1939 U.S. Open (golf)

1939 U.S. Open
Tournament information
DatesJune 8–12, 1939
LocationGladwyne, Pennsylvania
Course(s)Philadelphia Country Club
Spring Mill Course[1]
Organized byUSGA
Tour(s)PGA Tour
Statistics
Par69[2]
Length6,786 yards (6,205 m)[1]
Field161 players, 65 after cut
Cut152 (+14)
Prize fund$5,000[3]
Winner's share$1,000
Champion
United States Byron Nelson
284 (+8), playoff
← 1938
1940 →
Philadelphia  Country Club is located in the United States
Philadelphia  Country Club
Philadelphia 
Country Club

The 1939 U.S. Open was the 43rd U.S. Open, held June 8–12 at Philadelphia Country Club in Gladwyne, Pennsylvania, a suburb northwest of Philadelphia. Byron Nelson won after two playoff rounds to prevail against Craig Wood and Denny Shute to claim his only U.S. Open title,[2] and the second of his five major championships. It was the first playoff at the U.S. Open in eight years and the first three-way playoff since 1913.

Sam Snead led after each of the first two rounds but his triple-bogey on the 72nd hole dropped him to fifth place, two strokes back. Two years earlier, he was runner-up in his first U.S. Open in 1937. Following World War II, Snead finished second three more times, but never won the title to complete a career grand slam.

In his fourth U.S. Open, Ben Hogan made his first 36-hole cut at the championship and finished in a tie for 62nd. He finished in a tie for fifth the following year; after the war he won four U.S. Opens and contended in numerous others. He made every subsequent cut he played in at the U.S. Open, the last in 1967 at age 54.

  1. ^ a b "Nelson, Shute and Wood to decide Open title today". Palm Beach Post. Associated Press. June 11, 1939. p. 11.
  2. ^ a b "U.S. Open history: 1939". USGA. Archived from the original on July 6, 2012. Retrieved June 26, 2012.
  3. ^ "Nelson captures playoff". Vancouver Sun. June 12, 1939. p. 20.