The 1933 Open Championship was the 68th Open Championship, held 5–8 July at the Old Course in St Andrews, Scotland. Denny Shute defeated fellow American Craig Wood by five strokes in a Saturday playoff to win his only Open title, the first of his three major championships. The Ryder Cup was held in late June at Southport and Ainsdale Golf Club in North West England, and the members of the American team played in the championship, similar to four years later in 1937.

Qualifying took place on 3–4 July, Monday and Tuesday, with 18 holes on the Old Course and 18 holes on the New Course, and the top 100 and ties qualified. Willie Nolan led the qualifiers with 138; the qualifying score was 158 and 117 players qualified. The leading 60 players and ties after 36 holes made the cut to play on the final day. Walter Hagen led after each of the first two rounds and scores of 152 (+6) and better made the cut.

In pursuit of his twelfth major title, Hagen opened with 68 to take the lead on He held on to it after 36 holes at 140 on Thursday, but then carded 161 (+15) in the final two rounds and fell out of the top twenty.

A group of four players shared the 54-hole lead at 216 (−3) at midday on Friday: Henry Cotton, Abe Mitchell, Syd Easterbrook, and Leo Diegel. Wood began the final round a stroke behind, while Shute was three back at even par. The final round was a disaster for the leaders as Easterbrook shot 77 (+4), while Cotton and Mitchell both carded 79 (+6). Shute and Wood tied for the clubhouse lead with rounds of 73 and 75, respectively. Diegel found the 18th green in two and needed only a two-putt to join the playoff. He left his first putt short, then completely missed the ball on his second attempt. The untimely mistake caused him to miss out on the playoff by a single stroke, as did American Gene Sarazen. In the final round Wood managed to hit a drive at the 5th, but he found a bunker and lost a stroke on the hole.

During the playoff, Wood opened with a pair of sixes and was four strokes down after two holes. Shute prevailed over Wood in the 36-hole playoff by five shots. Wood lost playoffs at all four major championships before finally winning one, this loss was the first. He won two majors in 1941 at The Masters and U.S. Open.

This was the first playoff at the Open in a dozen years, since 1921, also won by an American at St Andrews; was born in Scotland but became a U.S. citizen the previous year.

The Old Course was par 73 in 1933; the #17 Road Hole was a par-5 through the 1946 Open.

Card of the course HoleNameYardsPar HoleNameYardsPar1Burn3684 10Tenth ^31242Dyke401411High (In)16433Cartgate (Out)386412Heathery (In)31444Ginger Beer427413Hole O'Cross (In)41045Hole O'Cross (Out)530514Long52756Heathery (Out)367415Cartgate (In)40947High (Out)352416Corner of the Dyke34848Short150317Road46759End306418Tom Morris3644Out3,25736In3,31537Source: Total6,57273 ^ The 10th hole was posthumously named for Bobby Jones in 1972

Round summaries First round Wednesday, 5 July 1933 PlacePlayerScoreTo par1 Walter Hagen 68 −5 T2 Ed Dudley 70 −3 Tom Fernie Cyril Tolley (a)T5 Herbert Jolly 71 −2 Willie Nolan Fred Robertson T8 Archie Compston 72 −1 George Dunlap (a) Gene Sarazen Bert Weastell Source:

Second round Thursday, 6 July 1933 PlacePlayerScoreTo par1 Walter Hagen 68-72=140 −6 2 Ed Dudley 70-71=141 −5 T3 Abe Mitchell 74-68=142 −4 Fred Robertson 71-71=142 5 Cyril Tolley (a) 70-73=143 −3 T6 Aubrey Boomer 74-70=144 −2 Henry Cotton 73-71=144T8 Leo Diegel 75-70=145 −1 Syd Easterbrook 73-72=145 Joe Kirkwood Sr. 72-73=145 Gene Sarazen 72-73=145 Willie Spark 73-72=145 Source:

Third round Friday, 7 July 1933 (morning) PlacePlayerScoreTo parT1 Henry Cotton 73-71-72=216 −3 Leo Diegel 75-70-71=216 Syd Easterbrook 73-72-71=216 Joe Kirkwood Sr. 72-73-71=216 Abe Mitchell 74-68-74=216T6 Ed Dudley 70-71-76=217 −2 Craig Wood 77-72-68=217T8 Auguste Boyer 76-72-70=218 −1 Gene Sarazen 72-73-73=218T10 Walter Hagen 68-72-79=219 E Fred Robertson 71-71-77=219 Denny Shute 73-73-73=219 Cyril Tolley (a) 70-73-76=219 Source:

Final round Friday, 7 July 1933 (afternoon) PlacePlayerScoreTo parMoney (£)T1 Denny Shute 73-73-73-73=292 E Playoff Craig Wood 77-72-68-75=292T3 Leo Diegel 75-70-71-77=293 +1 35 Syd Easterbrook 73-72-71-77=293 Gene Sarazen 72-73-73-75=2936 Olin Dutra 76-76-70-72=294 +2 20T7 Henry Cotton 73-71-72-79=295 +3 14 Ed Dudley 70-71-76-78=295 Abe Mitchell 74-68-74-79=295 Alf Padgham 74-73-74-74=295 Reg Whitcombe 76-75-72-72=295 Source: Amateurs: McLean (+6), Tolley (+6), Somerville (+12), Dunlap (+14), Jamieson (+18)

Playoff Saturday, 8 July 1933 PlacePlayerScoreTo parMoney (£)1 Denny Shute 75-74=149 +3 1002 Craig Wood 78-76=154 +8 75

Scorecards

Morning round

Hole 1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9 Out101112131415161718BackTotal Shute444444543364545444543975 Wood664543533394544554443978

Afternoon round

Hole 1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9 Out101112131415161718BackTotal Shute444544434363354554543874 Wood454444644393445444543776 Source:

EagleBirdieBogeyDouble bogeyTriple bogey+

References

External links St Andrews 1933 (Official site)