1940 U.S. Open (golf)

1940 U.S. Open

Tournament information
Dates	June 6–9, 1940
Location	Beachwood, Ohio
Course(s)	Canterbury Golf Club
Organized by	USGA
Tour(s)	PGA Tour
Statistics
Par	72
Length	6,894 yards (6,304 m)
Field	161 players, 66 after cut
Cut	153 (+9)
Winner's share	$1,000
Champion
Lawson Little
287 (−1), playoff

Canterbury 
Golf Club 

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Location in the United States

Canterbury
Golf Club

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Location in Ohio

The 1940 U.S. Open was the 44th U.S. Open, June 6–9 at Canterbury Golf Club in Beachwood, Ohio, a suburb east of Cleveland. Lawson Little defeated Gene Sarazen in an 18-hole playoff to win his only professional major.

Little started the final round a stroke behind leader Frank Walsh and carded a 73 to finish at 287. Sarazen made two birdies on the back nine and did not make a bogey to also post 287 and force a playoff on Sunday.

After five holes in the playoff, Little had a four-stroke advantage and was ahead by three at the turn. Sarazen made birdie at 11 and 14 to close the gap to one stroke with four holes to play, but could draw no closer. Little birdied the next two holes and they halved the final two holes. Little won by three, 70 to 73, and became the fifth player to win both the U.S. Open and the U.S. Amateur.

Six players were disqualified after the final round for starting their round too early to avoid a coming storm. One of those players, Ed Oliver, actually tied Little and Sarazen, but his disqualification prevented his participation in the playoff. Walter Hagen, in his final U.S. Open, was also disqualified for showing up late for his third round. Under current rules, Hagen would be penalised two strokes if he arrived within a grace period. Also under current rules, officials, with access to weather radar, reserve the right to accelerate the start of the final round and change its procedure (groups of three starting at the first and tenth tees, or a shotgun start).

The top eight finishers in the tournament were all past or future major champions, and are members of the World Golf Hall of Fame.

This was the first of three majors at Canterbury. The U.S. Open returned six years later in 1946, won by Lloyd Mangrum in two playoff rounds. It was the first U.S. Open in five years, due to World War II. The PGA Championship was played at the course in 1973, won by Jack Nicklaus.

Course layout

Main article: Canterbury Golf Club

Hole	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Out	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	In	Total
Yards	430	369	176	440	410	477	200	412	553	3,467	367	170	374	483	403	371	588	230	441	3,427	6,894
Par	4	4	3	4	4	5	3	4	5	36	4	3	4	5	4	4	5	3	4	36	72

Source:

Round summaries

First round

Thursday, June 6, 1940

Place	Player	Score	To par
1	Sam Snead	67	−5
T2	Ed Oliver	69	−3
	Sam Parks, Jr.
	Horton Smith
T5	Al Huske	70	−2
	Vic Ghezzi
	Ben Hogan
T8	Bob Babbish (a)	71	−1
	Andy Gibson
	Duke Gibson
	Henry Kaiser
	Gene Sarazen

Source:

Second round

Friday, June 7, 1940

Place	Player	Score	To par
T1	Lawson Little	72-69=141	−3
	Horton Smith	69-72=141
	Sam Snead	67-74=141
4	Frank Walsh	73-69=142	−2
T5	Ben Hogan	70-73=143	−1
	Sam Parks, Jr.	69-74=213
T7	Leonard Dodson	72-72=144	E
	Vic Ghezzi	70-74=144
	Ralph Guldahl	73-71=144
	Dutch Harrison	74-70=144

Source:

Third round

Saturday, June 8, 1940 (morning)

Place	Player	Score	To par
1	Frank Walsh	73-69-71=213	−3
T2	Lawson Little	72-69-73=214	−2
	Sam Snead	67-74-73=214
4	Gene Sarazen	71-74-70=215	−1
T5	Lloyd Mangrum	75-70-71=216	E
	Jug McSpaden	74-72-70=216
	Byron Nelson	72-74-70=216
T8	Ben Hogan	70-73-74=217	+1
	Henry Picard	73-73-71=217
	Craig Wood	72-73-72=217

Source:

Final round

Saturday, June 8, 1940 (afternoon)

Place	Player	Score	To par	Money ($)
T1	Lawson Little	72-69-73-73=287	−1	Playoff
	Gene Sarazen	71-74-70-72=287
3	Horton Smith	69-72-78-69=288	E	700
4	Craig Wood	72-73-72-72=289	+1	600
T5	Ralph Guldahl	73-71-76-70=290	+2	325
	Ben Hogan	70-73-74-73=290
	Lloyd Mangrum	75-70-71-74=290
	Byron Nelson	72-74-70-74=290
9	Dick Metz	75-72-72-72=291	+3	175
T10	Ed Dudley	73-75-71-73=292	+4	137
	Frank Walsh	73-69-71-79=292

Source:

Playoff

Sunday, June 9, 1940

Place	Player	Score	To par	Money ($)
1	Lawson Little	70	−2	1,000
2	Gene Sarazen	73	+1	800

Scorecard

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	5	3	4	5	4	3	4	5	4	4	5	3	4
Little	E	−1	−1	−1	−2	−2	−2	−2	−2	−2	−2	−1	−1	−1	−2	−3	−2	−2
Sarazen	+1	+1	+1	+1	+2	E	+1	+1	+1	+1	E	E	+1	E	E	E	+1	+1

Cumulative playoff scores, relative to par

Eagle

Birdie

Bogey

Source:

External links

• USGA Championship Database