1953 U.S. Open (golf)

The 1953 U.S. Open was the 53rd U.S. Open, held June 11–13 at Oakmont Country Club in Oakmont, Pennsylvania, a suburb northeast of Pittsburgh. Ben Hogan won a record-tying fourth U.S. Open title, six strokes ahead of runner-up Sam Snead.

1953 U.S. Open

Tournament information
Dates	June 11–13, 1953
Location	Oakmont, Pennsylvania
Course(s)	Oakmont Country Club
Organized by	USGA
Tour(s)	PGA Tour
Statistics
Par	72
Length	6,916 yards (6,324 m)[1]
Field	157 players, 60 after cut
Cut	153 (+9)
Prize fund	$20,400[2]
Winner's share	$5,000
Champion
Ben Hogan
283 (–5)

Oakmont 

Location in the United States

 Oakmont

Location in Pennsylvania

Overview

Although a three-time champion, Hogan was required to participate with the rest of the field in 36-hole qualifying on Tuesday and Wednesday, immediately preceding the championship. The only exemption at the time was for the defending champion, Julius Boros.[3] The field for the qualifier was 300, with one round at Oakmont and another at the Pittsburgh Field Club, host of the PGA Championship in 1937.[4]

After qualifying, Hogan shot a tournament-low 67 (–5) in the first round on Thursday and an even-par 72 on Friday to hold a two-stroke lead over Snead and George Fazio.[5] Snead's third-round 72 on Saturday morning left him just a shot back of Hogan heading into the final round in the afternoon. With nine holes to go in the final round, Snead trailed by just one shot. Hogan made three birdies on Oakmont's back nine, including a 25-foot (8 m) birdie putt at 13 on his way to a 71 and a 283 total, six shots clear of Snead, who shot a final round 76.[6][1] Hogan's first-round 67 and Snead's second-round 69 were the only sub-70 rounds by any players for the entire tournament.[7] Hogan's win at Oakmont was his fourth U.S. Open title, equaling the record of Willie Anderson and Bobby Jones (Jack Nicklaus would win his fourth U.S. Open in 1980). The four wins came in the last five U.S. Opens in which Hogan had entered; he missed the 1949 edition following his near-fatal automobile accident.

Two future champions made their U.S. Open debuts in 1953 as amateurs: Arnold Palmer, 23, of nearby Latrobe and Ken Venturi, 22, of San Francisco. Both missed the cut; Venturi (78-76=154) by one stroke, Palmer (84-78=162) by nine.[8]

Hogan in 1953

Already the Masters champion, Hogan followed up his U.S. Open win with another at the British Open at Carnoustie a few weeks later. He became the first to win three professional majors in a single season, a feat matched only by Tiger Woods in 2000. Through 2018, Hogan remains the only golfer in history to win the Masters, U.S. Open, and British Open in the same calendar year. His margins of victory in the 1953 majors were five, six, and four strokes, respectively.

In 1953, the final two majors were in conflict on the schedule. The match-play PGA Championship was a seven-day event, held July 1–7 near Detroit; the British Open in Scotland was played July 8–10, with a mandatory 36-hole qualifier on July 6–7.[9][10]

Course layout

Hole	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Out	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	In	Total
Yards	493	355	428	544	384	183	387	253	480	3,507	470	372	598	161	362	458	234	292	462	3,409	6,916
Par	5	4	4	5	4	3	4	3	5	37	4	4	5	3	4	4	3	4	4	35	72

Source:[11]

Lengths of the course for previous major championships:

6,882 yards (6,293 m), par 72 - 1951 PGA Championship 6,981 yards (6,383 m), par 72 - 1935 U.S. Open 6,965 yards (6,369 m), par 72 - 1927 U.S. Open 6,707 yards (6,133 m), par 74 - 1922 PGA Championship

The first hole became a par 4 for majors in 1962.

Past champions in the field

Made the cut

Player	Country	Year(s) won	R1	R2	R3	R4	Total	To par	Finish
Ben Hogan	United States	1948, 1950, 1951	67	72	73	71	283	–5	1
Lloyd Mangrum	United States	1946	73	70	74	75	292	+4	3
Julius Boros	United States	1952	75	72	76	76	299	+11	T17
Lawson Little	United States	1940	78	75	79	75	307	+19	T45
Cary Middlecoff	United States	1949	76	73	WD

Missed the cut

Player	Country	Year(s) won	R1	R2	Total	To par
Lew Worsham	United States	1947	78	78	156	+12
Gene Sarazen	United States	1922, 1932	82	79	161	+17

Source:[8]

