1915 U.S. Open Golf Tournament Winner and Scores
Winner: Jerome Travers, 297
Where it was played: Baltusrol Golf Club in Springfield, New Jersey
Tournament dates: June 17-18, 1915
Leader after first round: Chick Evans and Jim Barnes, 71
Leader after second round: Louis Tellier and Jim Barnes, 146
Leader after third round: Jerome Travers, 221
What Happened in the 1915 U.S. Open
Jerome "Jerry" Travers was one of the top amateur golfers — one of the best golfers, period — of his day. He was a four-time winner of the U.S. Amateur by 1913, but he rarely played in open tournaments, sticking mostly to the amateur circuit.Travers played the U.S. Open, for example, only four times, and he played it for the last of those four times here, at the 1915 U.S. Open. He won it, and that was good enough for Travers: He never played this tournament again. In fact, Travers was mostly retired from tournament golf after this.
Travers was two strokes off the lead at the midway point, took a 1-stroke lead after the third round, and held on to win by a stroke over Tom McNamara. The only "big name" golfer finishing within six strokes of Travers was Jim Barnes, who tied for fourth. Barnes went on to win four majors. Defending champion Walter Hagen finished in a tie for 10th.
Runner-up McNamara was well-known in his day, however, with wins in the North and South Open and Western Open, among other professional events. His second-place finish here was one of three he had in U.S. Opens.
This U.S. Open was played on the Old Course at Baltusrol Golf Club, a course that no longer exists. The club's current Upper and Lower courses were built out of the remnants of the Old Course just three years later.
Travers was the second golfer to record wins in both the U.S. Amateur and U.S. Open. He joined Francis Ouimet, who had achieved that distinction first just a year earlier. Travers' win was one of three by amateurs in a four-year stretch of the U.S. Open: Ouimet won in 1913, Travers in 1915 and Chick Evans in 1916.
1915 U.S. Open Final Scores
| a-Jerome Travers | 76-72-73-76—297 |
| Tom McNamara | 78-71-74-75—298 |
| Bob MacDonald | 72-77-73-78—300 |
| Jim Barnes | 71-75-76-79—301 |
| Louis Tellier | 75-71-76-79—301 |
| Mike Brady | 76-71-75-80—302 |
| George Low | 78-74-76-75—303 |
| Jock Hutchison | 74-79-76-76—305 |
| Fred McLeod | 74-76-76-79—305 |
| Alex Campbell | 76-75-74-81—306 |
| Emmett French | 77-79-75-75—306 |
| Walter Hagen | 78-73-76-79—306 |
| Tom Kerrigan | 78-75-76-77—306 |
| Gilbert Nicholls | 78-81-73-74—306 |
| Jack Park | 77-77-75-77—306 |
| Wilfred Reid | 77-78-75-76—306 |
| George Sargent | 75-77-79-75—306 |
| a-Chick Evans | 71-81-80-75—307 |
| James Donaldson | 83-79-76-70—308 |
| a-Max Marston | 77-77-80-74—308 |
| Archibald Sanderson | 77-76-77-79—309 |
| Jack Dowling | 75-79-80-77—311 |
| Alex Smith | 78-76-78-79—311 |
| Herbert Barker | 77-78-80-77—312 |
| Charles Hoffner | 79-79-79-75—312 |
| Joe Mitchell | 76-80-74-83—313 |
| Herbert Strong | 83-76-78-76—313 |
| George Sayers | 76-80-81-77—314 |
| Otto Hackbarth | 80-75-79-81—315 |
| David Ogilvie | 75-78-83-79—315 |
| Ben Sayers | 80-79-79-77—315 |
| Elmer Loving | 78-78-75-85—316 |
| J.J. O'Brien | 82-75-80-79—316 |
| David Stevens | 76-80-80-80—316 |
| Willie Macfarlane | 81-83-75-78—317 |
| a-Francis Ouimet | 77-79-80-81—317 |
| Tom Anderson Jr. | 80-78-79-81—318 |
| Tom Boyd | 78-80-79-81—318 |
| Macdonald Smith | 80-79-80-79—318 |
| James Thompson | 81-80-78-79—318 |
| Bert Battell | 81-79-83-77—320 |
| Harry Hampton | 79-81-78-82—320 |
| Jack Hobens | 80-79-83-78—320 |
| Orrin Terry | 82-80-78-82—322 |
| Isaac Mackie | 79-81-81-82—323 |
| George McLean | 85-80-80-78—323 |
| Charles Rowe | 78-85-82-79—324 |
| George Simpson | 83-78-76-87—324 |
| Dan Kenney | 78-80-81-86—325 |
| Joe Sylvester | 81-76-84-88—329 |
| Eugene McCarthy | 82-84-81-84—331 |
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