The 1938 U.S. Open was the 42nd U.S. Open, held June 9–11 at Cherry Hills Country Club in Englewood, Colorado, a suburb south of Denver. Defending champion Ralph Guldahl won his second straight U.S. Open title, six strokes ahead of runner-up Dick Metz. It was the second of Guldahl's three major titles.

Metz owned a four-stroke lead over Guldahl after Saturday morning's third round, but Metz struggled in the afternoon and shot a 79 (+8) to finish at 290 (+6). Guldahl began his round with two birdies in his first six holes on his way to a 69 (−2) and an even-par 284 total, six strokes ahead of Metz. His six-shot victory was the largest since Jim Barnes won by nine strokes in 1921. Guldahl became the fourth player to successfully defend at the U.S. Open, joining Willie Anderson, John McDermott, and Bobby Jones. There have only been three since: Ben Hogan in 1951, Curtis Strange in 1989 and Brooks Koepka in 2018.

In the second round, Ray Ainsley set a dubious record by shooting a 19 on the par-4 16th hole. Ainsley's ball landed in a creek, and instead of taking a drop he continued to play the ball out. He shot 96 (+25) for the round and missed the cut.

This was the first U.S. Open played in the western United States. The U.S. Open returned in 1960 and 1978, and the PGA Championship was played here in 1941 and 1985. The average elevation of the course exceeds above sea level.

This was the first U.S. Open in which the players were limited to a maximum of 14 clubs; the USGA rule (4-4) went into effect in January 1938. Guldahl won the title the previous year with 19 clubs in his bag.

Round summaries First round Thursday, June 9, 1938 PlacePlayerScoreTo parT1 Jimmy Hines 70 −1 Henry Picard 3 John Rogers 71 E 4 Emery Zimmerman 72 +1 T5 Dick Metz 73 +2 Willie Hunter T7 Ted Adams (a) 74 +3 Dick Chapman (a) Olin Dutra Alex Follmer Jim Foulis Ralph Guldahl Alvin Krueger Levi Lynch Tony Manero Johnny Revolta Gene Sarazen Wilford Wehrle (a) Source:

Second round Friday, June 10, 1938 PlacePlayerScoreTo par1 Henry Picard 70-70=140 −2 2 Dick Metz 73-68=141 −1 T3 Jug McSpaden 76-67=143 +1 Emery Zimmerman 72-71=143 5 Ralph Guldahl 74-70=144 +2 T6 Harry Cooper 76-69=145 +3 Olin Dutra 74-71=145 Jimmy Hines 70-75=145 Willie Hunter 73-72=145 10 Johnny Revolta 74-72=146 +4 Source:

Third round Saturday, June 11, 1938 (morning) PlacePlayerScoreTo par1 Dick Metz 73-68-70=211 −2 2 Jimmy Hines 70-75-69=214 +1 3 Ralph Guldahl 74-70-71=215 +2 4 Emery Zimmerman 72-71-73=216 +3 T5 Jug McSpaden 76-67-74=217 +4 Henry Picard 70-70-77=217T7 John Rogers 71-76-73=220 +7 Denny Shute 77-71-72=220T9 Harry Cooper 76-69-76=221 +8 George Von Elm 78-72-71=221 Source:

Final round Saturday, June 11, 1938 (afternoon) PlacePlayerScoreTo parMoney ($)1 Ralph Guldahl 74-70-71-69=284 E 1,0002 Dick Metz 73-68-70-79=290 +6 800T3 Harry Cooper 76-69-76-71=292 +8 650 Toney Penna 78-72-74-68=292T5 Byron Nelson 77-71-74-72=294 +10 412 Emery Zimmerman 72-71-73-78=294 T7 Frank Moore 79-73-72-71=295 +11 216 Henry Picard 70-70-77-78=295 Paul Runyan 78-71-72-74=29510 Gene Sarazen 74-74-75-73=296 +12 106 Source:

References

External links USGA Championship Database