The 1948 U.S. Open was the 48th U.S. Open, held June 10–12 at

Riviera Country Club The Riviera Country Club is a private club with a championship golf course and tennis courts in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of the Westside of Los Angeles, California. The Riviera was designed by golf course architects George C. Thoma ...

in Pacific Palisades, California, northwest of Los Angeles. Ben Hogan won the first of his four U.S. Open titles at the course that became known as "Hogan's Alley," as it was his third win at Riviera in less than 18 months. He had won the Los Angeles Open at the course in early 1947 and 1948. It was the third of Hogan's nine

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 ...

titles; he had won his second PGA Championship a few weeks earlier. He was only the second to win both titles in the same year, joining

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 ...

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. Later winners of both were

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 ...

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning System time epoch begins at 00:00 UTC. * January 9 – ...

and Tiger Woods in

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

. Although Sam Snead held the lead by a stroke after 36 holes with a record 138, Hogan dominated the final two rounds, shooting 68-69 on Saturday for a total of 276 (−8), two shots ahead of runner-up Jimmy Demaret. Hogan decimated the U.S. Open scoring record (281 by Ralph Guldahl in

1937 Events January * January 1 – Anastasio Somoza García becomes President of Nicaragua. * January 5 – Water levels begin to rise in the Ohio River in the United States, leading to the Ohio River flood of 1937, which continues into Fe ...

) by five strokes, and his three rounds in the 60s was a tournament first. The scoring record stood for 19 years, until bested by a stroke by

1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 5 ** Spain and Romania sign an agreement in Paris, establishing full consular and ...

. Hogan's 8-under-par set a U.S. Open record that stood until

, when it was broken by Tiger Woods (12-under, broken by Rory McIlroy in

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

at 16-under). Eight months later, Hogan and his wife were involved in a serious automobile accident, a head-on collision with a Greyhound bus in west Texas. The injuries he sustained prevented a defense of his title in

1949 Events January * January 1 – A United Nations-sponsored ceasefire brings an end to the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947. The war results in a stalemate and the division of Kashmir, which still continues as of 2022. * January 2 – Luis ...

while he recovered. Hogan returned to competition and won the U.S. Open in

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1951 Events January * January 4 – Korean War: Third Battle of Seoul – Chinese and North Korean forces capture Seoul for the second time (having lost the Second Battle of Seoul in September 1950). * January 9 – The Government of the United ...

, and

1953 Events January * January 6 – The Asian Socialist Conference opens in Rangoon, Burma. * January 12 – Estonian émigrés found a Estonian government-in-exile, government-in-exile in Oslo. * January 14 ** Marshal Josip Broz Tito i ...

. (He led after 36 holes in

1952 Events January–February * January 26 – Black Saturday in Egypt: Rioters burn Cairo's central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses. * February 6 ** Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh, becomes m ...

, but finished third.)

Ted Rhodes Theodore Rhodes (November 9, 1913 – July 4, 1969) was an American professional golfer who helped to break the color barrier in the sport. Rhodes was born in Nashville, Tennessee and attended the city's public schools. He learned the game of go ...

became the first African-American to play in the U.S. Open since

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. He opened with 70, made the cut, and finished in 51st place. This was the first U.S. Open played on the West Coast; the first in the western U.S. was a decade earlier, in

1938 Events January * January 1 ** The Constitution of Estonia#Third Constitution (de facto 1938–1940, de jure 1938–1992), new constitution of Estonia enters into force, which many consider to be the ending of the Era of Silence and the a ...

near Denver. The first major played on the West Coast was the PGA Championship in

1929 This year marked the end of a period known in American history as the Roaring Twenties after the Wall Street Crash of 1929 ushered in a worldwide Great Depression. In the Americas, an agreement was brokered to end the Cristero War, a Catholic ...

, played at Hillcrest Country Club in Los Angeles. At the time, the course at Riviera was the longest ever for a U.S. Open at . Babe Didrikson Zaharias became the first woman to attempt to qualify for the U.S. Open, but her application was rejected by the USGA. They stated that the event was intended to be open to men only.

Course layout

Source:

Past champions in the field

Made the cut

Missed the cut

Source:

Round summaries

First round

''Thursday, June 10, 1948'' Source:

Second round

''Friday, June 11, 1948'' Source:

Third round

''Saturday, June 12, 1948 (morning)'' Source:

Final round

''Saturday, June 12, 1948 (afternoon)'' Source:

References

External links

USGA Championship Database
{{U.S. Open Golf Championships U.S. Open (golf) Golf in Los Angeles U.S. Open U.S. Open (golf)

U.S. Open golf The United States Open Championship, commonly known as the U.S. Open, is the annual open national championship of golf in the United States. It is the third of the four major championships in golf, and is on the official schedule of both the P ...

U.S. Open (golf)