The 1927 U.S. Open was the 31st U.S. Open, held June 14–17 at Oakmont Country Club in Oakmont, Pennsylvania, a suburb northeast of Pittsburgh. Tommy Armour defeated Harry Cooper in an 18-hole playoff to win the first of his three major titles.
Tournament summary The surprise second round leader was amateur Jimmy Johnston, who won the U.S. Amateur two years later in 1929. In the third round on Thursday morning, he suffered two double bogeys on the front-nine, carded an 87 (+15), and finished in 19th place. Gene Sarazen, Walter Hagen, Bill Mehlhorn, and Emmet French were all in contention in the final round, but only French managed to break 40 on the back nine. Tommy Armour shot a final round 76 and 301 total, while Harry Cooper shot 77. Armour needed a putt for birdie on the par-4 18th to tie Cooper and force a playoff.
Both players were tied after nine holes of the Friday playoff, even though they only halved one hole. Cooper then took a two-shot lead, but an Armour birdie at 13 and a Cooper bogey at 15 brought the match to all square. On the 16th, Cooper found a bunker off the tee and recorded a double bogey, while Armour made par to gain a two-stroke advantage did not relinquish. Armour finished with a 76 to Cooper's 79.
Armour's winning score of 301 was the highest since 1919, and the last time the winning score exceeded 300 strokes. Only one round under 70 was recorded, Al Espinosa's 69 in the final round. After Armour, no foreign-born player won the U.S. Open for another 38 years, until Gary Player in 1965. England's Ted Ray, the 1920 champion, played in his first Open since his win; it would also be his last. The 12th hole at Oakmont measured , the longest in U.S. Open history until 1955.
While Armour won two more majors, Cooper never won one. His 31 PGA Tour victories are the most by a player without a major win, and he is often cited as the "best player to never win a major."
Defending champion Bobby Jones and Eddie Jones shared low-amateur honors and tied for eleventh. It was the only time in his eleven U.S. Open appearances that Bobby Jones finished outside the top ten.
This was the first U.S. Open held at Oakmont, which hosted its ninth in 2016. It has also hosted three PGA Championships; the first in 1922 was a match play event won by Gene Sarazen.
This was the last U.S. Open to commence on Tuesday; the following year the first round was scheduled for Thursday.
Round summaries First round Tuesday, June 14, 1927 PlacePlayerScoreTo parT1 Harry Hampton 73 +1 Jimmy Johnston (a) T3 Harry Cooper 74 +2 Gene Sarazen T5 Emmet French 75 +3 Bill Mehlhorn Larry Nabboltz T8 Bobby Jones (a) 76 +4 Ted Ray T10 Bobby Cruickshank 77 +5 Walter Hagen P.O. Hart Bob MacDonald Source:
Second round Wednesday, June 15, 1927 PlacePlayerScoreTo par1 Jimmy Johnston (a) 73-74=147 +32 Gene Sarazen 74-74=148 +4 3 Tommy Armour 78-71=149 +5 T4 Harry Cooper 74-76=150 +6 Walter Hagen 77-73=150 6 Harry Hampton 73-78=151 +7T7 Fred Baroni 80-72=152 +8 Leo Diegel 78-74=152 Bill Mehlhorn 75-77=152 T10 Jim Barnes 78-75=153 +9 Archie Compston 79-74=153 Bobby Jones (a) 76-77=153 Eddie Loos 78-75=153 Source:
Third round Thursday, June 16, 1927 (morning) PlacePlayerScoreTo par1 Harry Cooper 74-76-74=224 +82 Tommy Armour 78-71-76=225 +9 3 Walter Hagen 77-73-76=226 +10 4 Gene Sarazen 74-74-80=228 +12 5 Archie Compston 79-74-76=229 +13 T6 Bobby Cruickshank 77-78-76=231 +15 Emmet French 75-79-77=231 Harry Hampton 73-78-80=231T9 Leo Diegel 78-74-80=232 +16 Johnny Farrell 81-73-78=232 Eddie Loos 78-75-79=232 Bill Mehlhorn 75-77-80=232 Source:
Final round Thursday, June 16, 1927 (afternoon) PlacePlayerScoreTo parMoney ($)T1 Tommy Armour 78-71-76-76=301 +13 Playoff Harry Cooper 74-76-74-77=3013 Gene Sarazen 74-74-80-74=302 +14 2004 Emmet French 75-79-77-73=304 +16 1505 Bill Mehlhorn 75-77-80-73=305 +17 1006 Walter Hagen 77-73-76-81=307 +19 90T7 Archie Compston 79-74-76-79=308 +20 73 Johnny Farrell 81-73-78-76=308 Johnny Golden 83-77-75-73=308 Harry Hampton 73-78-80-77=308 Source:
Playoff Friday, June 17, 1927 PlacePlayerScoreTo parMoney ($)1 Tommy Armour 39-37=76 +45002 Harry Cooper 39-40=79 +7300 Source:
Scorecard Hole 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 -->Hole 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 101112131415161718Par544543435 445344344 Armour −1−1EE+1+1+2+2+2+3+4+4+4+5+5+5+4+4 Cooper EEE+1+1+2+2+3+2+2+2+2+3+4+5+7+6+7 Double Eagle -->EagleBirdieBogeyDouble bogeyTriple bogey+ Source:
References
External links USGA Championship Database