1946 Masters Tournament

1946 Masters Tournament
Tournament information
DatesApril 4–7, 1946
LocationAugusta, Georgia
33°30′11″N 82°01′12″W / 33.503°N 82.020°W / 33.503; -82.020
Course(s)Augusta National Golf Club
Organized byAugusta National Golf Club
Tour(s)PGA Tour
Statistics
Par72
Length6,800 yards (6,218 m) [1]
Field51 players
Cutnone
Prize fund$10,000
Winner's share$2,500
Champion
Herman Keiser
282 (−6)
Location map
Augusta National
Location in the United States
Augusta National
Location in Georgia

The 1946 Masters Tournament was the tenth Masters Tournament, held April 4–7 at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia. It was the first in four years, because of World War II. The purse was $10,000, double that of the previous Masters in 1942, with a winner's share of $2,500.

Herman Keiser won his only major title, one stroke ahead of runner-up Ben Hogan, the tour's money leader.[2] Keiser and Hogan both three-putted the slick 18th green on Sunday;[3] Keiser from 20 feet (6 m), and a half-hour later Hogan from 15 feet (4.6 m).[4][5]

Hogan won the PGA Championship four months later in August for his first major title at age 34. He later won the Masters in 1951 and 1953 and finished his career with nine wins in majors.

Field

With only one major championship played in 1945, the invitation criteria were modified. Eight amateurs and eight professionals were selected by a committee in February and four further professionals were invited just before the event.

1. Masters champions

Jimmy Demaret (7), Ralph Guldahl (2,7), Byron Nelson (2,6,7,8), Henry Picard (6,7), Horton Smith (7), Craig Wood (2,7)

2. U.S. Open champions

Billy Burke (7), Bobby Jones (3,4,5,7), Lawson Little (3,5,7)

3. U.S. Amateur champions

Dick Chapman (a)

4. British Open champions

Denny Shute (6,8)

5. British Amateur champions

Charlie Yates (7,a)

6. PGA champions

Vic Ghezzi (8), Bob Hamilton, Sam Snead (7)

7. Top 30 players and ties from the 1942 Masters Tournament

Sammy Byrd (8), Jim Ferrier, Jim Foulis, Chick Harbert, Chandler Harper, Dutch Harrison, Ben Hogan, Herman Keiser, Gene Kunes, Jug McSpaden, Johnny Palmer, Toney Penna, Felix Serafin, Jimmy Thomson

8. 1945 PGA Championship quarter-finalists

Claude Harmon, Ralph Hutchison, Ky Laffoon

  • Clarence Doser did not play.
9. Selected amateurs, not already qualified

Bob Cochran (a), Fred Haas, Cary Middlecoff (a), Frank Stranahan (a)

  • Ray Billows (a), Harry Givan (a), Chuck Kocsis (a), Jim McHale Jr. (a) did not play. Haas turned professional before the event.
10. Selected professionals, not already qualified

Herman Barron, Johnny Bulla, Ed Dudley, Jimmy Hines, Lloyd Mangrum, Dick Metz, Ed Oliver, Jim Turnesa

11. One amateur, not already qualified, selected by a ballot of ex-U.S. Amateur champions
  • Tommy Suffern Tailer (a) did not play
12. One professional, not already qualified, selected by a ballot of ex-U.S. Open champions

Al Watrous

13. Two players, not already qualified, with the best scoring average in the winter part of the 1946 PGA Tour

Leland Gibson, George Schneiter

14. Additional invitations

Clayton Heafner, Rod Munday, Buck White, Al Zimmerman

Round summaries

First round

Thursday, April 4, 1946

Place Player Score To par
T1 Chick Harbert 69 −3
Herman Keiser
T3 Vic Ghezzi 71 −1
Fred Haas
Toney Penna
T6 Johnny Bulla 72 E
Cary Middlecoff
Byron Nelson
Jimmy Thomson
T10 George Schneiter 73 +1
Clayton Heafner

