• OddsDigger
  • Blog
  • 1931 U.S. Open Golf

1931 U.S. Open Golf

1931 U.S. Open
Tournament information
Dates July 2–6, 1931
Location Toledo, Ohio
Course(s) Inverness Club
Organized by USGA
Tour(s) PGA Tour
Format Stroke play − 72 holes
Statistics
Par 71
Length 6,529 yards (5,970 m)
Field 144 players, 62 after cut
Cut 158 (+16)
Prize fund $6,000
Winner's share $1,750
(incl. $750 playoff bonus)
Champion
Billy Burke
292 (+8), playoff
← 1930 1932 →

Course layout

Hole 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Out 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 In Total
Yards 392 388 146 431 430 350 316 210 492 3,155 348 380 516 146 416 441 398 404 325 3,374 6,529
Par 4 4 3 4 4 4 4 3 5 35 4 4 5 3 4 4 4 4 4 36 71

Past champions in the field

Player Country Year(s) won R1 R2 R3 R4 Total To par Finish
Gene Sarazen United States 1922 74 78 74 70 296 +12 T4
Walter Hagen United States 1914, 1919 74 74 73 76 297 +13 T7
Johnny Farrell United States 1928 78 70 79 72 299 +15 T10
Tommy Armour Scotland
United States		 1927 75 83 79 78 315 +31 T46

Round summaries

First round

Place Player Country Score To par
T1 Herman Barron United States 71 E
Mortie Dutra United States
Charles Guest United States
Eddie Williams United States
5 Al Espinosa United States 72 +1
T6 Billy Burke United States 73 +2
Henry Ciuci United States
Bill Davies England
Guy Paulsen United States
Fred Robson England
Joe Turnesa United States
Frank Walsh United States

Second round

Place Player Country Score To par
1 George Von Elm United States 75-69=144 +2
T2 Billy Burke United States 73-72=145 +3
Eddie Williams United States 71-74=145
T4 Herman Barron United States 71-75=146 +4
Charles Guest United States 71-75=146
Guy Paulsen United States 74-72=146
Macdonald Smith Scotland
United States		 73-73=146
T8 Leo Diegel United States 75-73=148 +6
Mortie Dutra United States 71-77=148
Johnny Farrell United States 78-70=148
Walter Hagen United States 74-74=148
Joe Turnesa United States 73-75=148

Third round

Place Player Country Score To par
1 George Von Elm United States 75-69-73=217 +4
2 Billy Burke United States 73-72-74=219 +6
3 Guy Paulsen United States 74-72-74=220 +7
T4 Mortie Dutra United States 71-77-73=221 +8
Walter Hagen United States 74-74-73=221
Macdonald Smith Scotland
United States		 73-73-75=221
T7 Leo Diegel United States 75-73-74=222 +9
Charles Guest United States 71-75-76=222
T9 Wiffy Cox United States 76-74-74=224 +11
Herman Barron United States 71-75-78=224

Final round

Place Player Country Score To par Money ($)
T1 Billy Burke United States 73-72-74-73=292 +8 Playoff
George Von Elm United States 75-69-73-75=292
3 Leo Diegel United States 75-73-74-72=294 +10 650
T4 Wiffy Cox United States 76-74-74-72=296 +12 450
Bill Mehlhorn United States 77-73-75-71=296
Gene Sarazen United States 74-78-74-70=296
T7 Mortie Dutra United States 71-77-73-76=297 +13 200
Walter Hagen United States 74-74-73-76=297
Philip Perkins (a) England 78-76-73-70=297 0
T10 Al Espinosa United States 72-78-75-74=299 +15 105
Johnny Farrell United States 78-70-79-72=299
Macdonald Smith Scotland
United States		 73-73-75-78=299

Scorecard

Hole 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18
Par 4 4 3 4 4 4 4 3 5 4 4 5 3 4 4 4 4 4
Burke +7 +7 +7 +8 +8 +8 +8 +7 +7 +7 +7 +7 +7 +8 +8 +8 +8 +8
Von Elm +3 +3 +3 +4 +5 +5 +5 +5 +5 +5 +5 +6 +6 +7 +8 +9 +9 +8
  Birdie   Bogey

Playoff

First playoff

Player Country Score To par
Billy Burke United States 73-76=149 +7
George Von Elm United States 75-74=149 +7

Scorecards

Hole 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18
Par 4 4 3 4 4 4 4 3 5 4 4 5 3 4 4 4 4 4
Burke E +1 +2 +2 +2 +2 +1 +1 E +1 +1 E E E E E +1 +2
Von Elm E -1 E +2 +4 +4 +3 +3 +3 +3 +3 +2 +3 +3 +3 +4 +4 +4
Hole 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18
Par 4 4 3 4 4 4 4 3 5 4 4 5 3 4 4 4 4 4
Burke +3 +3 +4 +5 +5 +6 +7 +8 +7 +7 +7 +7 +7 +6 +7 +7 +7 +7
Von Elm +4 +6 +7 +7 +9 +8 +7 +6 +5 +6 +6 +6 +6 +6 +8 +8 +8 +7
  Birdie   Bogey   Double bogey

Second playoff

Place Player Country Score To par Money ($)
1 Billy Burke United States 77-71=148 +6 1,750
2 George Von Elm United States 76-73=149 +7 1,000

Scorecards

Hole 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18
Par 4 4 3 4 4 4 4 3 5 4 4 5 3 4 4 4 4 4
Burke +1 +3 +3 +3 +3 +3 +2 +3 +2 +2 +2 +3 +3 +3 +5 +4 +5 +6
Von Elm E E E +1 +1 +1 +2 +3 +3 +4 +3 +3 +5 +5 +5 +5 +5 +5
Hole 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18
Par 4 4 3 4 4 4 4 3 5 4 4 5 3 4 4 4 4 4
Burke +6 +5 +5 +4 +5 +5 +6 +5 +5 +5 +5 +4 +5 +5 +5 +5 +5 +6
Von Elm +5 +5 +5 +6 +6 +6 +6 +7 +6 +5 +5 +5 +5 +6 +6 +7 +7 +7
Kang Lei