1929 U.S. Open Golf Tournament Winner, Scores
The 1929 U.S. Open was the 33rd time the tournament was played. Bobby Jones blew a lead in the final round, but then dominated a 36-hole playoff for the victory.
Winner: Bobby Jones, 294
Where it was played: Winged Foot Golf Club in Mamaroneck, New York
Tournament dates: June 27-30, 1929
Leader after first round: Bobby Jones, 69
Leader after second round: Al Espinosa and Gene Sarazen, 142
Leader after third round: Bobby Jones, 215
What Happened at the 1929 U.S. Open
Bobby Jones was involved in four playoffs in U.S. Opens. He won two and lost two. The 1929 U.S. Open is one of the two that Jones won in a playoff. This was the third consecutive year the U.S. Open ended in a playoff, and the fourth time in five years.And it was Jones' third U.S. Open victory, but he nearly blew it in the final round. Jones had a 3-stroke lead over Gene Sarazen heading into Round 4, and led Al Espinosa by four. Then Jones did something uncharacteristic — he appeared to choke. Jones' round of 79 included two triple-bogeys, the second one on the 15th hole. A 3-putt bogey on the 16th followed.
Luckily for Jones, Sarazen wasn't doing much better, shooting 78. But Espinosa was in the clubhouse at 294, and Jones had to work to match that score. But the best way to stamp out accusations of choking is to recover from doing it. And that's what Jones did: He made a 12-foot par putt on the 18th hole to tie Espinosa and get into a 36-hole playoff.
And then Jones dominated that playoff like no other playoff, before or since, has been dominated. He beat Espinosa by 23 strokes, 141 to 164. Jones shot 72 to Espinosa's 84 in the opening 18, then shot 69 to Espinosa's 80 in the afternoon 18.
Espinosa was a gifted golfer of his time, credited with nine PGA Tour victories. He played on three Ryder Cup teams. He came close at one other major, losing to Leo Diegel in the championship match of the 1928 PGA Championship.
Defending champion Johnny Farrell — who beat Jones in a playoff in 1928 — missed the cut with rounds of 84 and 83. This was the first U.S. Open played at Winged Foot.
1929 U.S. Open Final Scores
| a-Bobby Jones | 69-75-71-79—294 (72-69-141) |
| Al Espinosa | 70-72-77-75—294 (84-80-164) |
| Gene Sarazen | 71-71-76-78—296 |
| Denny Shute | 73-71-76-76—296 |
| Tommy Armour | 74-71-76-76—297 |
| a-George Von Elm | 79-70-74-74—297 |
| Henry Ciuci | 78-74-72-75—299 |
| Leo Diegel | 74-74-76-77—301 |
| Peter O'Hara | 74-76-73-78—301 |
| Horton Smith | 76-77-74-75—302 |
| Wiffy Cox | 74-76-80-75—305 |
| John Rogers | 78-76-77-74—305 |
| P.O. Hart | 76-78-75-77—306 |
| Charles Hilgendorf | 72-79-75-80—306 |
| Billy Burke | 75-80-78-74—307 |
| Louis Chiapetta | 78-79-72-79—308 |
| George Smith | 77-77-77-77—308 |
| Craig Wood | 79-71-80-78—308 |
| Walter Hagen | 76-81-74-78—309 |
| Joe Kirkwood | 75-82-76-76—309 |
| Jim Barnes | 78-78-81-73—310 |
| Massie Miller | 75-82-75-78—310 |
| Jack Forrester | 77-76-75-83—311 |
| Ted Longworth | 74-82-73-82—311 |
| Macdonald Smith | 77-78-80-76—311 |
| Willie Hunter Jr. | 76-77-76-83—312 |
| Jack Burke Sr. | 77-80-74-81—312 |
| Willie Macfarlane | 79-78-76-79—312 |
| Leonard Schmutte | 73-75-89-75—312 |
| Tom Boyd | 79-80-74-80—313 |
| Emerick Kocsis | 79-76-77-81—313 |
| Frank Ball | 78-81-80-75—314 |
| Johnny Golden | 79-79-78-78—314 |
| Willie Klein | 81-78-77-78—314 |
| Jack Sabol | 76-78-79-81—314 |
| Al Watrous | 80-79-78-77—314 |
| Dan Williams | 78-76-78-82—314 |
| Albert Alcroft | 80-78-80-78—316 |
| Jim Foulis | 81-78-81-76—316 |
| Harry Hampton | 78-78-79-81—316 |
| Jimmy Thomson | 77-79-79-81—316 |
| Bobby Cruickshank | 75-81-83-78—317 |
| Thomas Harmon | 79-78-79-81—317 |
| Larry Nabholtz | 74-81-76-86—317 |
| a-George Dawson | 75-80-86-77—318 |
| a-Johnny Goodman | 75-80-78-85—318 |
| Thomas Hughes | 80-79-77-82—318 |
| Fred Baroni | 77-81-84-77—319 |
| George Christ | 78-74-82-85—319 |
| a-Roland Mackenzie | 78-79-84-78—319 |
| Harry Cooper | 78-81-78-83—320 |
| Emmet French | 76-78-80-86—320 |
| Jack Leach | 79-78-83-80—320 |
| Arthur Andrews | 76-79-82-84—321 |
| Bill Mehlhorn | 81-77-82-82—322 |
| Tom Raklets | 83-76-83-80—322 |
| Bill Leach | 79-79-80-85—323 |
| Arthur Ham | 79-79-83-83—324 |
| Clarence Gamber | 76-81-86-82—325 |
| Rocky Rich | 80-79-81-85—325 |
| Neil Christian | 77-81-85-83—326 |
| Charles MacAndrew | 78-80-88-83—329 |
| a-Charles Clare | 76-80-87-79—322 |
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