Source:[6]

Second round

Friday, April 5, 1946

Place Player Score To par
1 Herman Keiser 69-68=137 −7
2 Jimmy Thomson 72-70=142 −2
3 Clayton Heafner 74-69=143 −1
T4 Bob Hamilton 75-69=144 E
Chick Harbert 69-75=144
Ben Hogan 74-70=144
Toney Penna 71-73=144
T8 Jimmy Demaret 75-70=145 +1
Jim Foulis 70-75=145
Byron Nelson 72-73=145

Source:[7]

Third round

Saturday, April 6, 1946

Place Player Score To par
1 Herman Keiser 69-68-71=208 −8
2 Ben Hogan 74-70-69=213 −3
T3 Jim Ferrier 74-72-68=214 −2
Fred Haas 71-75-68=214
Clayton Heafner 74-69-71=214
6 Bob Hamilton 75-69-71=215 −1
T7 Jimmy Demaret 75-70-71=216 E
Byron Nelson 72-73-71=216
T9 Jim Foulis 75-70-72=217 +1
Vic Ghezzi 71-79-67=217
Ky Laffoon 74-73-70=217

Source:[8]

Final round

Sunday, April 7, 1946

Final leaderboard

Champion
Silver Cup winner (low amateur)
(a) = amateur
(c) = past champion
Top 10
Place Player Score To par Money (US$)
1 Herman Keiser 69-68-71-74=282 −6 2,500
2 Ben Hogan 74-70-69-70=283 −5 1,500
3 Bob Hamilton 75-69-71-72=287 −1 1,000
T4 Jimmy Demaret (c) 75-70-71-73=289 +1 683
Jim Ferrier 74-72-68-75=289
Ky Laffoon 74-73-70-72=289
T7 Chick Harbert 69-75-76-70=290 +2 356
Clayton Heafner 74-69-71-76=290
Byron Nelson (c) 72-73-71-74=290
Sam Snead 74-75-70-71=290

Sources:[9][10]

Scorecard

Hole 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18
Par 4 5 4 3 4 3 4 5 4 4 4 3 5 4 5 3 4 4
Keiser −7 −8 −8 −8 −7 −8 −7 −8 −7 −7 −7 −7 −7 −7 −7 −7 −7 −6
Hogan −2 −3 −3 −3 −3 −3 −3 −4 −4 −4 −4 −5 −6 −5 −6 −6 −6 −5

Cumulative tournament scores, relative to par

References

  1. ^ "Keiser shaky, retains lead". Milwaukee Journal. Associated Press. April 7, 1946. p. 1, sports.
  2. ^ "Hogan far ahead in winter earnings". Miami News. United Press. April 8, 1946. p. 4B.
  3. ^ "Keiser wins Masters tourney as Hogan misses short putt". Milwaukee Journal. Associated Press. April 8, 1946. p. 4-part 2.
  4. ^ Keeler, O.B. (April 8, 1946). "Hogan 3-putts final hole giving Keiser Masters' title". Miami News. p. 2B.
  5. ^ Bartlett, Charles (April 8, 1946). "Keiser wins Masters golf meet with 282". Chicago Daily Tribune. p. 25.
  6. ^ Bartlett, Charles (April 5, 1946). "War vets lead first round of Masters golf". Chicago Daily Tribune. p. 27.
  7. ^ Bartlett, Charles (April 6, 1946). "Keiser leads Master golf thru 2d round". Chicago Daily Tribune. p. 19.
  8. ^ Bartlett, Charles (April 7, 1946). "Keiser holds 5-shot Masters golf lead". Chicago Sunday Tribune. p. 1, part 2.
  9. ^ "Masters – Past Winners & Results". Augusta National Inc. Retrieved April 20, 2021.
  10. ^ "Past results – Masters tournament". PGA Tour. Retrieved April 20, 2021.