1956 U.S. Open (golf)

1956 U.S. Open
Tournament information
Dates	June 14–16, 1956
Location	Rochester, New York
Course(s)	Oak Hill Country Club East Course
Organized by	USGA
Tour(s)	PGA Tour
Statistics
Par	70
Length	6,902 yards (6,311 m)^[1]
Field	159 players, 51 after cut
Cut	149 (+9)
Prize fund	$24,000
Winner's share	$6,000
Champion
Cary Middlecoff
281 (+1)
«1955 1957»

Rochester

Location in the United States

Oak Hill CC

Location in New York

The 1956 U.S. Open was the 56th U.S. Open, held June 14–16 at the East Course of Oak Hill Country Club near Rochester, New York. Cary Middlecoff won his second U.S. Open title, one stroke ahead of runners-up Julius Boros and Ben Hogan, both former champions.^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4]

Middlecoff began the final round with a two-stroke lead over Hogan, Ted Kroll, and Wes Ellis. After an erratic finish where he bogeyed 16 and 17, he carded a third consecutive round of even-par 70 to post a 281 (+1) total and waited. Hogan, pursuing his record fifth U.S. Open, had a chance to tie Middlecoff but missed a 4-foot (1.2 m) par putt on the 17th to finish one back. Boros also had a chance to catch Middlecoff, but missed a 15-foot (4.5 m) birdie on the last and also finished a stroke behind. The last contender on the course, Kroll led by a stroke after a birdie at the 14th hole, but immediately followed it with a bogey and triple bogey and finished four strokes back.^[1]^[4]

Reigning British Open champion Peter Thomson made a rare appearance in the United States and finished tied for fourth, his best finish at any other major. He was the 36-hole leader by a stroke over Hogan,^[5]^[6] but fell back after a four-over 39 on the back nine in the third round.^[7] Thomson won five British Opens, and his third consecutive (1954–56) came three weeks later at Royal Liverpool.

Several future champions made their mark at this U.S. Open. Arnold Palmer, 26, recorded the first of his thirteen top ten finishes at the U.S. Open, six strokes back in seventh place. Ken Venturi captured low-amateur honors in eighth place, two months after he lost a four-stroke lead at The Masters with an 80 in the final round. Billy Casper, 24, made his major championship debut and finished 14th.

Defending champion Jack Fleck, who upset Hogan in a Sunday playoff the year before at Olympic, shot 76-74 and missed the cut by a stroke. Jack Burke, Jr., winner of the Masters two months earlier, also missed with a 152.^[6]

A record-setting 13,914 were in attendance for the final two rounds on Saturday.^[1]

This was the first of three U.S. Opens at the East Course at Oak Hill; Lee Trevino won in 1968 and Curtis Strange successfully defended in 1989. It also hosted the PGA Championship in 1980, 2003, and 2013, and the Ryder Cup in 1995.

Past champions in the field

Made the cut

Player	Country	Year(s) won	R1	R2	R3	R4	Total	To par	Finish
Cary Middlecoff	United States	1949	71	70	70	70	281	+1	1
Julius Boros	United States	1952	71	71	71	69	282	+2	T2
Ben Hogan	United States	1948, 1950, 1951, 1953	72	68	72	70	282	+2	T2
Ed Furgol	United States	1954	71	70	73	71	285	+5	T4

Source:^[2]

Missed the cut

Player	Country	Year won	R1	R2	Total	To par
Jack Fleck	United States	1955	76	74	150	+10
Lew Worsham	United States	1947	83	72	155	+15

Source:^[5]

Round summaries

First round

Thursday, June 14, 1956

Place	Player	Country	Score	To par
1	Bob Rosburg	United States	68	−2
2	Peter Thomson	Australia	70	E
T3	Errie Ball	Wales	71	+1
	Julius Boros	United States
	Wes Ellis	United States
	Doug Ford	United States
	Ed Furgol	United States
	Jay Hebert	United States
	Cary Middlecoff	United States
T10	Jerry Barber	United States	72	+2
	Al Brosch	United States
	Dave Douglas	United States
	Fred Haas	United States
	E. J. Harrison	United States
	Ben Hogan	United States
	Bill Hyndman (a)	United States
	Ted Kroll	United States
	Billy Maxwell	United States
	Arnold Palmer	United States
	Frank Taylor, Jr. (a)	United States

Source:^[8]

Second round

Friday, June 15, 1956

Place	Player	Country	Score	To par
1	Peter Thomson	Australia	70-69=139	−1
2	Ben Hogan	United States	72-68=140	E
T3	Jerry Barber	United States	72-69=141	+1
	Wes Ellis	United States	71-70=141
	Ed Furgol	United States	71-70=141
	Cary Middlecoff	United States	71-70=141
T7	Julius Boros	United States	71-71=142	+2
	Ted Kroll	United States	72-70=142
	Arnold Palmer	United States	72-70=142
T10	Fred Haas	United States	72-71=143	+3
	Billy Maxwell	United States	72-71=143
	Frank Taylor, Jr. (a)	United States	72-71=143

