The 1931 U.S. Open was the 35th U.S. Open, held July 2–6 at Inverness Club in Toledo, Ohio. Billy Burke won his only major title, defeating George Von Elm in a marathon 72-hole playoff, the longest in tournament history.
Von Elm, the 1926 U.S. Amateur champion, held the 54-hole lead at 217 after rounds of 75-69-73. Burke, playing just ahead of Von Elm in the final round, carded a 73 and a 292 total. Von Elm bogeyed 12, 14, 15, and 16, and needed a birdie at 18 to force a 36-hole playoff on Sunday.
In the playoff, Von Elm and Burke were still tied after 36 holes, with Von Elm making a birdie on the 36th to extend it. In the era prior to sudden-death, 36-hole playoffs were required to break ties, so another was held the following day.
In the morning round, Von Elm shot a 76 and led by a stroke, but Burke took the lead late in the afternoon round at the 32nd and extended it to two strokes at the 34th. A bogey on the final hole narrowed Burke's victory margin to one stroke, 148 to Von Elm's 149. Burke reportedly smoked 32 cigars during the tournament, and quipped afterwards: "George Von Elm lost . I gained three."
Following this tournament, the USGA reduced the length of all future playoffs to 18 holes, which remained the format until 2018. A second playoff round was played in 1939 and 1946. Sudden-death after 18 holes was added in the 1950s, but was not needed until 1990, and was used again 1994 and 2008.
Leo Diegel made a hole-in-one during the second round, only the third in U.S. Open history and first since 1922. He missed the playoff by two strokes and finished in third place. Low-amateur went to Philip Perkins, who finished in a tie for seventh. Three-time British Open champion Henry Cotton played the first of two U.S. Open appearances this year, missing the cut. Defending champion Bobby Jones retired from competition in 1930 and did not compete.
This was the second U.S. Open at Inverness, which hosted eleven years earlier in 1920. It later hosted in 1957 and 1979, and the PGA Championship in 1986 and 1993.
Course layout
Hole123456789Out101112131415161718InTotal Yards3923881464314303503162104923,1553483805161464164413984043253,3746,529Par443444435354453444443671 Source:
Round summaries
First round Thursday, July 2, 1931 PlacePlayerScoreTo parT1 Herman Barron 71 E Mortie Dutra Charles Guest Eddie Williams 5 Al Espinosa 72 +1 T6 Billy Burke 73 +2 Henry Ciuci Bill Davies Guy Paulsen Fred Robson Joe Turnesa Frank Walsh Source:
Second round Friday, July 3, 1931 PlacePlayerScoreTo par1 George Von Elm 75-69=144 +2 T2 Billy Burke 73-72=145 +3 Eddie Williams 71-74=145T4 Herman Barron 71-75=146 +4 Charles Guest 71-75=146 Guy Paulsen 74-72=146 Macdonald Smith 73-73=146T8 Leo Diegel 75-73=148 +6 Mortie Dutra 71-77=148 Johnny Farrell 78-70=148 Walter Hagen 74-74=148 Joe Turnesa 73-75=148 Source:
Third round Saturday, July 4, 1931 (morning) PlacePlayerScoreTo par1 George Von Elm 75-69-73=217 +4 2 Billy Burke 73-72-74=219 +63 Guy Paulsen 74-72-74=220 +7T4 Mortie Dutra 71-77-73=221 +8 Walter Hagen 74-74-73=221 Macdonald Smith 73-73-75=221T7 Leo Diegel 75-73-74=222 +9 Charles Guest 71-75-76=222 T9 Wiffy Cox 76-74-74=224 +11 Herman Barron 71-75-78=224 Source:
Final round Saturday, July 4, 1931 (afternoon) PlacePlayerScoreTo parMoney ($)T1 Billy Burke 73-72-74-73=292 +8 Playoff George Von Elm 75-69-73-75=292 3 Leo Diegel 75-73-74-72=294 +10 650T4 Wiffy Cox 76-74-74-72=296 +12 450 Bill Mehlhorn 77-73-75-71=296 Gene Sarazen 74-78-74-70=296T7 Mortie Dutra 71-77-73-76=297 +13 200 Walter Hagen 74-74-73-76=297 Philip Perkins (a) 78-76-73-70=297 0T10 Al Espinosa 72-78-75-74=299 +15 105 Johnny Farrell 78-70-79-72=299 Macdonald Smith 73-73-75-78=299 (a) denotes amateur Source:
Scorecard Final round Hole 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 101112131415161718Par443444435 445344444 Burke +7+7+7+8+8+8+8+7+7+7+7+7+7+8+8+8+8+8 Von Elm +3+3+3+4+5+5+5+5+5+5+5+6+6+7+8+9+9+8 Cumulative tournament scores, relative to par {|class="wikitable" span = 50 style="font-size:85%; |- |style="background: Pink;" width=10| |Birdie |style="background: PaleGreen;" width=10| |Bogey |} Source:
Playoff First playoff Sunday, July 5, 1931 PlayerScoreTo par Billy Burke 73-76=149 +7 George Von Elm 75-74=149 +7 Source:
Scorecards Morning round Hole 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 101112131415161718Par443444435 445344444 Burke E+1+2+2+2+2+1+1E+1+1EEEEE+1+2 Von Elm E-1E+2 +4 +4+3+3+3+3+3+2+3+3+3+4+4+4
Afternoon round Hole 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 101112131415161718Par443444435 445344444 Burke +3+3+4+5+5+6+7+8+7+7+7+7+7+6+7+7+7+7 Von Elm +4+6+7+7+9+8+7+6+5+6+6+6+6+6+8+8+8+7 Cumulative playoff scores, relative to par {|class="wikitable" span = 50 style="font-size:85%; |- |style="background: Pink;" width=10| |Birdie |style="background: PaleGreen;" width=10| |Bogey |style="background: Green;" width=10| |Double bogey |} Source:
Second playoff Monday, July 6, 1931 PlacePlayerScoreTo parMoney ($)1 Billy Burke 77-71=148 +61,7502 George Von Elm 76-73=149 +71,000 Playoff bonus is included: $750 to champion, $250 to runner-up
Scorecards Morning round Hole 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 101112131415161718Par443444435 445344444 Burke +1+3+3+3+3+3+2+3+2+2+2+3+3+3+5+4+5+6 Von Elm EEE+1+1+1+2+3+3+4+3+3+5+5+5+5+5+5
Afternoon round Hole 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 101112131415161718Par443444435 445344444 Burke +6+5+5+4+5+5+6+5+5+5+5+4+5+5+5+5+5+6 Von Elm +5+5+5+6+6+6+6+7+6+5+5+5+5+6+6+7 +7 +7 Source:
References
External links USGA Championship Database USOpen.com - 1931