1951 U.S. Open Winner and Scores
The 1951 U.S. Open was the 51st time the tournament was played. Ben Hogan shot the best round of the tournament, a 67, in the final round, including a birdie on the last hole, to win by two strokes.
Winner: Ben Hogan, 287
Where it was played: Oakland Hills Country Club in Bloomfield Township, Michigan
Tournament dates: June 14-16, 1951
Leader after first round: Sam Snead, 71
Leader after second round: Bobby Locke, 144
Leader after third round: Bobby Locke and Jimmy Demaret, 218
What Happened in the 1951 U.S. Open
Before the U.S. Open returned to the South Course of Oakland Hills Country Club in 1951, the USGA decided the course needed to be toughed up a little. They brought in Robert Trent Jones to makes some updates to the course. In the weeks leading up to the tournament, they grew the rough higher and mowed the fairways narrower and greens tighter. In later years, the USGA "toughening up" courses for the U.S. Open was common. But this is remembered as the first time they specifically set out to change a golf course to make it play harder for the national championship.Ben Hogan was the golfer who best responded. Not a single golfer broke par the first two rounds. In the third round, Jimmy Demaret matched par at 70, the only golfer to do so. At that point, after 54 holes, Demaret and Bobby Locke were tied for the lead at 8-over. Hogan was tied for fifth place at 10-over.
But in the final round, Hogan finally got the better of the course that week dubbed "The Monster." Hogan fired a 3-under 67, the best round of the tournament, in the final round. He birdied the 10th, 13th and 15th holes, and closed out the victory with another birdie on the last hole. During the trophy presentation, Hogan said, "I'm glad I brought this course, this monster, to its knees."
Hogan won by two strokes over Clayton Heafner, whose own closing 69 combined with Hogan's 67 as the only two sub-70 rounds of the tournament. Locke slid to third, while Demaret struggled with a final-round 78.
Hogan won the 1948, 1950 and 1951 U.S. Opens, and didn't play in 1949 due to his auto accident. So this was Hogan's third win in his last three tries at the U.S. Open. (He added a fourth national championship in 1953.) With his consecutive wins in 1950-51, Hogan was the last back-to-back champion until Curtis Strange won in 1988-89.
Julius Boros, not yet a winner on the PGA Tour, finished tied for fourth. Boros would get his first victory a year later at the 1952 U.S. Open. Two-time PGA Championship winner Paul Runyan tied for sixth, his final Top 10 finish in a major. Sam Parks Jr., winner of the 1935 U.S. Open, missed the cut in his final appearance in this major.
1951 U.S. Open Final Scores
| Ben Hogan | 76-73-71-67—287 |
| Clayton Heafner | 72-75-73-69—289 |
| Bobby Locke | 73-71-74-73—291 |
| Julius Boros | 74-74-71-74—293 |
| Lloyd Mangrum | 75-74-74-70—293 |
| Al Besselink | 72-77-72-73—294 |
| Dave Douglas | 75-70-75-74—294 |
| Fred Hawkins | 76-72-75-71—294 |
| Paul Runyan | 73-74-72-75—294 |
| Al Brosch | 73-74-76-72—295 |
| Smiley Quick | 73-76-74-72—295 |
| Skee Riegel | 75-76-71-73—295 |
| Sam Snead | 71-78-72-74—295 |
| Jimmy Demaret | 74-74-70-78—296 |
| Lew Worsham | 76-71-76-73—296 |
| a-Charles Kocsis | 75-74-76-72—297 |
| Henry Ransom | 74-74-76-73—297 |
| Buck White | 76-75-74-72—297 |
| Raymond Gafford | 76-74-74-74—298 |
| Johnny Revolta | 78-72-72-76—298 |
| Charles Bassler | 79-71-74-75—299 |
| Joe Kirkwood Jr. | 74-78-73-74—299 |
| Marty Furgol | 78-72-74-76—300 |
| Cary Middlecoff | 76-73-79-73—301 |
| Ed "Porky" Oliver | 81-71-77-72—301 |
| Johnny Palmer | 73-78-76-74—301 |
| Henry Picard | 78-73-78-72—301 |
| Earl Stewart Jr. | 74-74-78-75—301 |
| Tommy Bolt | 77-72-75-78—302 |
| Roberto De Vicenzo | 75-76-74-77—302 |
| Fred Haas | 77-75-77-73—302 |
| George Kinsman | 75-73-75-79—302 |
| a-Sam Urzetta | 78-71-78-75—302 |
| a-Bo Wininger | 75-71-77-79—302 |
| Clarence Doser | 74-76-77-76—303 |
| Charles Klein | 73-74-81-75—303 |
| Gene Sarazen | 74-76-76-77—303 |
| Al Watrous | 77-75-77-74—303 |
| Sam Bernardi | 73-76-77-78—304 |
| a-Harvie Ward | 74-76-78-76—304 |
| Doug Ford | 76-76-78-75—305 |
| Bob Hamilton | 74-77-79-76—306 |
| Jack Harden | 75-75-80-76—306 |
| Gene Kunes | 77-75-77-77—306 |
| a-Dale Morey | 76-75-75-80—306 |
| a-Frank Stranahan | 74-77-78-77—306 |
| Dutch Harrison | 73-78-78-78—307 |
| Craig Wood | 76-72-82-77—307 |
| Sam Byrd | 73-79-76-80—308 |
| Bill Nary | 77-75-77-79—308 |
| Gene Webb | 76-74-76-82—308 |
| Johnny Bulla | 80-70-82-77—309 |
| a-James Funston | 76-75-84-75—310 |
| John Barnum | 79-73-79-80—311 |
| Claude Harmon | 74-75-79-83—311 |
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