| 1939 U.S. Open | |
His win at the 1939 U.S. Open was the ninth of Byron Nelson's 52 career wins on the PGA Tour, and the second of his five career major championship victories (after the 1937 Masters).
It was also one of two 36-hole playoffs in the U.S. Open for Nelson. Here, Nelson, Craig Wood and Denny Shute tied at 284 and went into an 18-hole playoff. Nelson and Wood were still tied after shooting 68s (Shute had a 76) and so they continued for another 18. And Nelson shot 70 to Wood's 73 to win.
The playoff here was also the second time Wood and Shute faced each other in a playoff for a major championship. Shute defeated Wood in a 36-hole playoff to win the 1933 British Open.
Nelson, Wood and Shute all got into the playoff thanks to a major mistake by Sam Snead on the 72nd hole of the tournament. Snead never won the U.S. Open, finishing second four times. Here, he was in great position to win. All Snead needed was a par of 5 on the last hole. Unfortunately, Snead was under the impression he had to birdie the last hole to win (remember, there were no giant scoreboards next to every hole back in these days, and the leaders didn't automatically tee off last). He got aggressive, drove the ball into rough, and by the time the hole was over he'd used eight strokes for a triple-bogey. Snead finished in fifth place, two strokes out of the playoff.
Ben Hogan finished third from the bottom - tied for 62nd - among players who made the cut. But he did the make cut, and it was Hogan's first cut made in a U.S. Open.
1939 U.S. Open Golf Tournament Scores
Results from the 1939 U.S. Open golf tournament played at the par-72 Philadelphia Country Club in Gladwyne, Pennsylvania (x-won playoff; a-amateur):
| x-Byron Nelson | 72-73-71-68--284 | $1,000 |
| Craig Wood | 70-71-71-72--284 | $800 |
| Denny Shute | 70-72-70-72--284 | $700 |
| a-Bud Ward | 69-73-71-72--285 | |
| Sam Snead | 68-71-73-74--286 | $600 |
| Johnny Bulla | 72-71-68-76--287 | $450 |
| Ralph Guldahl | 71-73-72-72--288 | $325 |
| Dick Metz | 76-72-71-69--288 | $325 |
| Ky Laffoon | 76-70-73-70--289 | $175 |
| Harold "Jug" McSpaden | 70-73-71-75--289 | $175 |
| Paul Runyan | 76-70-71-72--289 | $175 |
| "Lighthorse" Harry Cooper | 71-72-75-72--290 | $108 |
| Ed Dudley | 76-72-73-69--290 | $108 |
| Henry Picard | 72-72-72-74--290 | $108 |
| Horton Smith | 72-68-75-76--291 | $100 |
| Sam Byrd | 75-71-72-74--292 | $66 |
| Olin Dutra | 70-74-70-78--292 | $66 |
| Clayton Heafner | 73-73-66-80--292 | $66 |
| a-Wilford Wehrle | 71-77-69-75--292 | |
| Jimmy Hines | 73-74-77-69--293 | $50 |
| Johnny Rogers | 75-70-69-79--293 | $50 |
| Tommy Armour | 70-75-69-80--294 | $50 |
| Jimmy Demaret | 72-76-72-74--294 | $50 |
| Johnny Revolta | 73-76-71-74--294 | $50 |
| Bobby Cruickshank | 73-74-73-75--295 | $50 |
| Jim Foulis | 73-75-77-70--295 | $50 |
| Dutch Harrison | 75-72-74-74--295 | $50 |
| Matt Kowal | 69-76-75-75--295 | $50 |
| Vic Ghezzi | 73-71-76-76--296 | $50 |
| Ed "Porky" Oliver | 75-77-72-72--296 | $50 |
| Felix Serafin | 80-72-71-73--296 | $50 |
| Al Espinosa | 75-73-74-75--297 | $12 |
| Alvin Krueger | 71-77-73-76--297 | $12 |
| Ray Mangrum | 71-74-81-71--297 | $12 |
| Jim Turnesa | 75-74-75-73--297 | $12 |
| Art Bell | 73-75-79-71--298 | |
| Leo Walper | 74-75-79-70--298 | |
| Terl Johnson | 73-76-76-74--299 | |
| a-Edwin Kingsley | 76-75-73-75--299 | |
| Frank Moore | 73-70-77-79--299 | |
| Sam Parks Jr. | 73-73-77-76--299 | |
| Billy Burke | 74-74-77-75--300 | |
| William Francis | 78-74-74-74--300 | |
| Gene Kunes | 76-73-75-76--300 | |
| Lawson Little | 69-74-76-81--300 | |
| Frank Walsh | 74-75-76-75--300 | |
| Joe Belfore | 76-76-68-81--301 | |
| a-Otto Greiner | 77-73-77-74--301 | |
| Gene Sarazen | 74-72-79-76--301 | |
| Pat Sawyer | 75-75-77-74--301 | |
| a-Willie Turnesa | 77-74-76-74--301 | |
| Bruce Coltart | 78-73-80-71--302 | |
| Tom Creavy | 72-78-77-75--302 | |
| Al Houghton | 73-76-76-77--302 | |
| Ted Luther | 73-75-77-78--303 | |
| Tony Manero | 74-76-78-76--304 | |
| Lloyd Mangrum | 70-74-81-79--304 | |
| Ted Turner | 75-74-80-76--305 | |
| George Von Elm | 72-77-76-81--306 | |
| Norman Von Nida | 79-73-72-82--306 | |
| a-Edward Meister Jr. | 71-76-81-79--307 | |
| Ben Hogan | 76-74-78-80--308 | |
| George Slingerland | 74-78-81-75--308 | |
| Frank Gelhot | 74-76-78-81--309 |
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