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1950 U.S. Open (golf)

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The 1950 U.S. Open was the 50th U.S. Open, held June 8–11 at the East Course of Merion Golf Club in Ardmore, Pennsylvania, a suburb northwest of Philadelphia. In what became known as the "Miracle at Merion," 1948 champion Ben Hogan won the second of his four U.S. Open titles in an 18-hole playoff over 1946 champion Lloyd Mangrum and George Fazio, just 16 months after being severely injured in an automobile accident.[3][4] It was the fourth of Hogan's nine major titles.[5]

1950 U.S. Open
Tournament information
DatesJune 8–11, 1950
LocationArdmore, Pennsylvania
Course(s)Merion Golf Club,
East Course
Organized byUSGA
Tour(s)PGA Tour
Statistics
Par70
Length6,694 yards (6,121 m)[1]
Field150 players, 52 after cut
Cut149 (+9)
Prize fund$15,000[2]
Winner's share$4,000
Champion
United States Ben Hogan
287 (+7), playoff
← 1949
1951 →
Merion GC is located in the United States
Merion GC
Merion GC
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Location in the United States
Merion GC  is located in Pennsylvania
Merion GC 
Merion GC 
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Location in Pennsylvania

Lee Mackey established a new tournament record by shooting a 64 in the first round,[6][7][8] but followed that up with an 81 and finished in 25th place.[9] His score of 64 was not bettered in any other major championship for 23 years, until Johnny Miller closed with a 63 at the U.S. Open in 1973 to win at Oakmont. Tommy Armour, three-time major champion and winner in 1927, played in his final major and missed the cut.

This was the second U.S. Open played at Merion's East Course, which previously hosted sixteen years earlier in 1934, won by Olin Dutra. Opened in 1912, the course was the site of the U.S. Amateur in 1916, 1924, and 1930; the first was the debut of Bobby Jones at age 14 (quarterfinalist) and the latter two he won. The 1930 victory was the fourth and final leg of his grand slam.

Hogan made his U.S. Open debut at Merion in 1934 at age 21. He shot 79 (+9) twice[10] and missed the 36-hole cut by three strokes. He made his first cut at the U.S. Open in 1939 and did not miss another; his last was in 1967 at age 54.

Course

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See also: Merion Golf Club

East Course

Hole 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Out 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 In Total
Yards 360 555 195 595 425 435 360 367 185 3,477 335 378 400 133 443 395 445 230 458 3,217 6,694
Par 4 5 3 5 4 4 4 4 3 36 4 4 4 3 4 4 4 3 4 34 70

Source:[11]

Round summaries

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First round

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Thursday, June 8, 1950

Place Player Score To par
1   Lee Mackey 64 −6
2   Al Brosch 67 −3
T3   Skip Alexander 68 −2
  Julius Boros
T5   Harold Williams 69 −1
  Henry Williams, Jr.
T7   Pat Abbott 71 +1
  John Barnum
  Al Besselink
  Jim Ferrier
  Claude Harmon
  Loddie Kempa
  Joe Kirkwood, Jr.
  Jack Mallon
  Cary Middlecoff
  Henry Picard
  Denny Shute

Source:[7][8]

Scorecard

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Hole  1   2   3  4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18
Par 4 5 3 5 4 4 4 4 3 4 4 4 3 4 4 4 3 4
  Mackey E E E −1 −1 −1 −2 −3 −3 −3 −4 −4 −5 −5 −6 −6 −5 −6

Source:[8]

Second round

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Friday, June 9, 1950

Place Player Score To par
1   Dutch Harrison 72-67=139 −1
T2   Julius Boros 68-72=140 E
  Johnny Bulla 74-66=140
  Jim Ferrier 71-69=140
5   Ben Hogan 72-69=141 +1
T6   Skip Alexander 68-74=142 +2
  Lloyd Mangrum 72-70=142
  Cary Middlecoff 71-71=142
  Henry Picard 71-71=142
  Skee Riegel 73-69=142
  Bob Toski 73-69=142

