1955 U.S. Open (golf)

1955 U.S. Open

Tournament information
Dates	June 16–19, 1955
Location	San Francisco, California
Course(s)	Olympic Club, Lake Course
Organized by	USGA
Tour(s)	PGA Tour
Statistics
Par	70
Length	6,700 yards (6,126 m)[1][2]
Field	158 players, 58 after cut
Cut	155 (+15)[2]
Winner's share	$6,000
Champion
Jack Fleck
287 (+7), playoff
← 1954 1956 →

Olympic Club

Location in the United States

The 1955 U.S. Open was the 55th U.S. Open, held June 16–19 at the Lake Course of the Olympic Club in San Francisco, California. In one of the greatest upsets in golf history, Jack Fleck, a municipal course pro from Iowa, prevailed in an 18-hole playoff to win his only major title and denied Ben Hogan a record fifth U.S. Open.^[1][3]

Fleck, 32, won two more titles on the PGA Tour and later won the Senior PGA Championship in 1979. He won the U.S. Open with clubs manufactured by Hogan's company.^[1]

Hogan, 42, never did win his fifth U.S. Open or a tenth major; he won just one more tour event the rest of his career, in 1959. It was his fourth and final playoff in a major championship, all at 18 holes. Hogan won at the U.S. Open in 1950 but lost twice by a stroke at the Masters, to Byron Nelson in 1942 and Sam Snead in 1954. He repeated as runner-up at the U.S. Open in 1956, and had top ten finishes in 1958, 1959, and 1960. (A pre-tournament favorite in 1957, he withdrew due to a back ailment before teeing off.)^[4][5][6] When the U.S. Open returned to Olympic in 1966, Hogan finished twelfth at age 53 and received a standing ovation at the 72nd green.^[7]

Byron Nelson came out of semi-retirement to play in his final U.S. Open and finished in 28th place. Arnold Palmer made the cut for the first time at the U.S. Open and finished in 21st. For the first time since 1919, Gene Sarazen did not play in the U.S. Open, ending a streak of 31 consecutive appearances.

This was the first U.S. Open at the Lake Course of the Olympic Club; it returned in 1966, 1987, 1998, and 2012.

Course layout

Lake Course^[1]

Round summaries

First round

Thursday, June 16, 1955

Place	Player	Score	To par
1	Tommy Bolt	67	−3
2	Walker Inman	70	E
3	Jack Burke Jr.	71	+1
4	Ben Hogan	72	+2
T5	Mike Souchak	73	+3
	Babe Lichardus
T7	Doug Ford	74	+4
	Harvie Ward (a)
	Arthur Bell
	Celestino Tugot
	Fred Hawkins
	Elmer Reed

Source:^[8]

Second round

Friday, June 17, 1955

Place	Player	Score	To par
T1	Harvie Ward (a)	74-70=144	+4
	Tommy Bolt	67-77=144
T3	Julius Boros	76-69=145	+5
	Jack Fleck	76-69=145
	Ben Hogan	72-73=145
	Walker Inman	70-75=145
T7	Sam Snead	79-69=148	+8
	Bob Harris	79-69=148
	Jack Burke Jr.	71-77=148
10	Gene Littler	76-73=149	+9

Source:^[9]

Third round

Saturday, June 18, 1955 (morning)

Place	Player	Score	To par
1	Ben Hogan	72-73-72=217	+7
T2	Julius Boros	76-69-73=218	+8
	Sam Snead	79-69-70=218
T4	Tommy Bolt	67-77-75=219	+9
	Bob Rosburg	78-74-67=219
T6	Jack Fleck	76-69-75=220	+10
	Harvie Ward (a)	74-70-76=220
	Jack Burke Jr.	71-77-72=220
9	Walker Inman	70-75-76=221	+11
10	Gene Littler	76-73-73=222	+12

Final round

Saturday, June 18, 1955 (afternoon)

After Hogan made par on the 72nd hole to post a 287 total, most observers believed that he had already locked up the championship. Gene Sarazen, providing television commentary, congratulated him on the win and the NBC broadcast went off the air after proclaiming Hogan the champion. Fleck, however, was only a stroke behind playing the 14th. A bogey there, however, dropped him to two back. Fleck then made birdie on 15 and pars at 16 and 17, after a 50-foot (15 m) birdie attempt lipped out. Needing a birdie on 18 to tie Hogan, Fleck played his approach from the edge of the rough to 8 feet (2.4 m), then knocked in the putt for a 67 and forced an 18-hole playoff on Sunday.^[10]

Place	Player	Score	To par	Money ($)
T1	Jack Fleck	76-69-75-67=287	+7	Playoff
	Ben Hogan	72-73-72-70=287
T3	Tommy Bolt	67-77-75-73=292	+12	1,500
	Sam Snead	79-69-70-74=292
T5	Julius Boros	76-69-73-77=295	+15	870
	Bob Rosburg	78-74-67-76=295
T7	Doug Ford	74-77-74-71=296	+16	540
	Bud Holscher	77-75-71-73=296
	Harvie Ward (a)	74-70-76-76=296		0
T10	Jack Burke Jr.	71-77-72-77=297	+17	390
	Mike Souchak	73-79-72-73=297

(a) denotes amateur

Playoff

Sunday, June 19, 1955

Despite overwhelming odds against him, Fleck held a two-stroke lead over Hogan at the turn. After a third consecutive birdie at 10, Fleck's lead was three. But after a bogey at 17, the lead had dropped to just a single stroke on the 18th tee. Hogan hooked his drive into the very deep rough and took three strokes to get on the fairway: he made a 25-foot (8 m) putt to save double-bogey,^[3] but Fleck's regulation par sealed the upset by three strokes, 69 to 72.^[11]

Place	Player	Score	To par	Money ($)
1	Jack Fleck	69	−1	6,000
2	Ben Hogan	72	+2	3,600

Scorecard

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

Birdie

Bogey

Double bogey

Source:^[12]

References

Further reading

• Barkow, Al (2012). The Upset: Jack Fleck's Incredible Victory over Ben Hogan at the U.S. Open. Chicago Review Press. ISBN 978-1-61374-075-0.
• Sagebiel, Neil (2012). The Longest Shot: Jack Fleck, Ben Hogan, and Pro Golf's Greatest Upset at the 1955 U.S. Open. Thomas Dunne Books. ISBN 978-0-312-66184-7.

External links

• USGA Championship Database
• USOpen.com - 1955
• The Olympic Club

37°42′32″N 122°29′42″W / 37.709°N 122.495°W / 37.709; -122.495

This page was last edited on 4 March 2024, at 18:37