The 1956 U.S. Open was the 56th U.S. Open, held June 14–16 at the East Course of Oak Hill Country Club near Rochester, New York. Cary Middlecoff won his second U.S. Open title, one stroke ahead of runners-up Julius Boros and Ben Hogan, both former champions.

Middlecoff began the final round with a two-stroke lead over Hogan, Ted Kroll, and Wes Ellis. After an erratic finish where he bogeyed 16 and 17, he carded a third consecutive round of even-par 70 to post a 281 (+1) total and waited. Hogan, pursuing his record fifth U.S. Open, had a chance to tie Middlecoff but missed a par putt on the 17th to finish one back. Boros also had a chance to catch Middlecoff, but missed a birdie on the last and also finished a stroke behind. The last contender on the course, Kroll led by a stroke after a birdie at the 14th hole, but immediately followed it with a bogey and triple bogey and finished four strokes back.

Reigning British Open champion Peter Thomson made a rare appearance in the United States and finished tied for fourth, his best finish at any other major. He was the 36-hole leader by a stroke over Hogan, but fell back after a four-over 39 on the back nine in the third round. Thomson won five British Opens, and his third consecutive (1954–56) came three weeks later at Royal Liverpool.

Several future champions made their mark at this U.S. Open. Arnold Palmer, 26, recorded the first of his thirteen top ten finishes at the U.S. Open, six strokes back in seventh place. Ken Venturi captured low-amateur honors in eighth place, two months after he lost a four-stroke lead at The Masters with an 80 in the final round. Billy Casper, 24, made his major championship debut and finished 14th.

Defending champion Jack Fleck, who upset Hogan in a Sunday playoff the year before at Olympic, shot 76-74 and missed the cut by a stroke. Jack Burke Jr., winner of the Masters two months earlier, also missed with a 152.

A record-setting 13,914 were in attendance for the final two rounds on Saturday.

This was the first of three U.S. Opens at the East Course at Oak Hill; Lee Trevino won in 1968 and Curtis Strange successfully defended in 1989. It also hosted the PGA Championship in 1980, 2003, and 2013, and the Ryder Cup in 1995.

Course layout Hole123456789Out101112131415161718InTotalYards4453902085714401704234324163,4954201923806023271334414634493,4076,902Par443543444354345434443570

Round summaries First round Thursday, June 14, 1956 PlacePlayerScoreTo par1 Bob Rosburg68−22 Peter Thomson70ET3 Errie Ball71+1 Julius Boros Wes Ellis Doug Ford Ed Furgol Jay Hebert Cary MiddlecoffT10 Jerry Barber72+2 Al Brosch Dave Douglas Fred Haas Dutch Harrison Ben Hogan Bill Hyndman (a) Ted Kroll Billy Maxwell Arnold Palmer Bud Taylor (a) Source:

Second round Friday, June 15, 1956 PlacePlayerScoreTo par1 Peter Thomson70-69=139−12 Ben Hogan72-68=140ET3 Jerry Barber72-69=141+1 Wes Ellis71-70=141 Ed Furgol71-70=141 Cary Middlecoff71-70=141T7 Julius Boros71-71=142+2 Ted Kroll72-70=142 Arnold Palmer72-70=142T10 Fred Haas72-71=143+3 Billy Maxwell72-71=143 Bud Taylor (a)72-71=143 Source:

Amateurs: Taylor (+3), Ward (+7), Hyndman (+8), Patton (+8), Venturi (+8), Garrett (+9), Magee (+10), Ervasti (+11), Rodgers (+11), Simmons (+11), Dahlbender (+12), Holland (+12), Croonquist (+15), Shields (+16), Kuntz (+17), Moore Jr (+18), Aldrich (+19), Dixon (+20), Kelly (+23), Beman (+24), Myers (+25), Kleist (+27), Deal (+30), Watson (+34), Mandeville (+35), Brownell (WD).

Third round Saturday, June 16, 1956 (morning) PlacePlayerScoreTo par1 Cary Middlecoff71-70-70=211+1T2 Wes Ellis71-70-71=212+2 Ben Hogan72-68-72=212 Ted Kroll72-70-70=2125 Julius Boros71-71-71=213+3T6 Ed Furgol71-70-73=214+4 Arnold Palmer72-70-72=214 Peter Thomson70-69-75=214T9 Jerry Barber72-69-74=215+5 Fred Haas72-71-72=215 Source:

Final round Saturday, June 16, 1956 (afternoon) PlacePlayerScoreTo parMoney ($)1 Cary Middlecoff 71-70-70-70=281 +1 6,000T2 Julius Boros 71-71-71-69=282 +2 2,650 Ben Hogan 72-68-72-70=282T4 Ed Furgol 71-70-73-71=285 +5 1,033 Ted Kroll 72-70-70-73=285 Peter Thomson 70-69-75-71=2857 Arnold Palmer 72-70-72-73=287 +7 6008 Ken Venturi (a) 77-71-68-73=289 +9 0T9 Jerry Barber 72-69-74-75=290 +10 416 Wes Ellis 71-70-71-78=290 Doug Ford 71-75-70-74=290 Source:

Amateurs: Venturi (+9), Patton (+12), Taylor (+18), Hyndman (+20), Ward (+25), Garrett (+29).

References

External links USGA Championship Database USOpen.com – 1956