Source:[11][12][13]

Third round

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Saturday, June 10, 1950   (morning)

Place Player Score To par
1   Lloyd Mangrum 72-70-69=211 +1
2   Dutch Harrison 72-67-73=212 +2
T3   Ben Hogan 72-69-72=213 +3
  Cary Middlecoff 71-71-71=213
  Johnny Palmer 73-70-70=213
6   Jim Ferrier 71-69-74=214 +4
7   Henry Ransom 72-71-73=216 +6
T8   Julius Boros 68-72-77=217 +7
  George Fazio 73-72-72=217
  Bill Nary 73-70-74=217

Source:

Final round

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Saturday, June 10, 1950   (afternoon)

Mangrum began the final round with a one-shot lead over Dutch Harrison and a two-stroke lead over Hogan, defending champion Cary Middlecoff, and Johnny Palmer. Fazio was the first to post 287 (+7) after an even-par 70. Mangrum struggled early in his round, carding six bogeys on the first seven holes and shot 76 (+6), which also left him at 287. Hogan had a chance to win the tournament in regulation but missed a short putt for par at 15 and then bogeyed the par-3 17th. In a three-way tie for the lead going to the difficult 18th, Hogan hit one of his most famous shots, a 1-iron approach to 40 feet (12 m).[14] He two-putted for par to join Mangrum and Fazio in the Sunday playoff.[15][16] Middlecoff and Palmer both shot 79 and fell to tenth place.

Place Player Score To par Money ($)
T1   Ben Hogan 72-69-72-74=287 +7 Playoff
  Lloyd Mangrum 72-70-69-76=287
  George Fazio 73-72-72-70=287
4   Dutch Harrison 72-67-73-76=288 +8 800
T5   Jim Ferrier 71-69-74-75=289 +9 500
  Joe Kirkwood, Jr. 71-74-74-70=289
  Henry Ransom 72-71-73-73=289
8   Bill Nary 73-70-74-73=290 +10 350
9   Julius Boros 68-72-77-74=291 +11 300
T10   Cary Middlecoff 71-71-71-79=292 +12 225
  Johnny Palmer 73-70-70-79=292

Source:[9][16]

Scorecard

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Hole   1     2     3     4     5     6     7     8     9    10   11   12   13   14   15   16   17   18 
Par 4 5 3 5 4 4 4 4 3 4 4 4 3 4 4 4 3 4
  Hogan +3 +3 +4 +4 +4 +4 +4 +4 +4 +4 +4 +5 +5 +5 +6 +6 +7 +7
  Mangrum +2 +3 +2 +3 +4 +5 +6 +6 +6 +6 +6 +6 +6 +6 +7 +7 +7 +7
  Fazio +7 +6 +7 +7 +7 +7 +8 +8 +8 +8 +8 +8 +7 +8 +7 +7 +7 +7
  Harrison +3 +2 +4 +5 +5 +5 +5 +6 +7 +7 +7 +8 +8 +8 +8 +8 +8 +8
  Ferrier +7 +6 +7 +7 +7 +7 +8 +8 +8 +8 +9 +9 +9 +9 +10 +9 +9 +9
  Middlecoff +3 +4 +4 +5 +7 +7 +7 +6 +6 +8 +8 +8 +8 +8 +9 +11 +12 +12
  Palmer +4 +4 +5 +5 +7 +8 +8 +8 +8 +8 +9 +10 +11 +11 +11 +11 +11 +12

Cumulative tournament scores, relative to par
Source:[11]

Playoff

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Sunday, June 11, 1950

The three players were within one stroke of each other as late as the 13th hole, with Hogan at even par and Fazio and Mangrum at one-over. Fazio bogeyed four of the last five holes to fall out of contention, while Hogan led Mangrum by a single stroke through 15. Mangrum's tee shot at 16 went into heavy rough but his third shot stopped 15 feet (4.6 m) from the hole. As he putted to save par, he picked up his ball to remove a bug that had landed on it, a violation of the rules (then rule 10, paragraph 2).[3] Mangrum rolled it in, but was assessed a two-stroke penalty at the next tee; the double-bogey allowed Hogan to cruise to a four-stroke victory.[1][3] Hogan had just one bogey, while Fazio had seven and Mangrum four, plus the double-bogey for the rules violation.

