1929 U.S. Open (golf)
Jones opened with a 69 in the first round to grab the lead, then followed with a 75.
After a third round 71, he had a three-stroke lead over Gene Sarazen and was four clear of Espinosa after 54 holes. Sarazen fell out of contention in the final round with a 78 and fell to a tie for third place. Espinosa shot a 75 and a 294 total, but it appeared like it would not be enough to overtake Jones. Beginning with the 15th, Jones needed only three bogeys and a par to win the championship. However, he triple-bogeyed the 15th and then made another bogey on 16 and his lead was gone. He made par at the 17th, but his approach on the 18th found a greenside bunker. Needing to get up-and-down to save par and force a playoff, Jones rolled in a 12-foot (3.7 m) putt for the tie.
Jones dominated the 36-hole playoff on Sunday, with a 72 in the morning round to grab a 12-shot lead. Espinosa struggled again on the second 18, shooting an 80 to Jones' 69, and Jones won the playoff by 23 shots. He won his fourth U.S. Open in 1930 and the grand slam. The 23-stroke win is the largest margin of victory in a major golf tournament playoff.
Originally scheduled to be played over the East Course at Winged Foot, storm damaged caused the championship to be relocated to the West Course. It was the first of six U.S. Opens to be held on Winged Foot's West Course; it later hosted in 1959, 1974, 1984, 2006, and 2020; it also hosted the PGA Championship in 1997.
Course layout
West Course
| Hole | Name | Yards | Par | Hole | Name | Yards | Par | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Genesis | 445 | 4 | 10 | Pulpit | 190 | 3 | |
| 2 | Elm | 376 | 4 | 11 | Billows | 378 | 4 | |
| 3 | Pinnacle | 217 | 3 | 12 | Cape | 497 | 5 | |
| 4 | Sound View | 406 | 4 | 13 | White Mule | 213 | 3 | |
| 5 | Long Lane | 517 | 5 | 14 | Shamrock | 376 | 4 | |
| 6 | El | 323 | 4 | 15 | Pyramid | 397 | 4 | |
| 7 | Babe-in-the-Woods | 170 | 3 | 16 | Hells Bells | 456 | 5 | |
| 8 | Arena | 439 | 4 | 17 | Well-Well | 450 | 4 | |
| 9 | Meadow | 517 | 5 | 18 | Revelations | 419 | 4 | |
| Out | 3,410 | 36 | In | 3,376 | 36 | |||
| Source: | Total | 6,786 | 72 | |||||
Round summaries
First round
Thursday, June 27, 1929
| Place | Player | Score | To par |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Bobby Jones (a) |
69 | −3 |
| 2 | Al Espinosa |
70 | −2 |
| 3 | Gene Sarazen |
71 | −1 |
| T4 | Chris Hilgendorf |
72 | E |
 Jack White
| |||
| T6 | Leonard Schnutte |
73 | +1 |
| Denny Shute
| |||
| T8 | Tommy Armour |
74 | +2 |
| Wiffy Cox
| |||
| Jack Cummins (a)
| |||
| Leo Diegel
| |||
| Ted Longworth
| |||
| Larry Nabholtz
|
Source:
Second round
Friday, June 28, 1929
| Place | Player | Score | To par |
|---|---|---|---|
| T1 | Gene Sarazen |
71-71=142 | −2 |
| Al Espinosa |
70-72=142 | ||
| T3 | Bobby Jones (a) |
69-75=144 | E |
| Denny Shute |
73-71=144 | ||
| 5 | Tommy Armour |
74-71=145 | +1 |
| T6 | Leo Diegel |
74-74=148 | +4 |
| Leonard Schnutte |
73-75=148 | ||
| T8 | George Von Elm (a) |
79-70=149 | +5 |
| T9 | Wiffy Cox |
74-76=150 | +6 |
| Peter O'Hara |
74-76=150 | ||
| Craig Wood |
79-71=150 |
Source:
Third round
Saturday, June 29, 1929 (morning)
| Place | Player | Score | To par |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bobby Jones (a) |
69-75-71=215 | −1 |
| 2 | Gene Sarazen |
71-71-76=218 | +2 |
| 3 | Al Espinosa |
70-72-77=219 | +3 |
| 4 | Denny Shute |
73-71-76=220 | +4 |
| 5 | Tommy Armour |
