The eagerly anticipated 2020 U.S. Open started yesterday (Thursday 17th September) at the historic West Course at Winged Foot Golf Club, Mamaroneck, N.Y. As a direct consequence of the global COVID-19 pandemic, this major golf championship will be extraordinary in several aspects, such as being played…
- in September rather than June
- after the conclusion of the 2019-20 PGA season
- after only 1 event of the 2020-21 PGA season (the Safeway Open)
- before the Masters (re-scheduled to November 2020)
- not before The Open Championship (which was sadly cancelled)
- in front of no spectators
- without pre-qualifying (for the first time in almost 100 years)
All of the above and more…even before the first tee shot was struck!! And judging by the 1st round highlights the tournament is going to be absorbing, entertaining and at times dramatic until the last putt drops on Sunday.
Nevertheless, I am certain that long after the 2020 champion has been crowned, the 1940 U.S. Open will still be considered as the most extraordinary and dramatic major golf championship of all time…a thrilling mixture of an exceptional golf course, an elite field of professionals and amateurs, high-quality golf throughout, controversy, disqualifications, possible misappropriation, tempestuous weather and much more…a sort of ‘twentieth-century golfing whodunit?‘.
Canterbury Golf Club
Canterbury Golf Club opened for play on 1st July 1922 and is widely recognised as one of the best golf courses in the United States. The course was originally designed by Herbert Bertram Strong, an English Professional Golfer who was a founding member of the PGA of America and a renowned golf architect.
The 1940 U.S. Open was the first (modern-day) major championship hosted by Canterbury Golf Club. At the time this Par 72 course measured 6894 yards and provided a challenging but fair test for all the golfers, with a great variation of holes.
Since then, Canterbury has proudly hosted the 1946 U.S. Open (won by Lloyd Mangrum) and the 1973 US PGA Championship (won by Jack Nicklaus).
The Field
An elite field of 165 professionals and leading amateurs contested the 1940 U.S.Open…for the purposes of this article and in no particular order, a brief introduction to the protagonists, with their respective abridged career summaries as at the start of the championship:
Walter Hagen – One of the greats of professional golf, securing his first major championship by winning the 1914 U.S.Open (this was also his maiden victory on the PGA Tour!!). Overall, he won a total of 11 major professional championships, which currently places him 3rd behind Jack Nicklaus (18) and Tiger Woods (15). He never won the Masters as he was past his prime when it was established in 1934. Canterbury was his 23rd and final appearance at the U.S. Open.
Gene Sarazen – American Professional Golfer who was one of the world’s top players during the 1920s and 1930s. Winner of 7 major championships, including the U.S. Open in 1922 and 1932, and who was the first golfer to achieve (what is now known as) the Career Grand Slam…the other golfers who have since won all 4 majors at least once are Hogan, Player, Nicklaus & Woods.
Lawson Little – Before turning professional in 1936, he was one of the best-ever American amateur golfers and to this day he is still the only golfer to have won both the British Amateur and the U.S. Amateur in the same year more than once, a feat which he accomplished in 1934 and 1935. By the time of the 1940 U.S. Open, he had won 3 times on the PGA Tour. He was also known to carry 26 clubs in his bag!! This was the catalyst which triggered the USGA and the R&A to introduce the 14 club limit in 1938.
Ed ‘Porky’ Oliver – Hailing from Wilmington, Delaware, he turned pro in 1933 (at the age of 18). At the start of 1940, he gained his PGA Tour card and proceeded to win the Bing Crosby Pro-Am (now known as the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am) and the Phoenix Open (now known as the Waste Management Phoenix Open, or ‘The Greatest Show on Grass’) in successive weeks.
Sam Snead – One of the best golfers in the world who, before teeing off at Canterbury, had won 17 times on the PGA Tour but no major championships…his best finish being runner up to Ralph Guldahl at the 1937 U.S. Open.
American commentators considered Sam Snead, Ralph Guldahl, Jimmy Demaret and Ben Hogan as favourites to lift the U.S. Open trophy in 1940.
The final two protagonists were not golfers…unsurprisingly one was the weather whilst the other was an inanimate object, namely…the golf ball!! More on both of these as the article unfolds.
Course Record
After the bitter disappointment of making a triple-bogey 8 at the 72nd hole of the 1939 U.S.Open and subsequently missing the playoff by only 2 shots, Sam Snead made a propitious start with a record-breaking 67 (five under par). On a sun-drenched day, not only did Snead set a new course record but he also registered the best opening round (up to that point) in the history of the U.S.Open…leaving him 2 strokes ahead of the field after the opening round.
