| 1938 PGA Championship | |
| Location: | Smithfield Township, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Course: | Shawnee Country Club |
| Dates: | July 10–16, 1938 |
| Par: | 72[1] |
| Org: | PGA of America |
| Tour: | PGA Tour |
| Field: | 107 players, 64 to match play |
| Cut: | 151 (+7), playoff |
| Format: | Match play - 6 rounds |
| Purse: | $10,000[2] |
| Winners Share: | $1,100 |
| Champion: |  Paul Runyan |
| Score: | def. Sam Snead, 8 and 7 |
| Previous: | 1937 |
| Next: | 1939 |
The 1938 PGA Championship was the 21st PGA Championship, held July 10–16 at Shawnee Country Club in Smithfield Township, Pennsylvania.
Then a match play championship, Paul Runyan won his second PGA Championship, defeating the favored Sam Snead 8 and 7.[3] Nicknamed "Little Poison," Runyan was one of the shorter hitters on tour, while Snead was one of the longest. Runyan was five holes up after the morning round, then needed just eleven holes to finish off Snead, the largest victory margin ever in the match play finals of the PGA Championship.[4] Snead won only one of the 29 holes, the 24th, which Runyan bogeyed. Runyan's victory four years earlier in 1934 took 38 holes to decide.
Two-time defending champion Denny Shute lost in the third round to semifinalist Jimmy Hines.
The course, now The Shawnee Inn & Golf Resort, is on an island in the Delaware River, east of East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania.
The match play format at the PGA Championship in 1938 called for 12 rounds (216 holes) in seven days:[2]
Saturday, July 16, 1938
| Place | Player | Money ($) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Paul Runyan | 1,100 | ||
| 2 | 600 | |||
| align=center rowspan=2 | T3 | align=center rowspan=2 | 350 | |
| Henry Picard | ||||
| align=center rowspan=4 | T5 | align=center rowspan=4 | 250 | |
| Byron Nelson | ||||
| Horton Smith |
Morning
| Hole | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Par | 4 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 3 | |
| Runyan | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 3 | |
| Snead | 4 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 3 | |
| Leader | – | – | R1 | R1 | R1 | R1 | R1 | R1 | R2 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R4 | R4 | R5 | R5 | R5 | R5 |
Afternoon
| Hole | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Par | 4 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 3 |
| Runyan | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | Runyan wins 8 and 7 | ||||||
| Snead | 4 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 4 | |||||||
| Leader | R5 | R6 | R7 | R7 | R7 | R6 | R6 | R7 | R7 | R8 | R8 |