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1955 U.S. Open (golf)

Field	Value
name	1955 U.S. Open
dates	June 16–19, 1955
location	San Francisco, California
course	Olympic Club, Lake Course
tour	PGA Tour
org	USGA
par	70
yardage	6700 yd
field	158 players, 58 after cut
cut	155 (+15)
winners_share	$6,000
champion	USA Jack Fleck
score	287 (+7), playoff
previous	[1954](1954-u-s-open-golf)
next	[1956](1956-u-s-open-golf)

|USA The 1955 U.S. Open was the 55th U.S. Open, held June 16–19 at the Lake Course of the Olympic Club in San Francisco, California. In one of the greatest upsets in golf history, Jack Fleck, a municipal course pro from Iowa, prevailed in an 18-hole playoff to win his only major title and denied Ben Hogan a record fifth U.S. Open.

Fleck, 32, won two more titles on the PGA Tour and later won the Senior PGA Championship in 1979. He won the U.S. Open with clubs manufactured by Hogan's company.

Hogan, 42, never did win his fifth U.S. Open or a tenth major; he won just one more tour event the rest of his career, in 1959. It was his fourth and final playoff in a major championship, all at 18 holes. Hogan won at the U.S. Open in 1950 but lost twice by a stroke at the Masters, to Byron Nelson in 1942 and Sam Snead in 1954. He repeated as runner-up at the U.S. Open in 1956, and had top ten finishes in 1958, 1959, and 1960. (A pre-tournament favorite in 1957, he withdrew due to a back ailment before teeing off.) When the U.S. Open returned to Olympic in 1966, Hogan finished twelfth at age 53 and received a standing ovation at the 72nd green.

Byron Nelson came out of semi-retirement to play in his final U.S. Open and finished in 28th place. Arnold Palmer made the cut for the first time at the U.S. Open and finished in 21st. For the first time since 1919, Gene Sarazen did not play in the U.S. Open, ending a streak of 31 consecutive appearances.

This was the first U.S. Open at the Lake Course of the Olympic Club; it returned in 1966, 1987, 1998, and 2012.

Course layout

Lake Course

Hole	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Out	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	In	Total
Yards	530	423	220	433	457	437	266	139	420	3,325	417	429	387	187	410	144	603	461	337	3,375	6,700
Par	5	4	3	4	4	4	4	3	4	35	4	4	4	3	4	3	5	4	4	35	70

Round summaries

First round

Thursday, June 16, 1955

Place	Player	Score	To par
1		USA Tommy Bolt	67	−3
2	USA Walker Inman	70	E
3	USA Jack Burke Jr.	71	+1
4	USA Ben Hogan	72	+2
T5	USA Mike Souchak	73	+3
USA Babe Lichardus
T7	USA Doug Ford	74	+4
USA Harvie Ward (a)
USA Arthur Bell
PHI Celestino Tugot
USA Fred Hawkins
USA Elmer Reed

Source:

Second round

Friday, June 17, 1955

Place	Player	Score	To par
T1	USA Harvie Ward (a)	74-70=144	+4
USA Tommy Bolt	67-77=144
T3	USA Julius Boros	76-69=145	+5
USA Jack Fleck	76-69=145
USA Ben Hogan	72-73=145
USA Walker Inman	70-75=145
T7	USA Sam Snead	79-69=148	+8
USA Bob Harris	79-69=148
USA Jack Burke Jr.	71-77=148
10	USA Gene Littler	76-73=149	+9

Source:

Third round

Saturday, June 18, 1955 (morning)

Place	Player	Score	To par
1	USA Ben Hogan	72-73-72=217	+7
T2	USA Julius Boros	76-69-73=218	+8
USA Sam Snead	79-69-70=218
T4	USA Tommy Bolt	67-77-75=219	+9
USA Bob Rosburg	78-74-67=219
T6	USA Jack Fleck	76-69-75=220	+10
USA Harvie Ward (a)	74-70-76=220
USA Jack Burke Jr.	71-77-72=220
9	USA Walker Inman	70-75-76=221	+11
10	USA Gene Littler	76-73-73=222	+12

Final round

Saturday, June 18, 1955 (afternoon)

After Hogan made par on the 72nd hole to post a 287 total, most observers believed that he had already locked up the championship. Gene Sarazen, providing television commentary, congratulated him on the win and the NBC broadcast went off the air after proclaiming Hogan the champion. Fleck, however, was only a stroke behind playing the 14th. A bogey there, however, dropped him to two back. Fleck then made birdie on 15 and pars at 16 and 17, after a 50 ft birdie attempt lipped out. Needing a birdie on 18 to tie Hogan, Fleck played his approach from the edge of the rough to 8 ft, then knocked in the putt for a 67 and forced an 18-hole playoff on Sunday.

Place	Player	Score	To par	Money ($)
T1	USA Jack Fleck	76-69-75-67=287	+7	Playoff
USA Ben Hogan	72-73-72-70=287
T3	USA Tommy Bolt	67-77-75-73=292	+12	1,500
USA Sam Snead	79-69-70-74=292
T5	USA Julius Boros	76-69-73-77=295	+15	870
USA Bob Rosburg	78-74-67-76=295
T7	USA Doug Ford	74-77-74-71=296	+16	540
USA Bud Holscher	77-75-71-73=296
USA Harvie Ward (a)	74-70-76-76=296	0
T10	USA Jack Burke Jr.	71-77-72-77=297	+17	390
USA Mike Souchak	73-79-72-73=297

:(a) denotes amateur

Playoff

Sunday, June 19, 1955

Despite overwhelming odds against him, Fleck held a two-stroke lead over Hogan at the turn. After a third consecutive birdie at 10, Fleck's lead was three. But after a bogey at 17, the lead had dropped to just a single stroke on the 18th tee. Hogan hooked his drive into the very deep rough and took three strokes to get on the fairway: he made a 25 ft putt to save double-bogey,

Place	Player	Score	To par	Money ($)
1	USA Jack Fleck	69	−1	6,000
2	USA Ben Hogan	72	+2	3,600

Scorecard

Hole	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18
Par	5	4	3	4	4	4	4	3	4	4	4	4	3	4	3	5	4	4
USA Fleck	E	E	E	E	E	E	E	−1	−2	−3	−2	−2	−2	−2	−2	−2	−1	−1
USA Hogan	E	E	E	E	+1	+1	+1	E	E	E	E	+1	+1	E	E	E	E	+2

:{|class="wikitable" span = 50 style="font-size:85%; |- |Eagle-- |Birdie |Bogey |Double bogey |Triple bogey+ -- |} Source:

References

(June 17, 1955). "Harvey Ward Ties Bolt for Open Lead at 144". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
Wolfe, Don. (June 13, 1957). "Ben Hogan Withdraws From National Open Play As Ailments Refuse To Respond To Treatment". Toledo Blade.
(June 14, 1957). "Dejected Hogan Quits Because Of Backache". Montreal Gazette.
(June 24, 1957). "Fame Calls On Dick Mayer".
(June 20, 1966). "Hot Casper catches Arnie to throw Open into playoff". Spokesman-Review.
(June 20, 1955). "Jack Fleck Registers 69 to Beat Ben Hogan by 3 Strokes for National Open Title". Youngstown Vindicator.
(June 15, 1955). "First Round Open Scores". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
(June 18, 1955). "Bolt (77), Ward (70) Tied At 144 For Lead In US Open". Montreal Gazette.
(June 19, 1955). "Fleck equals Hogan's 287 on final hole". Spokesman-Review.
"U.S. Open history: 1955". USGA.
(June 20, 1955). "Playoff Cards". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

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