And how did our other featured protagonists fare…Ed Oliver 69, Gene Sarazen 71, Lawson Little 72 and Walter Hagen 76.
With regards Walter Hagen, there was a most unusual incident on the first tee. His playing partners Jimmy Thomson (runner up at the 1935 U.S. Open) and Johnny Goodman (the last amateur golfer to win the U.S.Open…which he accomplished in 1933) played their opening shots with no sign of Walter Hagen!! Just as they were approaching their respective tee shots on the 1st fairway, Hagen suddenly appeared on the 1st tee…he was then given official permission to tee off and ‘catch his partners up’…would or could this happen today?
Halfway House
Jimmy Demaret, one of the pre-tournament favourites, followed up his opening round of 74 with an erratic 81 and in frustration tore up his card!!
Starting early and in what transpired to be the best of the weather conditions, Lawson Little shot an impressive 69, the best score of the round. That left him T1 on 141 (3 under par) with Horton Smith and Sam Snead, who had to contend with storms and gales for part of his round which caused him to drop some shots for a second round 74.
And what about our other protagonists…Gene Sarazen 74 (for a total of 145), Ed Oliver 77 (for a total of 146) and Walter Hagen 76 (for a total of 152).
(During my research I found contradictory Newspaper reports on whether Walter Hagen made the halfway cut…some reports said he made the cut which came at 153 whilst others just printed that he was one of the notable casualties to miss the cut…it would be much appreciated if a Golfing Herald reader could confirm what happened so that I can retrospectively update the article)
Allegations and Rumours
At the time, the only rules relating to the golf ball were that it should not be less than 1.68 inches in diameter and not exceed 1.62 ounces in weight.
At the end of the 2nd round, the United States Golf Association appropriated a sample of golf balls from several of the players…this triggered a variety of allegations and rumours about the golf balls, such as some:
- Had a magnetic core which made long putts and chips easier as the ball was being attracted to the tin cup!!
- Could be driven unheard-of distances…sort of resonates with the modern game!!
- Had been fitted with a directional bias to aid the direction of flight towards the green!!
The chairman of the USGA ‘Implement and Ball’ Committee dampened down the speculation by confirming that collecting a random sample of balls was solely to check at a later date that all players were using a standardized ball.
I was unable to find any evidence that any of these rumours were ever proven…but newspapers did report that several professionals acknowledged that some players were using a ‘hopped-up’ ball and that when used by a skilful and powerful player it could add many yards to the distance hit.
Moving Morning
‘Moving Day’ is the expression commonly used by golfers to describe the 3rd round of a golf tournament…but in 1940 the final 36 holes of the U.S. Open were played on the same day so in today’s parlance the 3rd round would probably be labelled ‘Moving Morning’.
Frank Walsh, a relatively unknown American professional golfer, whose best previous performance in a major had been as the losing finalist at the 1932 US PGA Championship, started the day 1 stroke behind the leaders. But a solid one under par 71 was enough to move him into the lead with an aggregate score of 213 (3 under par).
Lawson Little and Sam Snead both shot 73 to be T2, one stroke behind on 214.
Gene Sarazen and Ed Oliver both shot 70 to move back into contention…Sarazen into 4th (on 215) and Oliver into T5 (on 216).
At the end of the 3rd round, only 3 shots separated the top 8 players…all to play for on the final afternoon.
(Once again I require the assistance of the Golfing Herald readership…some Newspaper reports stated that Walter Hagen was disqualified for showing up late for his 3rd round…by implication, this confirms he made the cut but raises the unanswered question on why was he not disqualified for showing up late on the 1st tee for his 1st round?… a mystery…for now maybe)
Explosive Afternoon
As the final 36 holes were played on the same day, then unlike today’s championships the players went out in the same order for the 3rd and 4th rounds.
An explosive afternoon unravelled into a dramatic, exciting and controversial climax against a backdrop of storm clouds, a thunderstorm and several torrential downpours.
Ed Oliver followed up his superb morning round of 70 with an equally impressive 71 in the afternoon to be the leader in the Clubhouse on 287 (1 under par).
Overnight leader Frank Walsh had a disastrous opening nine holes and eventually posted a 79 whilst Sam Snead faired even worse by returning a dismal 81. That effectively left Lawson Little and Gene Sarazen as the only players out on the course who could better the increasingly tough target set by Ed Oliver.
