The 1929 U.S. Open was the 33rd U.S. Open, held June 27–30 at Winged Foot Golf Club in Mamaroneck, New York, a suburb northeast of New York City. Bobby Jones won his third U.S. Open title in a 36-hole playoff, besting Al Espinosa by 23 strokes on the West Course.
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 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 HoleNameYardsPar HoleNameYardsPar1Genesis4454 10Pulpit19032Elm376411Billows37843Pinnacle217312Cape49754Sound View406413White Mule21335Long Lane517514Shamrock37646El323415Pyramid39747Babe-in-the-Woods170316Hells Bells45658Arena439417Well-Well45049Meadow517518Revelations4194Out3,41036In3,37636Source:Total 6,78672
Round summaries First round Thursday, June 27, 1929 PlacePlayerScoreTo par1 Bobby Jones (a) 69 −32 Al Espinosa 70 −23 Gene Sarazen 71 −1T4 Chris Hilgendorf 72 E Jack White T6 Leonard Schnutte 73 +1 Denny ShuteT8 Tommy Armour 74 +2 Wiffy Cox Jack Cummins (a) Leo Diegel Ted Longworth Larry Nabholtz Source:
Second round Friday, June 28, 1929 PlacePlayerScoreTo parT1 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 +1T6 Leo Diegel 74-74=148 +4 Leonard Schnutte 73-75=148T8 George Von Elm (a) 79-70=149 +5T9 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) PlacePlayerScoreTo par1 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 +5T6 George Von Elm (a) 79-70-74=223 +7 Peter O'Hara 74-76-73=223T8 Henry Ciuci 78-74-72=224 +8 Leo Diegel 74-74-76=22410 Horton Smith 76-77-74=227 +11 Source:
Final round Saturday, June 29, 1929 (afternoon) PlacePlayerScoreTo parMoney ($)T1 Bobby Jones (a) 69-75-71-79=294 +6 Playoff Al Espinosa 70-72-77-75=294 T3 Gene Sarazen 71-71-76-78=296 +8 700 Denny Shute 73-71-76-76=296T5 Tommy Armour 74-71-76-76=297 +9 550 George Von Elm (a) 79-70-74-74=297 07 Henry Ciuci 78-74-72-75=299 +11 450T8 Leo Diegel 74-74-76-77=301 +13 300 Peter O'Hara 74-76-73-78=30110 Horton Smith 76-77-74-75=302 +14 150 Source: (a) denotes amateur
Scorecard Final round Hole 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Par443454345 345344544 Jones −1E−1−1−1−1−1+2+1+2+2+2+3+3+6+6+6+6 Espinosa+4+4+3+4+3+3+4+4+3+4+5+8+8+8+8+7+6+6 Sarazen+3+3+3+3+4+5+5+7+7+7+7+7+7+7+8+7+8+8 Shute+6+7+7+7+8+7+7+7+6+7+6+6+6+6+7+7+7+8 Cumulative tournament scores, relative to par Source:
Playoff Sunday, June 30, 1929 PlacePlayerScoreTo parMoney ($)1 Bobby Jones (a) 72-69=141 −302 Al Espinosa 84-80=164 +201,000 Source:
Scorecards Morning round Hole123456789101112131415161718Par443454345 345344544 Jones +2+2+3+3+2+1+1+1+1+1E−1E−1+1EEE EspinosaE+1+1+1+1+1+2+3+3+5+5+8+8+8+8+9+11+12
Afternoon round Hole123456789101112131415161718Par443454345 345344544 Jones E+1+1+1+1+1EEEEE−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 {|class="wikitable" span = 50 style="font-size:85%; |- |style="background: Pink;" width=10| |Birdie |style="background: PaleGreen;" width=10| |Bogey |style="background: Green;" width=10| |Double bogey |style="background: Olive;" width=10| |Triple bogey+ |} Source:
References
External links USGA Championship Database USOpen.com – 1929