The 1928 U.S. Open was the 32nd

U.S. Open U.S. Open or US Open are open championship sporting tournaments that are hosted in the United States and in which anyone, especially amateur and professional, or American and non-American, may compete. The term may also be applied to non-sporting ev ...

, held June 21–24 at Course No. 4 of

Olympia Fields Country Club Olympia Fields Country Club is a private golf club in the Midwestern United States, central United States, located in Olympia Fields, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago, about south of Chicago Loop, The Loop. It contains two eighteen-hole courses, N ...

Olympia Fields, Illinois Olympia Fields is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The population was 4,718 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is a southern suburb of Chicago. The municipality grew up around the prestigious Olympia Fields Coun ...

, a suburb south of

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Johnny Farrell John Joseph Farrell (April 1, 1901 – June 14, 1988) was an American professional golfer, best known for winning the U.S. Open in 1928. Over the course of his career, he won 22 PGA Tour events. Early life Born in White Plains, New York, Farrel ...

defeated noted amateur Bobby Jones in a 36-hole playoff to win his only

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title. For Jones, a two-time champion in

1923 In Greece, this year contained only 352 days as 13 days was skipped to achieve the calendrical switch from Julian to Gregorian Calendar. It happened there that Wednesday, 15 February ''(Julian Calendar)'' was followed by Thursday, 1 March ' ...

and

1926 In Turkey, the year technically contained only 352 days. As Friday, December 18, 1926 ''(Julian Calendar)'' was followed by Saturday, January 1, 1927 '' (Gregorian Calendar)''. 13 days were dropped to make the switch. Turkey thus became the ...

, it was his second playoff loss at the U.S. Open in four years and his fourth finish as a runner-up. He won the next two in

1929 This year marked the end of a period known in American history as the Roaring Twenties after the Wall Street Crash of 1929 ushered in a worldwide Great Depression. In the Americas, an agreement was brokered to end the Cristero War, a Catholic ...

and

1930 Events January * January 15 – The Moon moves into its nearest point to Earth, called perigee, at the same time as its fullest phase of the Lunar Cycle. This is the closest moon distance at in recent history, and the next one will be on J ...

. Jones jumped out to the 36-hole lead with rounds of 73-71, two shots ahead of

George Von Elm George "Gix" Von Elm (March 20, 1901 – May 1, 1961) was an American professional golfer most noted for his amateur career. He was selected by ''Golf Digest'' as Utah's greatest amateur golfer, and in the early 1960s was named Utah Golfer of the ...

and Bill Leach. After a 73 in the third round, Jones took a two-stroke lead over Leach and

Henry Ciuci Henry Ciuci (April 25, 1903 – January 1986) was an American professional golfer. He won six official PGA Tour events in the late 1920s and early 1930s, and was one of the Tour's most successful performers between 1928 and 1931. Professional c ...

into the final round. Five strokes behind Jones was Farrell, who had recorded rounds of 77-74-71. Farrell teed off well before Jones and shot 72 and a 294 total. With Jones still on the course with the lead, Farrell did not believe he had a chance of winning. In his final round, Jones was uncharacteristically erratic on holes six through ten, at seven-over-par for those five holes. He regrouped on the last eight holes and carded a 77 (+6) for 294 (+10).

Gene Sarazen Gene Sarazen (; born Eugenio Saraceni, February 27, 1902 – May 13, 1999) was an American professional golfer, one of the world's top players in the 1920s and 1930s, and the winner of seven major championships. He is one of six players (alon ...

informed Farrell in the clubhouse that he and Jones were tied. Roland Hancock, age 21, would have won the championship by two strokes had he parred the final two holes, but he double-bogeyed 17 and bogeyed 18 to fall a shot out of the playoff. This was the first year that the

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implemented a 36-hole playoff. On the first 18, Farrell shot a 70 to Jones' 73. Beginning the second 18, however, Jones quickly got back to all square after two holes. Jones double-bogeyed the 4th to give Farrell a two-stroke lead once again, but three consecutive bogeys beginning at the 10th knocked Farrell out of the lead. Now trailing by one with six holes to play, Farrell nearly aced the par-3 13th, recording a birdie to tie up the match. At the 16th, Jones missed a short putt to give Farrell the lead. At 17, Farrell hit a superb approach to , while Jones was away. Jones made his birdie putt to put pressure on Farrell, who responded by holing out. At the par-5 18th, both Jones and Farrell recorded birdies, clinching a one-stroke victory for Farrell in the rain. The next playoff at the U.S. Open was the following year, won by Jones by 23 strokes. The playoff in

1931 Events January * January 2 – South Dakota native Ernest Lawrence invents the cyclotron, used to accelerate particles to study nuclear physics. * January 4 – German pilot Elly Beinhorn begins her flight to Africa. * January 22 – Sir I ...

was tied after 36 holes, resulting in a second 36-hole playoff, which caused the USGA to return to the 18-hole format. The next playoff in

1939 This year also marks the start of the World War II, Second World War, the largest and deadliest conflict in human history. Events Events related to World War II have a "WWII" prefix. January * January 1 ** Coming into effect in Nazi Ger ...

was reduced back to 18 holes, but the top two competitors were tied and it went another 18 holes. Sudden-death following the round was not introduced until the 1950s, and not needed until

1990 Important events of 1990 include the Reunification of Germany and the unification of Yemen, the formal beginning of the Human Genome Project (finished in 2003), the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the separation of Namibia from South ...

; it was used again in

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

and

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. The four 18-hole courses at Olympia Fields were reduced to two in the late 1940s when the club sold half of its property. Course No. 4 became the North course, and the South course is a composite of holes from the other three.

Course layout

Course No. 4 Source:

Round summaries

First round

''Thursday, June 21, 1928'' Source:

Second round

''Friday, June 22, 1928'' Source:

Third round

''Saturday, June 23, 1928 (morning)'' Source:

Final round

''Saturday, June 23, 1928 (afternoon)'' Source: :(a) denotes amateur

Scorecard

''Final round'' ''Cumulative tournament scores, relative to par''
Source:

Playoff

''Sunday, June 24, 1928 (36 holes)''

Scorecards

''Morning round'' ''Afternoon round'' ''Cumulative playoff scores, relative to par'' Source:

References

External links

USGA Championship DatabaseOlympia Fields Country Club
{{coord, 41.521, -87.687, type:event, display=title U.S. Open (golf) Golf tournaments in Illinois Sports in Cook County, Illinois

U.S. Open golf U.S. Open golf U.S. Open golf