1909 U.S. Open Golf Tournament Winner and Scores

The 1909 U.S. Open was the 15th time the tournament was played. It was one of the best-scoring tournaments in the major championship's early history.

Winner: George Sargent, 290

Where it was played: Englewood Golf Club in Englewood, New Jersey

Tournament dates: June 24-25, 1909

Leader after first round: David Hunter, 68

Leader after second round: Tom McNamara, 142

Leader after third round: Tom McNamara, 217

What Happened in the 1909 U.S. Open

George Sargent was the 1909 U.S. Open with a score 290 — the lowest score yet recorded in the U.S. Open and also lower than any British Open winning total to this point.

Sargent's winning total wasn't the only scoring record set here, though. In the first round, David Hunter scored 68. That was the first score under 70 in U.S. Open history. Unfortunately for Hunter, he had an 84 in both the second and third rounds and finished well back of Sargent.

Tom McNamara had the second sub-70 round in tournament history with a second-round 69. That gave him a four-stroke lead after 36 holes. Sargent opened 75-72, five behind McNamara.

The tournament was played over two days, 36 holes per day. On the morning of Day 2, Sargent closed to within two strokes of McNamara's lead after they scored 72 and 75, respectively. In the final round that afternoon, McNamara struggled to a 77, while Sargent had an excellent 71 to win by four strokes.

Although McNamara didn't win, his solo second-place finish was the best showing yet by an American golfer in the U.S. Open. Every winner to this point (and for one more year) was British. The first American U.S. Open champ was Johnny McDermott, who won the 1911 U.S. Open. McDermott made his tournament debut this year at age 17, finishing 49th.

Horace Rawlins, the very first tournament champ as winner of the 1895 U.S. Open, completed this tournament for the last time. He placed 60th, last among those who made the cut. He entered once more, in 1912, but missed the cut that year.

Sargent, from England, went on to win the 1912 Canadian Open. From 1911 through 1916, he finished in the Top 10 of the U.S. Open five out of six years, with a best of tied third in 1914. His 290 total in the 1909 U.S. Open was five strokes better than anyone had scored previously.

1909 U.S. Open Final Scores

George Sargent 75-72-72-71—290
Tom McNamara 73-69-75-77—294
Alex Smith 76-73-74-72—295
Willie Anderson 79-74-76-70—299
Jack Hobens 75-78-72-74—299
Isaac Mackie 77-75-74-73—299
Tom Anderson Jr. 78-74-75-73—300
Herbert Barker 75-79-73-73—300
Andrew Campbell 71-75-77-77—300
Tom Peebles 76-73-73-78—300
a-Walter Travis 72-78-77-73—300
Mike Brady 76-77-74-75—302
Alex Campbell 75-73-81-74—303
Fred McLeod 78-76-74-75—303
Orrin Terry 78-80-73-73—304
a-F.R. Upton Jr. 72-79-78-75—304
Gilbert Nicholls 73-75-79-79—306
Walter Fovargue 80-76-77-74—307
David Ogilvie 76-78-79-74—307
Peter Robertson 79-72-78-79—308
Charles Rowe 74-77-76-81—308
Jack Campbell 74-79-75-81—309
Laurie Auchterlonie 78-75-77-81—311
a-S. Findlay Douglas 82-76-78-75—311
Jock Hutchison 79-76-77-79—311
Tom Vardon 80-75-82-74—311
John Dingwall 79-74-77-82—312
George Low 78-75-74-85—312
James Maiden 76-78-80-78—312
Jack Burke Sr. 75-78-81-79—313
David Hunter 68-84-84-77—313
Charles Murray 77-75-77-84—313
George Sparling 78-79-76-81—314
James Thompson 78-80-78-78—314
Robert Thompson 83-78-78-75—314
Alex Ross 76-79-78-84—317
Walter Clark 82-79-72-84—317
Herbert Strong 75-79-80-83—317
Joe Mitchell 83-78-79-78—318
Albert H. Murray 80-80-82-76—318
Frederick Pye 78-81-78-81—318
a-Gilman Tiffany 81-81-79-77—318
Alex Cunningham 82-77-82-79—320
George Turnbull 80-76-82-82—320
Fred Brand 77-75-83-86—321
Richard Kimball 77-82-77-85—321
Robert Simpson 84-76-77-84—321
Jack Croke 81-84-79-78—322
Elijah Horton 79-85-76-82—322
John McDermott 80-81-78-83—322
George Gordon 84-79-81-79—323
a-W.F. Morgan Jr. 78-84-84-78—324
Harry Vinall 80-80-83-81—324
a-Max Behr 81-83-83-78—325
W.D. Robinson 84-81-82-79—326
William Byrne 86-77-82-82—327
L. Stanley Jacobs 78-79-85-85—327
a-Oswald Kirkby 85-78-82-83—328
a-R.C. Watson 80-82-85-81—328
Horace Rawlins 82-83-81-83—329

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