Jones opened with a 69 in the first round to grab the lead,[3] then followed with a 75.[1][4]
After a third round 71, he had a three-stroke lead over Gene Sarazen and was four clear of Espinosa after 54 holes. Sarazen fell out of contention in the final round with a 78 and fell to a tie for third place. Espinosa shot a 75 and a 294 total, but it appeared like it would not be enough to overtake Jones. Beginning with the 15th, Jones needed only three bogeys and a par to win the championship. However, he triple-bogeyed the 15th and then made another bogey on 16 and his lead was gone. He made par at the 17th, but his approach on the 18th found a greenside bunker. Needing to get up-and-down to save par and force a playoff, Jones rolled in a 12-foot (3.7 m) putt for the tie.[5][6]
Jones dominated the 36-hole playoff on Sunday, with a 72 in the morning round to grab a 12-shot lead. Espinosa struggled again on the second 18, shooting an 80 to Jones' 69, and Jones won the playoff by 23 shots.[2][7] He won his fourth U.S. Open in 1930 and the grand slam. The 23-stroke win is the largest margin of victory in a major golf tournament playoff.
Originally scheduled to be played over the East Course at Winged Foot, storm damaged caused the championship to be relocated to the West Course.[8] It was the first of six U.S. Opens to be held on Winged Foot's West Course; it later hosted in 1959, 1974, 1984, 2006, and 2020; it also hosted the PGA Championship in 1997.