. 1-sports.
  8. ^ a b "It's 72 for Dick, 79 for Cary, and 97 for fans". Toledo Blade. (Ohio). June 17, 1957. p. 20.
  9. ^ a b "Mayer wins national open from Middlecoff; 72 to 79". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. June 17, 1957. p. 10.
  10. ^ MacDonald, Jim (June 11, 1957). "Nicklaus picks Ben Hogan". Toledo Blade. p. 32.
  11. ^ "National Open tourney scores (second round)". Youngstown Vindicator. (Ohio). Associated Press. June 15, 1957. p. 6.
  12. ^ Wolfe, Don (June 13, 1957). "Ben Hogan withdraws from national open play". Toledo Blade. (Ohio). p. 1.
  13. ^ "Dejected Hogan quits because of backache". Montreal Gazette. Associated Press. June 14, 1957. p. 24.
  14. ^ Wind, Herbert Warren (June 24, 1957). "Fame calls on Dick Mayer". Sports Illustrated.
  15. ^ Bartlett, Charles (June 14, 1957). "Demaret's 68 leads field in U.S. Open". Chicago Daily Tribune. p. 1, sec. 4.

External links edit

41°39′07″N 83°39′04″W / 41.652°N 83.651°W / 41.652; -83.651