1946 U.S. Open (golf)


The 1946 U.S. Open was the 46th U.S. Open, held June 12–16 at Canterbury Golf Club in Beachwood, Ohio, a suburb east of Cleveland. In the first U.S. Open since 1941, Lloyd Mangrum, a World War II veteran and recipient of two Purple Hearts, defeated Byron Nelson and Vic Ghezzi in 36 playoff holes to win his only major title.
Nelson possibly cost himself the championship in the third round when his caddie accidentally kicked his ball and he was assessed a stroke penalty. Two months after the championship, Nelson announced his retirement from the tour at age 34, though he continued to play at the Masters through 1966. He also played twice again at the U.S. Open, and once at the British Open in 1955.
The purse was $8,000 with a winner's share of $1,500. The three participants received a playoff bonus of $333 each.
This was the last playoff at the U.S. Open that ended in a tie without sudden-death. The next dozen 18-hole full round playoffs determined a winner without the need for extra holes. The first time sudden-death was used for the 91st hole was in 1990, Hale Irwin's third title. It was needed again in 1994 and 2008.
This was the second U.S. Open at Canterbury in six years; the 1940 edition was won by Lawson Little. It later hosted the PGA Championship in 1973, won by Jack Nicklaus.

Past champions in the field

Made the cut

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Missed the cut

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Round summaries

First round

Thursday, June 13, 1946
PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo par
T1Toney Penna
69−3
T1Sam Snead69−3
T3Bob Hamilton70−2
T3Mike Turnesa70−2
T5Skip Alexander71−1
T5Jimmy Demaret71−1
T5Vic Ghezzi71−1
T5Scudday Horner71−1
T5Steve Kovach71−1
T5Byron Nelson71−1
T5Ed Oliver71−1
T5Henry Picard71−1
T5Henry Ransom71−1

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Second round

Friday, June 14, 1946
PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo par
T1Vic Ghezzi71-69=140−4
T1Ben Hogan72-68=140−4
3Lawson Little72-69=141−3
T4Ed Oliver71-71=142−2
T4Byron Nelson71-71=142−2
6Steve Kovach71-72=143−1
T7Herman Barron72-72=144E
T7Lloyd Mangrum74-70=144E
T7Henry Picard71-73=144E
T7Henry Ransom71-73=144E
T7Sam Snead69-75=144E

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Third round

Saturday, June 15, 1946
PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo par
1Byron Nelson71-71-69=211−5
T2Vic Ghezzi71-69-72=212−4
T2Lloyd Mangrum74-70-68=212−4
4Ben Hogan72-68-73=213−3
5Henry Picard71-73-71=215−1
T6Herman Barron72-72-72=216E
T6Steve Kovach71-72-73=216E
T6Ed Oliver71-71-74=216E
T9Chick Harbert72-78-67=217+1
T9Chandler Harper76-74-67=217+1
T9Henry Ransom71-73-73=217+1

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Final round

Saturday, June 15, 1946
Nelson began the final round with a one-stroke lead over Mangrum and Ghezzi. Ghezzi was the first to finish and carded a 72 and a 284 total. Nelson and Mangrum were playing together, and Nelson had a two-stroke advantage with three holes remaining. But after bogeys at his final two holes, combined with two pars by Mangrum, Nelson fell back into a tie and forced a three-way playoff.
PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo parMoney
T1Lloyd Mangrum74-70-68-72=284−4Playoff
T1Vic Ghezzi71-69-72-72=284−4Playoff
T1Byron Nelson71-71-69-73=284−4Playoff
T4Herman Barron72-72-72-69=285−3550
T4Ben Hogan72-68-73-72=285−3550
T6Jimmy Demaret71-74-73-68=286−2350
T6Ed Oliver71-71-74-70=286−2350
T8Chick Harbert72-78-67-70=287−1225
T8Dick Metz76-70-72-69=287−1225
T10Dutch Harrison75-71-72-70=288E175
T10Lawson Little72-69-76-71=288E175

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Playoff

Sunday, June 16, 1946
All three players shot even-par 72 during the first 18 holes on Sunday morning, which forced another 18-hole playoff in the afternoon, as there was no sudden-death playoff at the time. At the 9th, Mangrum nearly shot himself out of contention with an out of bounds tee shot, but a putt for bogey allowed him to minimize the damage. Nelson and Ghezzi were tied at the turn, with Mangrum two back. But Mangrum then collected two birdies, while Nelson bogeyed 13 and Ghezzi recorded bogeys at 14 and 15. Mangrum took a two-stroke lead with a birdie at 16, and despite a bogey-bogey finish, his 72 was good enough to hold off Nelson and Ghezzi by a stroke.
PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo parMoney
1Lloyd Mangrum72-72=144E1,833
T2Byron Nelson72-73=145+11,208
T2Vic Ghezzi72-73=145+11,208

Morning round
Hole 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 101112131415161718
Par443445345434544534
MangrumEE−1E−1−1−2−2−2−2−2−3−2−1−1−1EE
NelsonE−1−1−1−1EEEE+1+1+1EEEEEE
GhezziEE−1−1−2−2−1−1−2−2−2−1−2−2−1EEE

Afternoon round
Hole 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 101112131415161718
Par443445345434544534
Mangrum−1EEE−1−1−1−1EEE+1EE−1−2−1E
NelsonEEEEE−1−2−2−2−2−1−1EEEE+1+1
GhezziEEEEE−1−1−1−2−2−1−2−2−1EEE+1

Cumulative playoff scores, relative to par
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