Source:^[5]^[6]

Amateurs: Taylor (+3), Ward (+7), Hyndman (+8), Patton (+8), Venturi (+8), Garrett (+9), Magee (+10), Ervasti (+11), Rodgers (+11), Simmons (+11), Dahlbender (+12), Holland (+12), Croonquist (+15), Shields (+16), Kuntz (+17), Moore Jr (+18), Aldrich (+19), Dixon (+20), Kelly (+23), Beman (+24), Myers (+25), Kleist (+27), Deal (+30), Watson (+34), Mandeville (+35), Brownell (WD).

Third round

Saturday, June 16, 1956 (morning)

Place	Player	Country	Score	To par
1	Cary Middlecoff	United States	71-70-70=211	+1
T2	Wes Ellis	United States	71-70-71=212	+2
	Ben Hogan	United States	72-68-72=212
	Ted Kroll	United States	72-70-70=212
5	Julius Boros	United States	71-71-71=213	+3
T6	Ed Furgol	United States	71-70-73=214	+4
	Arnold Palmer	United States	72-70-72=214
	Peter Thomson	Australia	70-69-75=214
T9	Jerry Barber	United States	72-69-74=215	+5
T9	Fred Haas	United States	72-71-72=215	+5

Source:^[2]^[4]^[9]

Final round

Saturday, June 16, 1956 (afternoon)

Place	Player	Country	Score	To par	Money ($)
1	Cary Middlecoff	United States	71-70-70-70=281	+1	6,000
T2	Julius Boros	United States	71-71-71-69=282	+2	2,650
T2	Ben Hogan	United States	72-68-72-70=282	+2	2,650
T4	Ed Furgol	United States	71-70-73-71=285	+5	1,033
	Ted Kroll	United States	72-70-70-73=285
	Peter Thomson	Australia	70-69-75-71=285
7	Arnold Palmer	United States	72-70-72-73=287	+7	600
8	Ken Venturi (a)	United States	77-71-68-73=289	+9	0
T9	Jerry Barber	United States	72-69-74-75=290	+10	416
	Wes Ellis	United States	71-70-71-78=290
	Doug Ford	United States	71-75-70-74=290

Source:^[2]^[4]^[9]

Amateurs: Venturi (+9), Patton (+12), Taylor (+18), Hyndman (+20), Ward (+25), Garrett (+29).

References

1 2 3 4 "Middlecoff wins US Open with 281". Milwaukee Journal. Associated Press. June 17, 1956. p. 1-sports.
1 2 3 4 Bartlett, Charles (June 17, 1956). "Middlecoff wins Open by stroke". Chicago Sunday Tribune. p. 1, sec. 2.
↑ Drum, Bob (June 17, 1956). "Middlecorr edges Hogan, Boros for Open title". Pittsburgh Press. p. 1, sec. 4.
1 2 3 4 Wind, Herbert Warren (June 25, 1956). "The Chase of the Doc at Oak Hill". Sports Illustrated. p. 6.
1 2 3 Bartlett, Charles (June 16, 1956). "Thomson leads Hogan by stroke in Open". Chicago Daily Tribune. p. 1, sec. 3.
1 2 3 "Peter Thomson shoots 139, leads Open". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. June 16, 1956. p. 11.
↑ "US Open led by Middlecoff". Eugene Register-Guard. Associated Press. June 16, 1956. p. 10.
↑ Bartlett, Charles (June 15, 1956). "Rosburg scores 68 for lead in National Open". Chicago Daily Tribune. p. 1, sec. 4.
1 2 "Middlecoff edges Hogan, Boros to win US Open golf". Montreal Gazette. Associated Press. June 18, 1956. p. 26.

External links

1956 Men's Major Golf Championships
The Masters U.S. Open The Open Championship PGA Championship

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Key figures

Dan Hicks (Host) Johnny Miller (Analyst) Gary Koch (Tower Announcer) Peter Jacobsen (Tower Announcer) Roger Maltbie (On-Course Reporter) Mark Rolfing (On-Course Reporter) Notah Begay III (On-Course Reporter) Jimmy Roberts (Host/Essayist)
By event	Open Championship Presidents Cup Ryder Cup U.S. Open
Music composers	Bruce Rowland (The Man from Snowy River "Main Title") Yanni ("In Celebration of Man")

Coordinates: 43°06′47″N 77°31′59″W / 43.113°N 77.533°W / 43.113; -77.533

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