1923 U.S. Open Tournament Winner and Scores
The 1923 U.S. Open was the 27th time the tournament was played. Bobby Jones won the first of his four U.S. Open crowns, beating Bobby Cruickshank in an 18-hole playoff.
Winner: Bobby Jones, 296
Where it was played: Inwood Country Club in Inwood, New York
Tournament dates: July 13-15, 1923
Leader after first round: Jock Hutchison, 70
Leader after second round: Jock Hutchison, 142
Leader after third round: Bobby Jones, 220
What Happened in the 1923 U.S. Open
After years of promise and potential, amateur Bobby Jones, 21 years old, earned his first major championship win. It was the first of his eventual four U.S. Open titles — in fact, Jones won the U.S. Open before he won the U.S. Amateur. Jones defeated Bobby Cruickshank in an 18-hole playoff for the championship of the 1923 U.S. Open. It was the first of four appearances in U.S. Open playoffs for Jones (he won two and lost two).Jones entered Round 4 as the leader by three. But he struggled with his driver throughout the round, hooking one ball out of bounds early, hitting another tee ball into a parking lot late in the round.
Had he parred the final hole he would have won by two strokes in regulation. He didn't know that at the time, though. He made double bogey on the 72nd hole and finished at 296. In fact, Jones finished the final round going bogey-bogey-double bogey over the final three holes.
He carded a 76 to Cruickshank's final-round 73. Cruickshank, finishing after Jones, birdied the 18th hole to force the playoff.
In the playoff, Jones and Cruickshank reached the 18th hole still tied. Cruickshank was forced to lay up short of a pond fronting the green, but Jones hit 2-iron from approximately 200 yards, clearing the pond, with the ball stopping eight feet from the hole. Cruickshank was unable to get up and down from the fairway, and Jones 2-putted to claim the victory. Jones finished at 76 to Cruickshank's 78.
Cruickshank came close a few other times to winning majors, although he never quite got there. He also finished second at the 1932 U.S. Open, and had two other third-place finishes in this event. He is credited with winning 17 tournaments now recognized as PGA Tour wins.
But seven years later, when Jones won the 1930 U.S. Open, it was actually Cruickshank who cashed in: He had placed a bet at the beginning of the year on Jones to win all three of the British Amateur, British Open and U.S. Open titles. When Jones accomplished that feat, Cruickshank won the equivalent (adjusted for inflation) of nearly $200,000.
1923 U.S. Open Final Scores
| Bobby Jones | 71-73-76-76—296 (76) |
| Bobby Cruickshank | 73-72-78-73—296 (78) |
| Jock Hutchison | 70-72-82-78—302 |
| Jack Forrester | 75-73-77-78—303 |
| Johnny Farrell | 76-77-75-76—304 |
| Francis Gallett | 76-72-77-79—304 |
| a-William Reekie | 80-74-75-75—304 |
| Leo Diegel | 77-77-76-76—306 |
| Bill Mehlhorn | 73-79-75-79—306 |
| Al Watrous | 74-75-76-81—306 |
| Cyril Hughes | 74-76-80-77—307 |
| Jim Barnes | 78-81-74-75—308 |
| Joe Kirkwood | 77-77-79-75—308 |
| a-Chick Evans | 79-80-76-74—309 |
| Joe Turnesa | 76-81-74-78—309 |
| Charles Mothersole | 77-80-71-82—310 |
| Gene Sarazen | 79-78-73-80—310 |
| Walter Hagen | 77-75-73-86—311 |
| Willie Ogg | 74-76-80-81—311 |
| Mike Brady | 74-81-76-81—312 |
| Macdonald Smith | 77-76-81-78—312 |
| Emmet French | 79-78-77-79—313 |
| Cyril Walker | 76-78-80-80—314 |
| P.O. Hart | 79-80-78-78—315 |
| Joe Sylvester | 77-80-79-79—315 |
| John Black | 82-76-78-80—316 |
| William Creavy | 73-81-77-85—316 |
| a-Eddie Held | 80-75-79-82—316 |
| Hutt Martin | 78-78-76-85—317 |
| a-Francis Ouimet | 82-75-78-82—317 |
| George Sargent | 77-77-81-82—317 |
| Fred Baroni | 80-80-78-80—318 |
| Arthur Beebe | 77-82-78-81—318 |
| Bob Macdonald | 76-80-77-85—318 |
| Abe Espinosa | 82-84-78-75—319 |
| Dave McKay | 79-82-79-80—320 |
| Harold Sampson | 76-81-83-80—320 |
| Jack Burke Sr. | 74-78-87-82—321 |
| Fred Canausa | 72-82-89-79—322 |
| William Kline | 79-78-82-84—323 |
| Charles Rowe | 81-78-79-85—323 |
| Stuart Sanderson | 83-76-81-83—323 |
| Tom Stevens | 77-79-82-85—323 |
| Thomas Harmon | 77-79-84-84—324 |
| Peter Harmon | 89-77-83-75—324 |
| George Bowden | 77-81-81-87—326 |
| Tom Kerrigan | 85-77-81-83—326 |
| Eugene McCarthy | 79-75-84-88—326 |
| Harry Hampton | 78-84-84-82—328 |
| Arthur Reid | 80-80-80-88—328 |
| Louis Chiapetta | 83-84-80-88—335 |
| a-Frank Dyer | 82-85-81-83—331 |
| Edward Gow | 84-82-83-82—331 |
| Harold Calloway | 84-83-84-83—334 |
| Eddie Williams | 80-83-87-85—335 |
| Clarence Booth | 86-86-81-83—336 |
| Ben Parola | 86-84-82-84—336 |
| Henry Ciuci | 85-82-86-85—338 |
| a-Richard Walsh | 87-87-83-83—340 |
| Dan Williams | 91-82-81-87—341 |
| Walter Ward | 86-89-85-85—345 |
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