Lloyd Mangrum

When the Open was resumed at the Canterbury Golf Club, Cleveland, it was won, appropriately, by Lloyd Mangrum of Los Angeles, an ex-soldier who had fought and earned the Purple Heart overseas. On the last day of the Championship proper, which was attended by the largest crowds to that time, Vic Ghezzi set the stage by posting a 284, four under par. Mangrum and Byron Nelson, playing together behind him, remained in the contention. Nelson had incurred a penalty stroke in the third round when his caddie had accidentally kicked his ball, but he could still win by two strokes if he finished with three pars.

Mangrum was only a stroke behind him. Nelson three-putted the next-to-last green and took a 5 on the last hole to tie Ghezzi. Mangrum held steady and made it the fifth three-way tie. Ben Hogan and Herman Barron each needed three three pars to win, but they failed by a stroke of even tying. These five and four others all were under par for four rounds, the most ever.

In the first playoff, Mangrum once had a lead of four strokes, but at the end of all three were tied again with 72s. In the second playoff, Mangrum was three strokes behind Ghezzi and two behind Nelson with six holes to play. He birdied three of them, survived a sharp thunderstorm and won in rain under darkening skies with another 72 to 73s by Nelson and Ghezzi. Mangrum's original four rounds were 74-77-68-72. The purse was increased to $8,000 and the first professional prize was increased to $1,500.