Lawson Little covered the outward nine in 34 but on the inward nine hit a few loose shots so by the time he reached the 72nd hole he needed a Par 4 to be the new leader in the Clubhouse…but he found a greenside bunker with his approach shot and was unable to get up and down…meaning a bogey 5 and joint leader with Ed Oliver on 287.
Gene Sarazen had reached the sixteenth tee when he was ‘notified’ that he required to par the 16th, 17th and 18th to tie Oliver and Little…or a birdie and 2 pars to lift the Trophy for the third time. At the long Par 5 16th, he was just short in 2 but failed in his birdie attempt. On the daunting Par 3 17th, he missed the green and was heavy with his chip but rolled in a courageous putt to save par. At the 18th he was on the green in 2 shots but his long putt to clinch the crown with a birdie shaved the hole.
Thus after 72 holes of high-quality golf, the 1940 U.S.Open would have to be decided by a playoff between Ed Oliver, Lawson Little and Gene Sarazen…but then, news filtered through that six players had been disqualified for starting their final rounds earlier than their allocated tee times…and one of those disqualified was Ed Oliver!!
Disqualification
The rules clearly stated that all players must tee off at the time arranged by the USGA committee. The 3-ball group in front of Ed Oliver and his playing partners had already set off early in an attempt to beat the impending storm…as Ed Oliver’s group had received their scorecards from the official starter they assumed that they could also officially tee off early as per the group ahead.
But on the 1st fairway, they were challenged on why they had started their final round early…following a lengthy discussion they were allowed to continue albeit ‘under protest’. At the end of the round there followed lengthy discussions with the decision that all six players be disqualified for breaking the rules.
Lawson Little and Gene Sarazen were applauded for their sporting gesture of requesting the committee ‘to overturn their decision and for Ed Oliver to be reinstated’…but to no avail and the disqualification stood.
Ed Oliver accepted the decision with dignity and as he was quoted in the New York Times “If a mistake was made, I want it understood right now that it was an honest one”.
Single Combat
In his book Golfing By-Paths (a collection of papers and short stories), the esteemed golf writer and fine amateur golfer Bernard Darwin wrote a wonderful tribute to Harold Hilton, one of the greats of golf during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries…in this tribute he elegantly described match play as ‘single combat’.
The following day Lawson Little and Gene Sarazen met in an 18-hole strokeplay playoff to decide the 1940 U.S. Open Championship…in reality it was ‘single combat’ and there was no better exponent in the art of golfing combat than Lawson Little…after the first five holes he was 4 shots to the good (two under as opposed to Sarazens two over)…despite Gene Sarazen eagling the sixth and further reducing the deficit to a single shot by the fourteenth, Lawson Little was always in control…he then outplayed Sarazen over the closing 4 holes to win the playoff by 70 to 73 and lift the U.S.Open Trophy.
In 1940 the first prize was $1000…of which he gave his (local) eighteen-year-old caddie $200 to help pay for his college tuition at Fenn College, Cleveland.
Consolation Series
Immediately after the championship, Lawson Little invited Ed Oliver to participate in a best-of-five ‘consolation’ match-play series which was accepted in the ‘gesture of friendship spirit’ in which it had been offered…an illustration of tremendous sportsmanship and respect. For the record, on 7th July 1940, Lawson Little won the first 36-hole contest 1up but graciously told reporters afterwards that “Ed Oliver was the better player, outdrove me all day and would have won if only his putter had been hotter!!”…as not integral to this article I have not researched the remaining matches of the series…save that for a rainy day!!
Lawson Little only won a further 4 PGA Tour events and did not add to his one and only major triumph. It is believed that he effectively lost interest in golf as a consequence of the majors being cancelled during World War II…he continued to play in the U.S. Open and the Masters until the middle and late 1950s respectively but without ever being a ‘contender’.
Navigating Life and Golf
After all of the excitement and controversy that surrounded the 1940 U.S.Open at Canterbury Golf Club, the other playing protagonists from this unparalleled major championship continued to navigate the various challenges presented by life and professional golf…for completeness an abridged summary:
Gene Sarazen – After retiring from golf, he became an honorary starter at the Masters from 1981 to 1999, continuing to wear his trademark and sartorially elegant plus-fours…not long after the 1999 Masters he sadly passed away, aged 97. Interestingly, in the United Kingdom, he is possibly best known for making a hole in one at the Postage Stamp, Royal Troon during the 1973 Open Championship at the youthful age of 71!!
