1952 Tucson Open Results

Rank Player Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 Round 4 Total Winnings
1 Henry Williams, Jr. 68 65 70 71 274 $2,000
2 Cary Middlecoff 65 70 74 67 276 $1,400
3 Skee Riegel 68 64 74 72 278 $1,000
T4 Joe Moore, Jr. 70 63 76 70 279 $770
T4 Lloyd Mangrum** 68 70 70 71 279 $770
T4 Frank Stranahan* 71 61 78 69 279 $0
7 Ralph Blomquist 69 66 70 75 280 $600
T8 Johnny Palmer 72 68 72 69 281 $460
T8 Doug Ford 71 68 72 70 281 $460
T10 Johnny Bulla 71 69 68 74 282 $275
T10 Ernie Ball 70 67 73 72 282 $275
T10 Virgil Shreeve 71 71 68 72 282 $275
T10 Vic Ghezzi 71 71 71 69 282 $275
T14 Harry Todd 68 70 71 74 283 $163
T14 Bill Nary 71 70 71 71 283 $163
17 Jackson Bradley 69 69 74 72 284 $140
T18 Mike DeMassey 71 69 77 69 286 $120
T18 Julius Boros 71 68 74 73 286 $120
T18 Tommy Bolt 70 72 70 74 286 $120
T18 W. Stackhouse 73 69 72 72 286 $120
T18 Leland Gibson 68 72 74 72 286 $120
T23 Bob Duden 68 73 75 71 287 $80
T23 Shelley Mayfield 68 69 78 72 287 $80
T23 Earl Stewart, Jr. 72 65 76 74 287 $80
T26 Ed Furgol 72 64 71 81 288 $18
T26 Lawson Little 73 68 70 77 288 $18
T26 George Keyes 70 68 74 76 288 $18
T26 Doug Higgins 67 71 76 74 288 $18
T26 Tony Holguin 68 72 76 72 288 $18
T26 Bill Johnson 71 69 75 73 288 $18
T32 Max Evans 67 72 80 70 289 $0
T32 Chuck DuPree 72 71 74 72 289 $0
T32 Art Doering 71 67 77 74 289 $0
T32 Jimmy Clark 65 71 75 78 289 $0
T32 Jack Shields 73 69 77 70 289 $0
T32 Bud Timbrook 72 68 76 73 289 $0
T32 Stan Horne 77 65 75 72 289 $0
T32 Ed Updegraff* 72 73 73 71 289 $0
T40 Dave Douglas 69 64 77 80 290 $0
T40 Frank Champ 67 75 76 72 290 $0
T40 Joe Brown 72 70 75 73 290 $0
T40 Jack Burke, Jr. 70 71 72 77 290 $0
T40 Mike Horne 71 71 73 75 290 $0
T45 Pete Fleming 70 72 73 76 291 $0
T45 Walter Burkemo 70 67 75 79 291 $0
T45 Al Zimmerman 74 66 74 77 291 $0
T48 Murray Tucker 72 69 74 77 292 $0
T48 Bill Ogden 69 73 76 74 292 $0
T48 Buck Luce 70 69 76 77 292 $0
T48 Otto Greiner 71 68 79 74 292 $0
52 B. Porterfield 71 71 78 72 293 $0
53 Ted Rhodes 70 70 78 77 295 $0
54 Mike Dietz 70 73 76 77 296 $0
55 Leonard Reed* 74 76 73 78 301 $0
56 Jack Eyman* 75 74 75 78 302 $0
57 Bill Goldberg* 79 76 75 78 308 $0
WD Jimmy Demaret 78 - - - - $0

*Amateur
**Defending Champion

Played January 31 - February 3, 1952 at El Rio Golf and Country Club

Purse: $10,000

Joe Louis, former heavyweight Champion of the World, played as an amateur. He shot a 74 in the pro-am then, after carding a 1-under 69 in the first round to be top amateur, remarked "I sure do like this course". Louis shot 72 in the second round after taking 2 shots to get out of a bunker on the 18th hole, then a 78 in the third round. He got into so much trouble in the 4th round, that he picked up his ball and did not turn in a scorecard.

In Tuesday qualifying at Randolph, 150 played for 60 open slots. The cutoff was 73. In Tuesday practice rounds, under a record high temperature of 78 degrees, Jimmy Clark shot a 62. Jack Burke, Jr. shot a 29 on the back nine.

There was such a large field in the pro-am that it was held on Tuesday and Wednesday. The best-ball event was won by Jack Shields and Tucson amateur Hal Landon with a 58. The individual low score was Johnny Revolta's 65.

First round leaders: Cary Middlecoff and Jimmy Clark with 65s. Jimmy Demaret made a 14 on the 18th hole after hitting 5 balls out of bounds. He went from 1 under par to 8 over on that single hole. The two-time Tucson Open winner withdrew during the second round. Jack Fleck also withdrew during round two.

In the second round, amateur Frank Stranahan had an 18-foot putt on the last hole for a 59. He went for it, making sure it would not fall short of the cup. Instead, it went 3 feet past. He missed the putt coming back by half an inch, but his 61 set a new 18-hole Tucson Open scoring record. He had tied a PGA record by shooting 28 on the front nine. Stranahan was an accomplished amateur having won the British Amateur (then considered a major) twice and finished runner-up in the Masters, the British Open and the U.S. Amateur. It would be over 25 years before Al Geiberger, who also played at El Rio, would card the first 59 in PGA tournament play.

Second round leaders: Frank Stranahan and Skee Riegel at 132.

Third round leader: Henry Williams, Jr. at 203. High winds, gusting to 40 mph, kept scores high during the third round. Only 4 players broke par, and those had teed off early before the winds picked up. Frank Stranahan followed his 61 with a 78.

During the fourth round, Cary Middlecoff drove the green on the 373-yard sixth hole.

Henry Williams, Jr.'s 274 set a new record high winning score in the Tucson Open.