1933 U.S. Open (golf)

The 1933 U.S. Open was the 37th U.S. Open, held June 8–10 at North Shore Country Club in Glenview, Illinois, a suburb northwest of Chicago. Amateur Johnny Goodman outlasted Ralph Guldahl by a single stroke to win his only major championship.

Contents

• Made the cut
• Missed the cut
• Final leaderboard
• Scorecard
• References

Goodman's victory at the U.S. Open 84 years ago was the eighth and last by an amateur; Bobby Jones won four, the last in 1930 was part of his grand slam.

Goodman, an Omaha insuranace salesman, opened with a 75 (+3), which put him seven strokes off the lead held by 1927 champion Tommy Armour. His second round was one for the record books, as he tied Gene Sarazen's tournament record with a 66 (−6). Following a third round 70 in which he needed just 28 putts, Goodman had a six-stroke lead over Guldahl. After opening his final round with an eagle and birdie, Goodman's play suddenly declined as he shot six over par for the next six holes. Guldahl was now only two shots out of the lead. Goodman bounced back and recorded four consecutive pars after making the turn. He bogeyed 14, came back with a birdie at 15, but then bogeyed 17. A par at the last gave him a 76 and a 287 total. At the final hole, Guldahl found a greenside bunker and missed the 4-foot (1.2 m) putt to save par that would have forced a playoff. Brothers Mortie and Olin Dutra both placed in the top-10, finishing 6th and 7th, respectively. Olin won the title the next year, at Merion.

Through 2014, Goodman's victory is the last by an amateur in a major championship. The closest an amateur has come to a U.S. Open title since was in 1960, when 20-year-old Jack Nicklaus of Ohio State was the runner-up, two strokes back. Ken Venturi, age 24, led the Masters in 1956 for the first three rounds, but finished as the runner-up by a stroke. The most recent top ten finish at the U.S. Open by an amateur was in 1971, when 54-hole leader Jim Simons of Wake Forest placed fifth.

Goodman's only other top ten finish at the U.S. Open was in 1937, in eighth place as low amateur; he won the U.S. Amateur championship later that year.