1908 U.S. Open (golf)

|USA Hunt Club |USA Massachusetts Hunt Club The 1908 U.S. Open was the fourteenth U.S. Open, held August 27–29 at Myopia Hunt Club in South Hamilton, Massachusetts, northeast of Boston. Fred McLeod defeated 1899 champion Willie Smith in an 18-hole playoff to win his only major title.

High winds on Thursday caused scores in the first two rounds to soar, with only two players managing to break 80. Willie Smith carded rounds of 77-82 for a three-stroke lead over Myopia club pro John Jones, with brother Alec Smith four back and Fred McLeod five behind.

On Friday, Smith struggled to an 85 in the third round in the morning but still held the lead by one over McLeod and two over Alex. In the final round that afternoon, McLeod tied for lowest score of the tournament by carding a 77, while Smith managed a 78 to force a playoff.

In the playoff on Saturday, McLeod and Smith were even through 13 holes, but McLeod took the lead at the 14th after Smith missed a par putt. McLeod dominated the rest of the way, going 1-under on the last five holes to shoot a 77 to Smith's 83. McLeod only broke 80 in one round of the tournament, while Smith and Gilbert Nicholls were the only players to shoot in the 70s twice. The winning score of 322 was the third-highest in U.S. Open history.

Round summaries

First round

Thursday, August 27, 1908 (morning)

Place	Player	Score
1	SCO Willie Smith	77
2	SCO Alex Smith	80
3	ENG John Jones	81
T4		SCO Jock Hutchison	82
SCO Fred McLeod
T6	ENG Herbert Barker	84
USA Richard Kimball
T8	SCO Willie Anderson	85
SCO Laurie Auchterlonie
USA Alex Campbell
USA Tom McNamara

Source:

Second round

Thursday, August 27, 1908 (afternoon)

Place	Player	Score
1	SCO Willie Smith	77-82=159
2	ENG John Jones	81-81=162
3	SCO Alex Smith	80-83=163
4	SCO Fred McLeod	82-82=164
T5		SCO Jock Hutchison	82-84=166
ENG Gilbert Nicholls	89-77=166
T7	SCO Jack Hobens	86-81=167
USA Tom McNamara	85-82=167
T9	SCO Laurie Auchterlonie	85-83=168
SCO Alex Campbell	85-83=168

Source:

Third round

Friday, August 28, 1908 (morning)

Place	Player	Score
1	SCO Willie Smith	77-82-85=244
2	SCO Fred McLeod	82-82-81=245
3	SCO Alex Smith	80-83-83=246
4	ENG John Jones	81-81-87=249
5	SCO Peter Robertson	89-84-77=250
T6	SCO Willie Anderson	85-86-80=251
SCO Laurie Auchterlonie	85-83-83=251
8	SCO Jack Hobens	86-81-85=252
T9		SCO Jock Hutchison	82-84-87=253
USA Richard Kimball	84-86-83=253
USA Tom McNamara	85-82-86=253

Source:

Final round

Friday, August 28, 1908 (afternoon)

Place	Player	Score	Money ($)
T1	SCO Fred McLeod	82-82-81-77=322	Playoff
SCO Willie Smith	77-82-85-78=322
3	SCO Alex Smith	80-83-83-81=327	100
4	SCO Willie Anderson	85-86-80-79=330	80
5	ENG John Jones	81-81-87-82=331	70
T6	SCO Jack Hobens	86-81-85-81=333	45
SCO Peter Robertson	89-84-77-83=333
T8	ENG Percy Barrett	94-80-86-78=338	28
SCO Jock Hutchison	82-84-87-85=338
T10	USA Richard Kimball	84-86-83-86=339	0
USA Tom McNamara	85-82-86-86=339

Source:

Amateurs: Travis (347), Hylan (356), J. Anderson (357).

Playoff

Saturday, August 29, 1908

Place	Player	Score	Money ($)
1	SCO Fred McLeod	39-38=77	300
2	SCO Willie Smith	38-45=83	150

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