The 1936 U.S. Open was the 40th U.S. Open, held June 4–6 at Baltusrol Golf Club in Springfield, New Jersey, west of New York City.
Tony Manero, a relatively unknown pro from New York playing out of North Carolina, surpassed third round leader Harry Cooper in the final round to claim his only major title. The purse was $5,000 and the winner's share was $1,000. The Upper Course was used for this championship; the Lower Course has been used for all subsequent majors at Baltusrol.
Entering the final round, Cooper led Manero by four strokes. Manero's final round 67 (−5) was a course record and gave him a 72-hole total of 282 (−6), two strokes ahead of Cooper, who shot 73 (+1) for 284. Manero's total of 282 set a new U.S. Open tournament record by four shots; the previous record of 286 was set in 1916.
Manero was fortunate to even be in the championship, because during sectional qualifying, he needed a chip-in on his final hole just to qualify. His victory was not without controversy. During the final round he was paired with Gene Sarazen, whose tournament scoring record he would break. Sarazen apparently requested the pairing as he believed he could help the notoriously high-strung Manero, a close friend, stay calm. Afterwards a complaint was filed with the USGA alleging that Sarazen was actually giving advice to Manero, a violation of the rules. After a meeting, the USGA ruled that there was no evidence of any wrongdoing, and Manero was allowed to keep the championship.
In contrast to the previous year, scoring conditions at the Open were ideal throughout the week. For the tournament, 38 players broke par and the scoring average was 76.04, both numbers setting U.S. Open records. Chuck Kocsis finished as low amateur in a tie for 14th place.
A record field of 1,278 entered the qualifying for this U.S. Open, up from 1,177 in 1935.
Course
Upper Course Hole123456789Out101112131415161718InTotal Yards4714231863903854392165383463,394158602340365401404395634653,4726,866Par543444354363544434543672 Source: Note: The Lower Course has been used for all subsequent majors at Baltusrol.
Lengths of the courses for previous major championships at Baltusrol: , par 74 - 1915 U.S. Open (Old Course) The Old Course was plowed under in 1918 , par - 1903 U.S. Open (Old Course)
Round summaries First round Thursday, June 4, 1936 PlacePlayerScoreTo ParT1 Clarence Clark 69 −3 Ray Mangrum Paul RunyanT4 Vic Ghezzi 70 −2 Tom Kerrigan Leslie Madison Frank Moore Henry Picard Johnny Revolta T10 Johnny Bulla 71 −1 Harry Cooper Ky Laffoon Ted Longworth Craig Wood Source:
Second round Friday, June 5, 1936 PlacePlayerScoreTo ParT1 Vic Ghezzi 70-70=140 −4 Ray Mangrum 69-71=140T3 Harry Cooper 71-70=141 −3 Henry Picard 70-71=141 Johnny Revolta 70-71=141 Denny Shute 72-69=1417 Tony Manero 73-69=142 −2T8 Ralph Guldahl 73-70=143 −1 Chuck Kocsis (a) 72-71=143 T10 Clarence Clark 69-75=144 E Frank Moore 70-74=144 Jack Munger (a) 74-70=144 Paul Runyan 69-75=144 Source:
Third round Saturday, June 6, 1936 (morning) PlacePlayerScoreTo Par1 Harry Cooper 71-70-70=211 −52 Vic Ghezzi 70-70-73=213 −33 Denny Shute 72-69-73=214 −2 T4 Clarence Clark 69-75-71=215 −1 Ky Laffoon 71-74-70=215 Tony Manero 73-69-73=215 Henry Picard 70-71-74=215T8 Herman Barron 73-74-69=216 E Ralph Guldahl 73-70-73=216 Chuck Kocsis (a) 72-71-73=216 Ray Mangrum 69-71-76=216 Source:
Final round Saturday, June 6, 1936 (afternoon) PlacePlayerScoreTo ParMoney ($)1 Tony Manero 73-69-73-67=282 −6 1,0002 Harry Cooper 71-70-70-73=284 −47503 Clarence Clark 69-75-71-72=287 −1 6504 Macdonald Smith 73-73-72-70=288 E 550T5 Wiffy Cox 74-74-69-72=289 +1 350 Ky Laffoon 71-74-70-74=289 Henry Picard 70-71-74-74=289T8 Ralph Guldahl 73-70-73-74=290 +2 137 Paul Runyan 69-75-73-73=29010 Denny Shute 72-69-73-77=291 +3 100 Source:
References
External links USGA Championship Database USOpen.com - 1936