Place Player Score To par Money ($)
1   Ben Hogan 69 −1 4,000
2   Lloyd Mangrum 73 +3 2,500
3   George Fazio 75 +5 1,000

Source:[1][3]

  • This was the final three-way playoff at the U.S. Open that determined a third-place finisher; at the next in 1963, non-winners tied for second.

Scorecard

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Hole   1     2     3     4     5     6     7     8     9    10   11   12   13   14   15   16   17   18 
Par 4 5 3 5 4 4 4 4 3 4 4 4 3 4 4 4 3 4
  Hogan E E E E E E −1 E E E E E E E E E −1 −1
  Mangrum E −1 E E E E E E E +1 E +1 +1 +2 +1 +3 +3 +3
  Fazio +1 E E E E +1 +2 +1 +1 +1 +1 +1 +1 +2 +3 +4 +4 +5
Birdie Bogey Double bogey

Source:[1][3]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d "Hogan shoots 69, one under, to win Open golf". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Associated Press. June 12, 1950. p. 19.
  2. ^ "U.S. Open history: 1950". USGA. Archived from the original on June 18, 2013. Retrieved June 23, 2012.
  3. ^ a b c d e Bartlett, Charles (June 12, 1950). "Hogan wins Open title on 69 in playoff". Chicago Daily Tribune. p. 1, part 6.
  4. ^ Trostel, Michael (May 28, 2013). "Looking Back...1950 U.S. Open at Merion". USGA. Archived from the original on June 15, 2013. Retrieved May 29, 2013.
  5. ^ "Defining Moment". Golf Digest. June 2013. Retrieved June 11, 2013.
  6. ^ Bernstein, Ralph (June 9, 1950). "Harold Williams has good chance to win Open". Tuscaloosa News. Alabama. Associated Press. p. 11.
  7. ^ a b "Lee Mackey, Jr., shoots 64 to lead National Open". Wilmington Morning Star. North Carolina. Associated Press. June 9, 1950. p. 12.
  8. ^ a b c Bartlett, Charles (June 9, 1950). "Record 64 by golf unknown leads Open". Chicago Daily Tribune. p. 1, part 4.
  9. ^ a b "Top U.S. Open scorers". Milwaukee Sentinel. June 11, 1950. p. 2-B.
  10. ^ Cavagnaro, Bob (June 9, 1934). "Bobby Cruickshank has three-stroke lead as 64 golfers battle for Open title". Youngstown Vindicator. Ohio. Associated Press. p. 6.
  11. ^ a b c "1950 U.S. Open news, cards, pairings, scores" (PDF). Trenham Golf History. Retrieved May 8, 2013.[permanent dead link‍]
  12. ^ Bartlett, Charles (June 10, 1950). "Harrison shoots 67; leads Open with 139". Chicago Daily Tribune. p. 1, part 2.
  13. ^ "National Open tourney scores". Youngtown Vindicator. Ohio. Associated Press. June 10, 1950. p. 7.
  14. ^ Balicki, Ron (September 11, 2009). "Remembering the 1-iron at Merion". Golfweek. Retrieved December 6, 2012.
  15. ^ Talbot, Gayle (June 11, 1950). "Hogan, Mangrum, Fazio tie; Ben's legs give out". Milwaukee Sentinel. Associated Press. p. 1-B.
  16. ^ a b Bartlett, Charles (June 11, 1950). "Hogan limps into U.S. Open tie with 287". Chicago Sunday Tribune. p. 1, part 2.
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40°00′04″N 75°18′43″W / 40.001°N 75.312°W / 40.001; -75.312

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