1954 U.S. Open (golf)

Lower Course |USA |USA New Jersey |USA New Jersey Union County Union County The 1954 U.S. Open was the 54th U.S. Open, held June 17–19 at Baltusrol Golf Club in Springfield, New Jersey, west of New York City. On the Lower Course, Ed Furgol won his only major title, one stroke ahead of runner-up Gene Littler.

Littler owned the 36-hole lead by two strokes over defending champion Ben Hogan and Furgol. After a 76 in the third round, Littler fell three strokes back of Furgol, who shot a 71 to take a one-stroke lead over Dick Mayer. Hogan made four bogeys at the first six holes and fell out of contention with a 76.

In the final round on Saturday afternoon, Littler rebounded with a 70, but it was not enough. Furgol was helped by a great recovery on the 18th. After hitting his drive into the trees, he played his escape shot onto the 18th fairway of Baltusrol's other course. From there he managed to make par, carding a 72 for a 284 total. Mayer was tied with Furgol as he played 18, but he double-bogeyed the hole to fall into third.

This U.S. Open was the first to be nationally televised, one hour of the final round, carried by NBC. It was also the first in which ropes were used to control the gallery, and prize money was increased by 20% over the previous year. This was the fourth U.S. Open at Baltusrol, but the first on the Lower Course, which later hosted in 1967, 1980, and 1993.

Round summaries

First round

Thursday, June 17, 1954

Place	Player	Score	To par
1	USA Billy Joe Patton (a)	69	−1
T2	USA Ted Kroll	70	E
USA Gene Littler
USA Bob Toski
T5	USA Ed Furgol	71	+1
USA Ben Hogan
USA Al Mengert
T8	USA Tommy Bolt	72	+2
USA Leland Gibson
USA Lloyd Mangrum
USA Dick Mayer
USA Cary Middlecoff
USA Johnny Revolta
USA Sam Snead
USA Robert Watson
USA Lew Worsham

Source:

Second round

Friday, June 18, 1954

Place	Player	Score	To par
1	USA Gene Littler	70-69=139	−1
T2	USA Ed Furgol	71-70=141	+1
USA Ben Hogan	71-70=141
T4	USA Lloyd Mangrum	72-71=143	+3
USA Dick Mayer	72-71=143
USA Al Mengert	71-72=143
USA Cary Middlecoff	72-71=143
T8	USA Tommy Bolt	72-72=144	+4
USA Dick Chapman (a)	77-67=143
ZAF Bobby Locke	74-70=144
USA Bob Toski	70-74=144

Source:

Third round

Saturday, June 19, 1954 (morning)

Place	Player	Score	To par
1	USA Ed Furgol	71-70-71=212	+2
2	USA Dick Mayer	72-71-70=213	+3
T3	USA Gene Littler	70-69-76=215	+5
USA Lloyd Mangrum	72-71-72=215
USA Cary Middlecoff	72-71-72=215
T6		USA Al Mengert	71-72-73=216	+6
USA Billy Joe Patton (a)	69-76-71=216
T8	USA Tommy Bolt	72-72-73=217	+7
USA Fred Haas	73-73-71=217
USA Jay Hebert	77-70-70=217
USA Ben Hogan	71-70-76=217
USA Sam Snead	72-73-72=217

Source:

Final round

Saturday, June 19, 1954 (afternoon)

Place	Player	Score	To par	Money ($)
1	USA **Ed Furgol**	71-70-71-72=284	+4	6,000
2	USA Gene Littler	70-69-76-70=285	+5	3,600
T3	USA Lloyd Mangrum	72-71-72-71=286	+6	1,500
USA Dick Mayer	72-71-70-73=286
5	ZAF Bobby Locke	74-70-74-70=288	+8	960
T6	USA Tommy Bolt	72-72-73-72=289	+9	570
USA Fred Haas	73-73-71-72=289
USA Ben Hogan	71-70-76-72=289
USA Shelley Mayfield	73-75-72-69=289
USA Billy Joe Patton (a)	69-76-71-73=289	0

Source: :(a) denotes amateur