The 1940 U.S. Open was the 44th U.S. Open, June 6–9 at

Canterbury Golf Club Canterbury Golf Club is a private golf and country club located in the Cleveland suburb of Beachwood, Ohio, US. The club was formerly the home of the DAP Championship, part of the Web.com Tour Finals. A member club of the USGA, Canterbury has ...

in Beachwood, Ohio, a suburb east of

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

Lawson Little William Lawson Little Jr. (June 23, 1910 – February 1, 1968) was an American professional golfer who also had a distinguished amateur career. Little was born in Newport, Rhode Island, and lived much of his early life in the San Francisco area, ...

defeated

Gene Sarazen Gene Sarazen (; born Eugenio Saraceni, February 27, 1902 – May 13, 1999) was an American professional golfer, one of the world's top players in the 1920s and 1930s, and the winner of seven major championships. He is one of five players (along ...

in an 18-hole playoff to win his only professional

major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

. 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 The United States Amateur Championship, commonly known as the U.S. Amateur, is the leading annual golf tournament in the United States for amateur golfers. It is organized by the United States Golf Association and is currently held each August ov ...

. 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 Walter Charles Hagen (December 21, 1892 – October 6, 1969) was an American professional golfer and a major figure in golf in the first half of the 20th century. His tally of 11 professional majors is third behind Jack Nicklaus (18) and Tiger ...

, 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 A shotgun start is a golf tournament format in which all groups of players tee off simultaneously from different holes. A shotgun is shot into the air to signal the start of the tournament. Each hole on a course will be the tee off hole for each ...

). 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 Events January * January 6 - The 1946 North Vietnamese parliamentary election, first general election ever in Vietnam is held. * January 7 – The Allies recognize the Austrian republic with its 1937 borders, and divide the country into f ...

, won by Lloyd Mangrum in two playoff rounds. It was the first U.S. Open in five years, due to

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. The

PGA Championship The PGA Championship (often referred to as the US PGA Championship or USPGA outside the United States) is an annual golf tournament conducted by the Professional Golfers' Association of America. It is one of the four men's major championships ...

was played at the course in

1973 Events January * January 1 - The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 15 – Vietnam War: Citing progress in peace negotiations, U.S. ...

, won by

Jack Nicklaus Jack William Nicklaus (born January 21, 1940), nicknamed The Golden Bear, is a retired American professional golfer and List of golf courses designed by Jack Nicklaus, golf course designer. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest go ...

Course layout

Source:

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 6, 1940'' Source:

Second round

''Friday, June 7, 1940'' Source:

Third round

''Saturday, June 8, 1940 (morning)'' Source:

Final round

''Saturday, June 8, 1940 (afternoon)'' Source:

Playoff

''Sunday, June 9, 1940''

Scorecard

''Cumulative playoff scores, relative to par'' : Source:

References

External links

USGA Championship Database
{{coord, 41.469, -81.521, type:event, display=title U.S. Open (golf) Golf in Ohio Beachwood, Ohio U.S. Open U.S. Open U.S. Open June 1940 sports events