The 1923 U.S. Open was the 27th U.S. Open, held July 13–15 at Inwood Country Club in Inwood, New York, a suburb east of New York City on Long Island. Amateur golf legend Bobby Jones, age 21, captured his first career major championship, defeating Bobby Cruickshank by two strokes in an 18-hole Sunday playoff.

Qualifying directly preceded the tournament proper, which was held on Friday and Saturday, 36 holes per day, with no cut.

Jones held a three-stroke lead through 54 holes, but struggled throughout the final round on Saturday afternoon. He bogeyed the first, hit his tee shot out of bounds at the par-3 seventh for a double bogey, hit his second shot on 16 into the parking lot, and then added another bogey at 17. Still with the lead heading to the 18th, Jones made a double-bogey for a round of 76 (+4) and 296 (+8) total. Cruickshank, playing behind Jones, made double bogey at 16 and had to birdie the last to tie Jones; he hit his approach shot to and made the putt.

During the 18-hole playoff on Sunday, Jones and Cruickshank only halved three of the first 17 holes, but they were all square heading to the 18th. After both players drove into the rough, Cruickshank elected to lay up short of the green, but Jones went for it and hit a 2-iron to . After Cruickshank put his third shot into a bunker and fourth to , Jones two-putted for the championship.

This was the first of Jones' four U.S. Open titles, a record shared with three others: Willie Anderson, Ben Hogan, and Jack Nicklaus. It was also the first of four playoffs Jones was involved in, winning twice.

Course layout

Hole123456789Out101112131415161718InTotal Yards3433715225305191772234183603,4632954211034204971734254054253,1696,632Par445553344374434534443572 Source:

Round summaries First round Friday, July 13, 1923 (morning) PlacePlayerScoreTo par1 Jock Hutchison 70 −2 2 Bobby Jones (a) 71 −13 Fred Canausa 72 E T4 Bill Creavy 73 +1 Bobby Cruickshank Bill Mehlhorn T7 Mike Brady 74 +2 Jack Burke Sr. Cyril Hughes Willie Ogg Al Watrous Source:

Second round Friday, July 13, 1923 (afternoon) PlacePlayerScoreTo par1 Jock Hutchison 70-72=142 −2 2 Bobby Jones (a) 71-73=144 E3 Bobby Cruickshank 73-72=145 +1 T4 Jack Forrester 75-73=148 +4 Francis Gallett 76-72=1486 Al Watrous 74-75=149 +5T7 Cyril Hughes 74-76=150 +6 Willie Ogg 74-76=150T9 Jack Burke Sr. 74-78=152 +8 Walter Hagen 77-75=152 Bill Mehlhorn 73-79=152 Source:

Third round Saturday, July 14, 1923 (morning) PlacePlayerScoreTo par1 Bobby Jones (a) 71-73-76=220 +4 2 Bobby Cruickshank 73-72-78=223 +7 3 Jock Hutchison 70-72-82=224 +8 T4 Jack Forrester 75-73-77=225 +9 Francis Gallett 76-72-77=225 Walter Hagen 77-75-73=225 Al Watrous 74-75-76=2258 Bill Mehlhorn 73-79-75=227 +11 T9 Johnny Farrell 76-77-75=228 +12 C.L. Mothersole 77-80-71=228 Source:

Final round Saturday, July 14, 1923 (afternoon) PlacePlayerScoreTo parMoney ($)T1 Bobby Jones (a) 71-73-76-76=296 +8 0 Bobby Cruickshank 73-72-78-73=296 5003 Jock Hutchison 70-72-82-78=302 +14 3004 Jack Forrester 75-73-77-78=303 +15 200T5 Johnny Farrell 76-77-75-76=304 +16 125 Francis Gallett 76-72-77-79=304 William Reekie (a) 80-74-75-75=304 0T8 Leo Diegel 77-77-76-76=306 +18 82 Bill Mehlhorn 73-79-75-79=306 Al Watrous 74-75-76-81=306 Source: (a) denotes amateur

Scorecard Final round Hole123456789101112131415161718Par445553344 443453444 Jones+5+5+5+5+4+4+6+6+6+5+5+5+5+4+4+5+6+8 Cruickshank+8+8+8+8+8+7+7+6+6+5+5+5+6+6+7+9+9+8 Cumulative tournament scores, relative to par Source:

Playoff Sunday, July 15, 1923 PlacePlayerScoreTo parMoney ($)1 Bobby Jones (a) 76 +402 Bobby Cruickshank 78 +6500 Source:

Scorecard Hole1 2 345678 9 101112131415161718Par445553344 443453444 JonesEEE−1−1EEEE+1+2+1+1+1+3+3+4+4 Cruickshank+1E−1−1−2−2−1−1E+2+3+3+3+2+3+4+4+6 Source:

References

External links USGA Championship Database USOpen.com - 1923