1948 Masters Tournament Explained

1948 Masters Tournament
Dates:	April 8–11, 1948
Location:	Augusta, Georgia
Course:	Augusta National Golf Club
Org:	Augusta National Golf Club
Tour:	PGA Tour
Par:	72
Yardage:	6800yd^[1]
Field:	57 players
Cut:	none
Purse:	$10,000
Winners Share:	$2,500
Score:	279 (−9)
Previous:	1947
Next:	1949
Map:	USA#USA Georgia
Map Relief:	yes
Map Label:	Augusta National
Coordinates:	33.503°N -82.02°W

The 1948 Masters Tournament was the 12th Masters Tournament, held April 8–11 at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia.

Tournament summary

Claude Harmon shot a record-tying 279 (−9) and finished five strokes ahead of runner-up Cary Middlecoff, a future champion in 1955. The Sunday gallery in 1948 was estimated at 10,000 spectators, and the tournament purse was $10,000. Harmon won $2,500 and his four-round score tied the record set by Ralph Guldahl in 1939.^[2] Primarily a club professional, it was Harmon's first tour victory.^[1]

This was the final appearance as a player in the Masters for host Bobby Jones, then age 46. It was also the last Masters that did not immediately present the iconic green jacket to the winner. The nine winners of the first twelve tournaments received their green jackets in 1949.^[3]

The five-stroke victory margin was matched by Ben Hogan in 1953; the record was raised to seven in 1955 by Cary Middlecoff, nine in 1965 by Jack Nicklaus, and twelve by Tiger Woods in 1997.

Field

1. Masters championsJimmy Demaret (7,9), Ralph Guldahl (2), Herman Keiser (7,9), Byron Nelson (2,6,7,9), Henry Picard (6,9), Gene Sarazen (2,4,6), Horton Smith (9), Craig Wood (2)

2. U.S. Open championsBilly Burke, Johnny Farrell, Bobby Jones (3,4,5), Lawson Little (3,5,9), Lloyd Mangrum (7,9,10,12), Lew Worsham (7,10,12)

3. U.S. Amateur championsDick Chapman (8,9,a), Skee Riegel (8,11,a)

4. British Open championsDenny Shute (6,9), Sam Snead (6,7,9,10)

5. British Amateur champions

6. PGA championsJim Ferrier (9,10,12), Vic Ghezzi (9,10,12), Bob Hamilton, Ben Hogan (7,9,10)

7. Members of the U.S. 1947 Ryder Cup teamHerman Barron (9), Dutch Harrison (10)

Ed Oliver (9,10) did not play.

8. Members of the U.S. 1947 Walker Cup teamGeorge Hamer (a), Fred Kammer (a), Bud Ward (3,10,11,a)

Ted Bishop (3,a), Smiley Quick (a), Frank Stranahan (9,10,a) and Willie Turnesa (3,5,a) did not play.

9. Top 24 players and ties from the 1947 Masters Tournament Johnny Bulla, Fred Haas, Chandler Harper, Jug McSpaden, Dick Metz (10), Johnny Palmer (10), Toney Penna, Ellsworth Vines

10. Top 24 players and ties from the 1947 U.S. Open Sammy Byrd, Ed Furgol, Leland Gibson (12), Chick Harbert (12), Claude Harmon, Joe Kirkwood Sr., Gene Kunes, Jim McHale Jr. (a), Bill Nary, Al Smith, Harry Todd

George Payton and Paul Runyan did not play.

11. 1947 U.S. Amateur quarter-finalistsBob Rosburg (a), Jack Selby (a), Felice Torza, Harvie Ward (a)

Johnny Dawson (a) and Frank Strafaci (a) did not play.

12. 1947 PGA Championship quarter-finalistsArt Bell, Ky Laffoon

13. One amateur, not already qualified, selected by a ballot of ex-U.S. Amateur champions

Chuck Kocsis (a) did not play

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

15. Two players, not already qualified, with the best scoring average in the winter part of the 1948 PGA TourCary Middlecoff

Clayton Heafner did not play.

16 Winner of the 1948 Inter-service Invitational tournament

Played after the Masters, the winner receiving entry to the 1949 event.