Ed ‘Porky’ Oliver – Demonstrating incredible resilience and mental strength, won his 3rd PGA Tour event the following week at the St. Paul Open!! He secured a further 5 PGA victories, represented the United States on 3 occasions in the Ryder Cup, was one of the most popular players on Tour but he never won that elusive major…though he did finish runner up at the 1946 US PGA, 1952 U.S. Open & 1953 Masters before sadly losing his battle with cancer at the age of only 48.
Sam Snead – After several near misses and disappointments in the U.S.Open, he went on to win 7 major championships during the 1940s and 1950s…but never better than runner up in the U.S. Open which he achieved on 4 occasions. He also won an incredible 82 times on the PGA Tour, a record he currently shares with Tiger Woods.
Walter Hagen – As touched upon earlier in this article, he was very much past his prime by the time of his final U.S. Open appearance in 1940. He was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in the charter class of 1974…along with Snead, Sarazen, Hogan, Jones, Nelson, Nicklaus, Ouimet, Palmer, Player and Vardon…not a bad golfing line-up!!
The Nineteenth
Comparing golf championships and golfers from differing generations is very much a subjective exercise and where personal opinions are invariably at the forefront of any discussions and at times heated arguments.
I have attempted to narrate a story underpinned by facts, with a dash of artistic license by using the strapline ‘a twentieth-century golfing whodunit?’, to support the proposition that the 1940 U.S. Open was the most extraordinary and dramatic major championship of all time.
Though it would be really good to hear, via the comments section below, whether you disagree and the reason(s) why.
Acknowledgements
Finally, a massive thanks to…
- Bethany Stumpf ~ Director of Member Communications, Canterbury Golf Club, Cleveland, Ohio.
- Jose R Lopez ~ Photo Collections, United States Golf Association, Liberty Corner, New Jersey.
- Scott Selheimer ~ Executive Director, Delaware Sports Museum & Hall of Fame, Wilmington, Delaware
…who so kindly provided assistance and support for this article.
Brilliant, factual article beautifully brought to life Paul, your research and description first class. My guess, and it only is a guess is that maybe, just maybe Hagen didn’t make the cut but for tournament attraction was first of all (given his long past playboy image) given flexibility for showmanship purposes then allowed to play out the four rounds with his final scores not counting but his presence in the final day being a major attraction during what were in some instances and I mean some instances, less formal times………..probably wrong but just a thought to conjure with………..after all draws these days are not draws in the true sense of the word……much cultivated for crowds and TV.
Hi Paul
Thanks so much for your kind words, much appreciated. The research for this article was different in that I had to dig deep into the digital archives from the States as the column inches on the U.S.Open, unlike today, were ‘light’ on detail!!
I really like your Walter Hagen hypothesis…in some ways you can draw parallels with today in that TV audiences in the States drop when Tiger Woods is not in contention…
Best regards
Paul
Paul your article was absolutely fascinating and I loved the old photos. I grew up watching golf with my dad. We only had one T.V. in the house so we all watched golf on the weekends. My dad was an avid golfer and was actually winning a tournament when he was killed in a car accident the night before the last round. I was only 14 years old and he was only 48. We didn’t watch golf anymore after my dad died, I don’t think I started watching golf until my husband and I started golfing later in life.
But I remember asking my dad one time, why he loved to watch golf when he played golf so often and I remember him telling me because watching true gentlemen like Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Sam Snead and many others was exciting. The game of golf is not only physically but mentally challenging and these men are the best of the best. These men’s charisma and their on the course and off the course behavior are enviable. I think Ed Oliver was just such a man my dad would have admired. His sportsman like conduct and his respect for the rules of the game.
Thank you again for giving this article to me. I wish I could have enjoyed watching golf with my dad, as much as I do now. I know a lot of players my husband and I respect my dad would have been very proud of and felt were true gentlemen of the sport.
Hi Robin
I can’t imagine how tough and traumatic it must have been for you losing your dad at such a young age and how that has shaped and influenced your golfing journey.
It was great to read how in conjunction with your husband you have ‘rediscovered’ your love of golf both from a playing and a viewing perspective.
I am humbled that some of the themes in this article resonate with you, in particular, the integrity and sportsmanship of gentlemen golfers throughout the generations and that Ed Oliver was a man and golfer that your dad would have no doubt admired.
As you say, some of the old ‘black and white’ photos tell their own stories. I was once again blown away by the support I received from the global golfing community for this article…the USGA and Canterbury Golf Club were just brilliant. The photos of Lawson Little and his wife are ‘something else!!’
I hope you and your husband continue to love being out on the fairways and also watching golf on the TV, including the current U.S.Masters which looks as if it will be a tournament to remember.
Best regards
Paul