74-71-76=221 | +5 |
| T6 | George Von Elm (a) |
79-70-74=223 | +7 |
| Peter O'Hara |
74-76-73=223 | ||
| T8 | Henry Ciuci |
78-74-72=224 | +8 |
| Leo Diegel |
74-74-76=224 | ||
| 10 | Horton Smith |
76-77-74=227 | +11 |
Source:
Final round
Saturday, June 29, 1929 (afternoon)
| Place | Player | Score | To par | Money ($) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| T1 | Bobby Jones (a) |
69-75-71-79=294 | +6 | Playoff |
| Al Espinosa |
70-72-77-75=294 | |||
| T3 | Gene Sarazen |
71-71-76-78=296 | +8 | 700 |
| Denny Shute |
73-71-76-76=296 | |||
| T5 | Tommy Armour |
74-71-76-76=297 | +9 | 550 |
| George Von Elm (a) |
79-70-74-74=297 | 0 | ||
| 7 | Henry Ciuci |
78-74-72-75=299 | +11 | 450 |
| T8 | Leo Diegel |
74-74-76-77=301 | +13 | 300 |
| Peter O'Hara |
74-76-73-78=301 | |||
| 10 | Horton Smith |
76-77-74-75=302 | +14 | 150 |
Source:
- (a) denotes amateur
Scorecard
Final round
| Hole | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Par | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 |
| Jones |
−1 | E | −1 | −1 | −1 | −1 | −1 | +2 | +1 | +2 | +2 | +2 | +3 | +3 | +6 | +6 | +6 | +6 |
| Espinosa |
+4 | +4 | +3 | +4 | +3 | +3 | +4 | +4 | +3 | +4 | +5 | +8 | +8 | +8 | +8 | +7 | +6 | +6 |
| Sarazen |
+3 | +3 | +3 | +3 | +4 | +5 | +5 | +7 | +7 | +7 | +7 | +7 | +7 | +7 | +8 | +7 | +8 | +8 |
| Shute |
+6 | +7 | +7 | +7 | +8 | +7 | +7 | +7 | +6 | +7 | +6 | +6 | +6 | +6 | +7 | +7 | +7 | +8 |
Cumulative tournament scores, relative to par
Source:
Playoff
Sunday, June 30, 1929
| Place | Player | Score | To par | Money ($) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bobby Jones (a) |
72-69=141 | −3 | 0 |
| 2 | Al Espinosa |
84-80=164 | +20 | 1,000 |
Source:
Scorecards
Morning round
| Hole | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Par | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 |
| Jones |
+2 | +2 | +3 | +3 | +2 | +1 | +1 | +1 | +1 | +1 | E | −1 | E | −1 | +1 | E | E | E |
| Espinosa |
E | +1 | +1 | +1 | +1 | +1 | +2 | +3 | +3 | +5 | +5 | +8 | +8 | +8 | +8 | +9 | +11 | +12 |
Afternoon round
| Hole | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Par | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 |
| Jones |
E | +1 | +1 | +1 | +1 | +1 | E | E | E | E | E | −1 | −1 | −1 | −2 | −3 | −3 | −3 |
| Espinosa |
+13 | +13 | +14 | +14 | +16 | +17 | +17 | +17 | +16 | +18 | +18 | +18 | +18 | +18 | +18 | +17 | +18 | +20 |
Cumulative playoff scores, relative to par
Birdie Bogey Double bogey Triple bogey+
Source:
References
- ^ "Sarazen and Espinosa tie with 142 in golf meet". Milwaukee Journal. Associated Press. June 28, 1929. p. 8.
- ^ Trumball, Walter (July 1, 1929). "Jones wins U.S. Open title; overwhelms Espinosa". Milwaukee Journal. p. 6.
- ^ "Jones' 69 leads U.S. Open; Al Espinosa 2d". Chicago Daily Tribune. June 28, 1929. p. 21.
- ^ Pegler, Westbrook (June 29, 1929). "Sarazen and Espinosa tie for Open golf lead". Chicago Daily Tribune. p. 17.
- ^ Gould, Alan J. (June 30, 1929). "Jones, Espinosa tie for Open title with 294 score". Milwaukee Journal. p. 1-sports.
- ^ Pegler, Westbrook (June 30, 1929). "Jones, Espinosa tie; title playoff today". Chicago Sunday Tribune. p. 1, part 2.
- ^ Pegler, Westbrook (July 1, 1929). "Jones' 141 wins playoff for Open title". Chicago Sunday Tribune. p. 29.
- ^ Johnson, E. Michael (July 15, 2008). "Why Winged Foot Is Special". Golf Digest. Archived from the original on October 25, 2015. Retrieved September 12, 2020.