1941 Masters Tournament

The 1941 Masters Tournament was the eighth Masters Tournament, held April 3–6 at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia. Craig Wood won his first major title, three strokes ahead of runner-up Byron Nelson.

1941 Masters Tournament
Tournament information
DatesApril 3–6, 1941
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 (6,220 m)[1]
Field51 players
Cutnone
Prize fund$5,000
Winner's share$1,500
Champion
United States Craig Wood
280 (−8)
Location map
Augusta National is located in the United States
Augusta National
Augusta National
Location in the United States
Augusta National is located in Georgia
Augusta National
Augusta National
Location in Georgia
← 1940
1942 →

Wood opened with a 66 and led by five strokes after the first round.[1][2] During the final round, Nelson caught him on the front nine and the two were briefly co-leaders. Wood scored a 34 (−2) over the final nine holes to secure the victory.[3] The purse was $5,000 and the winner's share was $1,500.[4]

Wood, 39, led the entire tournament, the Masters' first wire-to-wire champion. He also won the next major, the 1941 U.S. Open. Prior to his win at the Masters, Wood had lost in a playoff (or extra holes) in all four of the modern major championships, a dubious distinction since matched by only one other, Greg Norman.[5]

Through 2019, there have been only five wire-to-wire champions; Wood was followed by Arnold Palmer (1960), Jack Nicklaus (1972), Raymond Floyd (1976), and Jordan Spieth (2015).

Field

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1. Masters champions

Jimmy Demaret (9), Ralph Guldahl (2,9,10,12), Byron Nelson (2,6,9,10,12), Gene Sarazen (2,4,6,9,10,12), Horton Smith (10)

2. U.S. Open champions

Tommy Armour (4,6,10), Walter Hagen (4,6), Bobby Jones (3,4,5), Lawson Little (3,5,9,10), Tony Manero (9), Francis Ouimet (3,a), Sam Parks Jr. (10)

3. U.S. Amateur champions

Dick Chapman (11,a)

4. British Open champions

Denny Shute (6)

5. British Amateur champions

Charlie Yates (9,a)

6. PGA champions

Paul Runyan (9,12)

7. Members of the U.S. Ryder Cup team
  • Not held
8. Members of the U.S. Walker Cup team
  • Not held
9. Top 30 players and ties from the 1940 Masters Tournament

Johnny Bulla, Sammy Byrd, Harry Cooper, Ed Dudley (10), Jim Foulis (10), Willie Goggin, Jimmy Hines (10), Ben Hogan (10,12), Lloyd Mangrum (10), Jug McSpaden (10,12), Dick Metz (10), Toney Penna, Sam Snead (10,12), Frank Walsh (10), Al Watrous, Craig Wood (10)

10. Top 30 players and ties from the 1940 U.S. Open

Bruce Coltart, Vic Ghezzi, Andy Gibson, Jock Hutchison Jr., Gene Kunes, Ray Mangrum, Henry Ransom, Jack Ryan, Felix Serafin, Andrew Szwedko (a)

11. 1940 U.S. Amateur quarter-finalists

George Dawson (a), Duff McCullough (a)

12. 1940 PGA Championship quarter-finalists
13. One amateur, not already qualified, selected by a ballot of ex-U.S. Amateur champions

Art Doering (a)

14. One professional, not already qualified, selected by a ballot of ex-U.S. Open champions

Jimmy Thomson

15. Two players, not already qualified, with the best scoring average in the winter part of the 1940 PGA Tour

Leonard Dodson, Clayton Heafner

16 Foreign invitations

Jim Ferrier (9,10), Martin Pose

  • Numbers in brackets indicate categories that the player would have qualified under had they been American.

Round summaries

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First round

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Thursday, April 3, 1941

Place Player Score To par
1   Craig Wood 66 −6
T2   Willie Goggin 71 −1
  Ben Hogan
  Lawson Little
  Byron Nelson
T6   Harry Cooper 72 E
  Felix Serafin
T8   Johnny Bulla 73 +1
  Sammy Byrd
  Ed Dudley
  Clayton Heafner
  Tony Manero
  Toney Penna
  Jack Ryan
  Jimmy Thomson
  Sam Snead

Source:[1][2]

Second round

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Friday, April 4, 1941

Place Player Score To par
1   Craig Wood 66-71=137 −7
2   Byron Nelson 71-69=140 −4
3   Lawson Little 71-70=141 −3
T4   Sammy Byrd 73-70=143 −1
  Willie Goggin 71-72=143
  Ben Hogan 71-72=143
  Clayton Heafner 73-70=143
  Jug McSpaden 76-67=143
T9   Ed Dudley 73-72=145 +1
  Harry Cooper 72-73=145

Source:[6]

Third round

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Saturday, April 5, 1941

Place Player Score To par
1   Craig Wood 66-71-71=208 −8
2   Sammy Byrd 73-70-68=211 −5
3   Byron Nelson 71-69-73=213 −3
T4   Willie Goggin 71-72-72=215 −1
  Lawson Little 71-70-74=215
6   Jimmy Demaret 77-69-71=217 +1
7   Ben Hogan 71-72-75=218 +2
T8   Dick Chapman (a) 76-73-70=219 +3
  Vic Ghezzi 77-71-71=219
  Clayton Heafner 73-70-76=219

Source:[7][8]

Final round

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Sunday, April 6, 1941

Final leaderboard

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Top 10
Place Player Score To par Money (US$)
1   Craig Wood 66-71-71-72=280 −8 1,500
2   Byron Nelson (c) 71-69-73-70=283 −5 800
3   Sammy Byrd 73-70-68-74=285 −3 600
4   Ben Hogan 71-72-75-68=286 −2 500
5   Ed Dudley 73-72-75-68=288 E 400
T6   Vic Ghezzi 77-71-71-70=289 +1 275
  Sam Snead 73-75-72-69=289
8   Lawson Little 71-70-74-75=290 +2 200
T9   Willie Goggin 71-72-72-76=291 +3 117
  Lloyd Mangrum 71-72-72-76=291
  Jug McSpaden 76-67-80-68=291

Sources:[9][10]

References

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  1. ^ a b c "Craig Wood's 66 leads Masters by five strokes". St. Petersburg Times. Florida. United Press. April 4, 1941. p. 13.
  2. ^ a b "Wood's 6-under 66 leads in Masters". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Associated Press. April 4, 1941. p. 16.
  3. ^ "Craig Wood wins Masters with 280". Milwaukee Journal. Associated Press. April 7, 1941. p. 5-part 2.
  4. ^ "Wood's 280 total wins Masters golf". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. April 7, 1941. p. 14.
  5. ^ "Craig Wood, a study in major championship heartache". Associated Press News. April 5, 2016. Retrieved April 12, 2016.
  6. ^ "Wood retains lead in Masters tourney". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Associated Press. April 5, 1941. p. 12.
  7. ^ Carver, Lawton (April 6, 1941). "Wood leads; Sam Byrd second". St. Petersburg Times. Florida. INS. p. 9.
  8. ^ Boni, Bill (April 6, 1941). "Byrd challenges Wood with 68 in Augusta tourney". Spartanburg Herald-Journal. South Carolina. Associated Press. p. 22.
  9. ^ "Masters – Past Winners & Results". Augusta National Inc. Retrieved April 20, 2021.
  10. ^ "Past results – Masters tournament". PGA Tour. Retrieved April 20, 2021.
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