The U.S. Open: The 10 Best Players From Each Decade
By Bill Felber
The U.S. Open: 1919-1930
If the first decade of the American game belonged to Willie Anderson, the Open’s first post-war decade plainly belonged to Jones.
He won four times, finished second four more times, and only once in those 11 seasons finished outside the top eight. He tied for 11th in 1927.
Jones had his competitors, among them fellow Hall of Famers Walter Hagen and Gene Sarazen. In the Open, however, it was usually no contest.
Across that 11-season span of Opens, Jones finished ahead of Hagen and Sarazen nine times each.
The only exceptions came in 1921 when Hagen finished second and Jones tied for fifth, 1922 when Sarazen won and Jones tied for second, and 1927 when Sarazen and Hagen finished third and sixth to Jones’ 11th.
Top 10 players of the 1919 to 1930 Era
1. Bobby Jones, -1.81
2. Walter Hagen, -1.32
3. Gene Sarazen, -1.09
4. Mike Brady, -1.07
5. Macdonald Smith, -1.05
6. Al Espinosa, -0.99
7. Leo Diegel, -0.99
8. Johnny Farrell, -0.93
9. Joe Turnesa, -0.92
10. Tommy Armour, -0.82
Although flailing against Jones, Hagen’s record is not to be sneezed at. Between 1919 and 1930, the 1914 U.S. champion added a second victory (1919), tied for second in 1921, and piled up six other top 10s, four of them top fives.
Sarazen complemented his 1922 victory with five consecutive top 10s between 1925 and 1929, four of them top fives.
To golf historians, the omissions from this list are Chick Evans and Jim Barnes. Evans, the 1916 champion, produced a decade average dominance rating of -0.81, leaving him just one tick outside the top 10.
Barnes won the 1921 Open but became ordinary once Jones, Hagen, and Sarazen rose to prominence. After 1921, his highest finish in the U.S. Open was a tie for 12th in 1923; his dominance rating fell to -0.64.