Round summaries

First round

Thursday, June 11, 1953

Place	Player	Country	Score	To par
1	Ben Hogan	United States	67	–5
T2	Walter Burkemo	United States	70	–2
	George Fazio	United States
	Frank Souchak (a)	United States
T5	Jimmy Demaret	United States	71	–1
	Bill Ogden	United States
T7	Lou Barbaro	United States	72	E
	Jerry Barber	United States
	Jay Hebert	United States
	Sam Snead	United States

Source:[12]

Second round

Friday, June 12, 1953

Place	Player	Country	Score	To par
1	Ben Hogan	United States	67-72=139	–5
T2	George Fazio	United States	70-71=141	–3
	Sam Snead	United States	72-69=141
4	Lloyd Mangrum	United States	73-70=143	–1
5	Jay Hebert	United States	72-72=144	E
6	Dick Metz	United States	75-70=145	+1
T7	Al Mengert	United States	75-71=146	+2
	Frank Souchak (a)	United States	70-76=146
T9	Jerry Barber	United States	72-75=147	+3
	Julius Boros	United States	75-72=147
	Jimmy Demaret	United States	71-76=147
	Fred Haas	United States	74-73=147
	Marty Furgol	United States	73-74=147
	Ted Kroll	United States	76-71=147

Source:[8]

Third round

Saturday, June 13, 1953 (morning)

Place	Player	Country	Score	To par
1	Ben Hogan	United States	67-72-73=212	–4
2	Sam Snead	United States	72-69-72=213	–3
T3	Jimmy Demaret	United States	71-76-71=218	+2
	George Fazio	United States	70-71-77=218
	Jay Hebert	United States	72-72-74=218
T6	Fred Haas	United States	74-73-72=219	+3
	Dick Metz	United States	75-70-74=219
T8	Jack Burke, Jr.	United States	76-73-72=221	+5
	Ted Kroll	United States	76-71-74=221
T10	Dutch Harrison	United States	77-75-70=222	+6
	Bobby Locke	South Africa	78-70-74=222
	Frank Souchak (a)	United States	70-76-76=222

Final round

Saturday, June 13, 1953 (afternoon)

Place	Player	Country	Score	To par	Money ($)
1	Ben Hogan	United States	67-72-73-71=283	–5	5,000
2	Sam Snead	United States	72-69-72-76=289	+1	3,000
3	Lloyd Mangrum	United States	73-70-74-75=292	+4	1,500
T4	Pete Cooper	United States	78-75-71-70=294	+6	816
	Jimmy Demaret	United States	71-76-71-76=294
	George Fazio	United States	70-71-77-76=294
T7	Ted Kroll	United States	76-71-74-74=295	+7	450
	Dick Metz	United States	75-70-74-76=295
T9	Marty Furgol	United States	73-74-76-73=296	+8	325
	Jay Hebert	United States	72-72-74-78=296
	Frank Souchak (a)	United States	70-76-76-74=296		0

(a) denotes amateur

References

1. "Hogan wins 4th U.S. Open". Milwaukee Sentinel. Associated Press. June 14, 1953. p. 1-sports.
2. "U.S. Open history: 1953". USGA. Archived from the original on June 18, 2013. Retrieved June 23, 2012.
3. "National Open qualifying scores". Youngstown Vindicator. Associated Press. June 11, 1953. p. 43.
4. "'53 National Open at Oakmont will be revised sharply". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Associated Press. June 13, 1952. p. 23.
5. "Hogan slips to 72 but still leads Open by two strokes". Milwaukee Sentinel. Associated Press. June 13, 1953. p. 2-sports.
6. Fraley, Oscar (June 14, 1953). "Steel nerved Hogan wins Open". Victoria Advocate. Texas. United Press. p. 12A.
7. "1953 U.S. Open: Recap and Scores for the 1953 U.S. Open Golf Tournament". About.com Golf. Retrieved February 9, 2013.
8. "National Open Golf Scores". Youngstown Vindicator. Ohio. Associated Press. June 13, 1953. p. 7.
9. "Bobby Locke has 32-33-65 in qualifying for British Open". Montreal Gazette. Associated Press. July 7, 1953. p. 17.
10. "Burkemo wins P.G.A. - Locke paces British qualifiers". Montreal Gazette. Associated Press. July 8, 1953. p. 21.
11. "Oakmont, the champ, the man to beat". Sarasota Herald-Tribune. Florida. NEA. June 10, 1953. p. 9.
12. "National Open Golf Scores". Youngstown Vindicator. ohio. Associated Press. June 12, 1953. p. 35.

External links

• GolfCompendium.com: 1953 U.S. Open
• USOpen.com - 1953