The 1935 U.S. Open was the 39th U.S. Open, held June 6–8 at Oakmont Country Club in Oakmont, Pennsylvania, a suburb northeast of Pittsburgh. Sam Parks Jr., a 25-year-old club pro at nearby South Hills Country Club with no prior tournament wins, prevailed by two strokes in difficult scoring conditions for his only major title. The purse was $5,000 and the winner's share was $1,000.
Jimmy Thomson owned the 36-hole lead after consecutive rounds of 73, despite severe weather that caused scores to soar. Sam Parks trailed by four, but in the third round he recorded a chip-in for eagle to tie Thomson, who shot a 77. The weather only got worse during the final round, and Thomson could do no better than a 78. Parks, however, shot a 76 for a two-stroke victory. Walter Hagen briefly led during the final round, but four consecutive bogeys knocked him back to third; it was the last time that he contended in a major championship. Scoring conditions were so difficult that no player in contention broke 75 and 73 was the lowest score of the round.
Parks was certainly helped by his preparation for the tournament. Every day for a month, he stopped at Oakmont to play a practice round before returning to his own club. This practice paid off particularly on Oakmont's notoriously difficult greens, where he three-putted just twice in 72 holes. His winning score of 299 was the highest since 1927, also at Oakmont, and he was the only player to break 300. Born in nearby Bellevue, Parks was an alumnus of the University of Pittsburgh, where he had been captain of the golf team.
The field of 159 included six entrants from Japan and one from South Africa; the rest from 31 states and the District of Columbia. For the first time, a Japanese player made the cut at the Open. Kanekichi Nakamura was part of a tour of the U.S. by Japanese golfers and finished in 58th at 325. Chris Brinke captured low-amateur honors in 32nd place at 315, a stroke ahead of 1933 champion Johnny Goodman.
Oakmont had previously hosted the U.S. Open in 1927, the PGA Championship in 1922, and the U.S. Amateur in 1919 and 1925.
The Stimpmeter was inspired by the fast greens of this Open. Edward Stimpson Sr. (1904–1985), the Massachusetts amateur champion and a former captain of the Harvard golf team, devised a simple device and method to accurately measure the speed of greens.
Course layout
Hole123456789Out101112131415161718InTotalYards4823634285363861873952534773,5074613956211643494752343024733,4746,981 Par544543435374453443443572 Source:
Lengths of the course for previous major championships: , par 72 - 1927 U.S. Open , par 74 - 1922 PGA Championship
Round summaries First round Thursday, June 6, 1935 PlacePlayerScoreTo par1 Butch Krueger 71 −1 2 Roland MacKenzie 72 E T3 Herman Barron 73 +1 Cliff Spencer Horton Smith Jimmy Thomson T7 Tommy Armour 74 +2 Ed Dudley Jim Foulis Macdonald Smith Source:
Second round Friday, June 7, 1935 PlacePlayerScoreTo par1 Jimmy Thomson 73-73=146 +2 2 Butch Krueger 71-77=148 +4 3 Gene Sarazen 75-74=149 +5 4 Sam Parks Jr. 77-73=150 +6 T5 Al Espinosa 75-76=151 +7 Denny Shute 78-73=151 Ted Turner 80-71=151T8 Herman Barron 73-79=152 +8 Mortie Dutra 75-77=152 Vincent Eldred 75-77=152 Ray Mangrum 76-76=152 Horton Smith 73-79=152 Source:
Third round Saturday, June 8, 1935 (morning) PlacePlayerScoreTo parT1 Sam Parks Jr. 77-73-73=223 +7 Jimmy Thomson 73-73-77=223 3 Ray Mangrum 76-76-72=224 +8 T4 Walter Hagen 77-76-73=226 +10 Butch Krueger 71-77-78=226 T6 Henry Picard 79-78-70=227 +11 Gene Sarazen 75-74-78=227 Denny Shute 78-73-76=227T9 Vincent Eldred 75-75-77=229 +13 Al Espinosa 75-76-78=229 Dick Metz 77-76-76=229 Source:
Final round Saturday, June 8, 1935 (afternoon) PlacePlayerScoreTo parMoney ($)1 Sam Parks Jr. 77-73-73-76=299 +11 1,0002 Jimmy Thomson 73-73-77-78=301 +13 7503 Walter Hagen 77-76-73-76=302 +14 650T4 Ray Mangrum 76-76-72-79=303 +15 500 Denny Shute 78-73-76-76=303T6 Butch Krueger 71-77-78-80=306 +18 218 Henry Picard 79-78-70-79=306 Gene Sarazen 75-74-78-79=306 Horton Smith 73-79-79-75=306T10 Dick Metz 77-76-76-78=307 +19 95 Paul Runyan 76-77-79-75=307 Source:
Scorecard Hole 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 101112131415161718Par544543435 445344344 Parks+6+7+8+9+9+9+9+9+8+8+8+8+8+8+9+10+10+11 Thomson +7+7+6+5+6+7+8+10+9+9+9+9+9+10+11+12+12+13 Hagen+9+9+9+8+9+11+11+11+10+11+12+13+14+14+14+15+14+14 Shute+11+12+13+13+14+14+14+14+13+13+13+14+14+14+13+15+15+15 Cumulative tournament scores, relative to par {|class="wikitable" span = 50 style="font-size:85%; |- |style="background: Pink;" width=10| |Birdie |style="background: PaleGreen;" width=10| |Bogey |style="background: Green;" width=10| |Double bogey |} Source:
References
External links USGA Championship Database USOpen.com - 1935