Hale America National Open Golf Tournament
A wartime substitute for the 1942 U.S. Open, held after the USGA suspended its national championships following Pearl Harbor. Ben Hogan won by three strokes at a record score, fueling a decades-long dispute over whether it should count as his fifth U.S. Open title.
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- Established
- 1942-06-18
- Location
- Ridgemoor Country Club, Norwood Park Township, Cook County, Illinois
- Country
- United States
- Dates
- 18–21 June 1942
- Organizers
- United States Golf Association (USGA), PGA of America, and Chicago District Golf Association
- Conceived by
- Tom McMahon, Chicago District Golf Association, whose participation was encouraged by John Kelly
- Entries
- A record 1,500+ entries
- Winner
- Ben Hogan, score of 271 (17 under par), including a second-round 62
- Runners-up
- Jimmy Demaret and Mike Turnesa, three strokes back
- Beneficiaries
- Navy Relief Society and the USO
- Official USGA status
- Not recognized as a championship; excluded from the U.S. Open record book
Overview
The Hale America National Open Golf Tournament was organized as a wartime substitute for the 1942 U.S. Open after the United States Golf Association suspended its national championships following the attack on Pearl Harbor, when the scheduled host, Interlachen Country Club in Minnesota, also withdrew (Global Golf Post). Tom McMahon of the Chicago District Golf Association conceived it as a war-relief fundraiser, jointly run by the USGA, the PGA of America and the CDGA, with proceeds benefiting the Navy Relief Society and the USO (Texas Sports Hall of Fame). McMahon’s own participation in organizing the event was encouraged by John Kelly (Global Golf Post). Held 18–21 June 1942 at Ridgemoor Country Club in Chicago, the event modified the usual U.S. Open format — raising the amateur handicap limit, restructuring qualifying into 69 local and 14 sectional sites, and capping the final field at roughly 100 players, with exemptions for veterans such as Bobby Jones, Walter Hagen and Jock Hutchison — and drew a record 1,500-plus entries (Global Golf Post).
Result
Ben Hogan won by three strokes with a score of 271, 17 under par, including a second-round 62 — a margin that, had it counted, would have broken the U.S. Open scoring record by ten strokes. Jimmy Demaret and Mike Turnesa finished tied for second. A Detroit Free Press report the following day carried the headline “Hogan Wins Hale Open with 17-Under-Par 271” (RareNewspapers.com, Detroit Free Press, 22 June 1942).
The “fifth Open” dispute
The USGA was explicit at the time that the tournament would not be treated as an official championship. Executive Secretary Joe Dey stated that “the tournament will not be a championship, as the U.S.G.A. has decided its usual national championships should not properly be held in wartime.” The medal Hogan received carried no “Open Championship” designation. Contemporary opposition to counting the result was vocal: 1941 U.S. Open champion Craig Wood called the tournament “farcical,” pointing to Ridgemoor’s easy scoring conditions, and Bobby Jones argued that, with players such as Sam Snead absent, “it wouldn’t be fair to call it a championship tournament and put the results in the record book.” Year-end reviews by sportswriters in December 1942 treated Snead’s PGA Championship win as the year’s only major (Global Golf Post). Gene Sarazen mounted a public campaign for the USGA to recognize the result; it did not succeed, and the USGA has never added Hale America to the U.S. Open’s official record.
Hogan privately regarded the win as his own first U.S. Open title. According to a widely told story, when congratulated on his official 1950 U.S. Open win at Merion, he replied simply: “Third” (Texas Sports Hall of Fame). He generally stopped pressing the claim publicly for roughly a decade afterward, though he occasionally reasserted it later in life. This profile does not take a position on whether the result should count as a major championship — it reports the tournament’s own contemporaneous status and the arguments made on both sides since.
What this profile does not independently confirm
One source describes a 1990 USGA museum exhibit that displayed Hogan with five U.S. Open medals, which would implicitly include this tournament — a detail reported here as that source describes it, not independently verified against the exhibit itself. A cited fundraising total of roughly $25,000 likewise comes from a single source.
Timeline
- 1942-01
- Following the attack on Pearl Harbor, the USGA suspends its national championships, including the 1942 U.S. Open, which had been scheduled to be hosted by Interlachen Country Club in Minnesota.
- 1942-06-18
- The Hale America National Open Golf Tournament begins at Ridgemoor Country Club in Chicago, conceived by Tom McMahon of the Chicago District Golf Association — whose participation was encouraged by John Kelly — as a war-relief fundraiser jointly sponsored by the USGA, PGA of America and CDGA. The format departs from a standard U.S. Open — amateur handicap limits are raised from 3 to 6, qualifying runs through 69 local sites and then 14 sectional sites, and the final field is capped at roughly 100 players, with special exemptions granted to Bobby Jones, Walter Hagen and Jock Hutchison. The event draws a record 1,500-plus entries.
- 1942-06-21
- Ben Hogan wins with a score of 271 (17 under par), including a second-round 62, finishing three strokes ahead of Jimmy Demaret and Mike Turnesa. A contemporaneous Detroit Free Press report the next day runs the headline "Hogan Wins Hale Open with 17-Under-Par 271."
- 1942
- USGA Executive Secretary Joe Dey states publicly that the tournament "will not be a championship, as the U.S.G.A. has decided its usual national championships should not properly be held in wartime." 1941 U.S. Open champion Craig Wood calls it "farcical," citing Ridgemoor's easy scoring conditions; Bobby Jones separately argues it would not be fair to call it a championship given the absence of players such as Sam Snead. Year-end sportswriter reviews that December treat the PGA Championship (won by Snead) as the year's only major, describing Hale America as unofficial.
- 1950s onward
- Hogan privately considers the win his first U.S. Open title and, according to a widely repeated account, responds "Third" when congratulated on his 1950 Merion win — but he largely stops publicly pressing the claim for about a decade before occasionally reasserting it later in life. Gene Sarazen's contemporaneous campaign for official recognition does not succeed, and the USGA has never added the result to its championship record.
What we could not verify
These claims came up in research and could not be confirmed. They are recorded here rather than published as fact or quietly dropped. If you hold a source that settles one, please tell us.
- One source describes a 1990 USGA museum exhibit that displayed Hogan alongside five U.S. Open medals — which would implicitly include Hale America — while separately noting the USGA has never formally recognized the result. This profile reports the claim as described in that source without independently confirming the exhibit.
- A cited figure of roughly $25,000 raised for the war effort comes from a single source and was not independently corroborated elsewhere.
Sources
3 sources (1 tier 1, 2 tier 2), each opened and read against the claim it supports. Every source is independent of the subject; no first-party material is cited. See the source policy.
The two sports-history features (Global Golf Post, Texas Sports Hall of Fame) are independent editorial pieces built substantially on primary 1942-era quotations from USGA and PGA officials and rival players, not press releases. The Detroit Free Press item is a digitized contemporaneous news report accessed via a historical-newspaper archive dealer, used only for the tournament's immediate result and its 1942 headline treatment.
- Hogan Wins Hale Open with 17-Under-Par 271 (Detroit Free Press, 22 June 1942) Supports: Contemporaneous confirmation of the final result and its immediate press treatment.
- Ben Hogan, Hale America, And the Myth Of The Fifth Open Title Supports: The tournament's origin, format, the "fifth Open" controversy, and direct 1942-era quotes from Joe Dey, Craig Wood, Fred Corcoran and Bobby Jones.
- Did Ben Hogan Win 5 U.S. Opens? Supports: The tournament's charitable purpose, the "Third" anecdote, and the 1990 USGA museum exhibit claim.
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