17 Home club professionalEd Dudley

18. Foreign invitationsHenry Cotton (4), Bobby Locke (9,10)

Round summaries

First round

Thursday, April 8, 1948

Place	Player	Score	To par
1		69	−3
T2		70	−2


	Herman Keiser
T6	Art Bell	71	−1


	Bobby Locke

Source:^[4]

Second round

Friday, April 9, 1948

Place	Score	To par
1	72-67=139	−5
2	70-70=140	−4
T3	71-70=141	−3
T3	70-71=141	−3
T5	71-71=142	−2
	70-72=142
	70-72=142
	71-71=142
	69-73=142
10	71-72=143	−1

Source:^[5]

Third round

Saturday, April 10, 1948

Place	Score	To par
1	70-70-69=209	−7
2	71-70-70=211	−5
3	74-71-69=214	−2
4	70-72-73=215	−1
T5	71-71-74=216	E
T5	71-73-72=216	E
T7	71-71-75=217	+1
T7	69-73-75=217	+1
T9	70-71-77=218	+2
	70-72-76=218
	71-72-75=218
	71-74-73=218

Source:^[6]

Final round

Sunday, April 11, 1948

Final leaderboard

Champion
Silver Cup winner (low amateur)
(a) = amateur
(c) = past champion

*Top 10*!Place!!Player!!Score!!To par!!Money (US$)
1		70-70-69-70=279	−9	2,500
2		74-71-69-70=284	−4	1,500
3		71-70-70-76=287	−1	1,000
T4		71-71-75-71=288	E	750
	69-73-75-71=288
T6		70-72-73-74=289	+1	500
	70-71-77-71=289
T8	Byron Nelson (c)	71-73-72-74=290	+2	350
	72-67-80-71=290
T10	Herman Keiser (c)	70-72-76-73=291	+3	250
	71-71-74-75=291
	71-72-75-73=291

Leaderboard below the top 10
Place	Player	Score	To par	Money ($)
T13		74-72-76-71=293	+5	188
	73-77-73-70=293
Skee Riegel (a)	71-74-73-75=293	0
T16		73-73-74-74=294	+6	138
	74-75-72-73=294
T18	Jimmy Demaret (c)	73-72-78-72=295	+7	80
	73-76-75-71=295
	75-73-73-74=295
	75-75-76-69=295
	72-72-76-75=295
T23		71-74-74-77=296	+8
Gene Sarazen (c)	77-74-73-72=296
T25		73-77-71-76=297	+9
	72-73-75-77=297
Henry Picard (c)	73-73-74-77=297
T28		75-73-76-74=298	+10
	76-71-77-74=298
T30	Bud Ward (a)	74-74-77-74=299	+11
	74-78-71-76=299
32		74-73-76-77=300	+12
33		77-75-76-73=301	+13
34	Horton Smith (c)	78-73-76-75=302	+14
T35		77-73-77-76=303	+15
Ralph Guldahl (c)	75-78-75-75=303
	74-75-76-78=303
Jim McHale Jr. (a)	78-73-77-75=303
	75-73-76-79=303
T40	Dick Chapman (a)	74-76-77-77=304	+16
	76-76-77-75=304
	73-77-76-78=304
T43		75-75-76-79=305	+17
	72-77-79-77=305
Craig Wood (c)	77-80-77-71=305
46		77-78-75-77=307	+19
47		84-75-75-76=310	+22
48		74-80-78-79=311	+23
49		74-79-86-74=313	+25
50		76-81-79-79=315	+27
T51	Fred Kammer (a)	78-75-77-86=316	+28
Harvie Ward (a)	78-78-81-79=316
53	Bob Rosburg (a)	79-81-80-78=318	+30
54	Jack Selby (a)	81-76-84-80=321	+33
WD		74-76-76=226	+10
George Hamer (a)	77-78-76=231	+15
	78-77-82=237	+21

Sources:^[7] ^[8]

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
Harmon	−7	−7	−7	−6	−6	−7	−8	−10	−10	−10	−10	−9	−9	−10	−9	−9	−9	−9
Middlecoff	−2	−2	−1	E	E	−1	−1	−1	−1	−1	−1	−1	−2	−2	−3	−3	−3	−4
Harbert	−5	−5	−5	−5	−4	−3	−3	−2	−2	−2	−2	−2	−2	−2	−2	−2	−2	−1
Ferrier	+1	E	−1	−1	−1	−1	−2	−3	−3	−2	−2	−1	−2	−1	−2	−2	−1	E
Mangrum	+2	+1	E	E	E	+1	+1	+1	+1	+1	+2	+3	+2	+2	+1	+1	+1	E
Furgol	−1	−1	−1	E	+1	+1	+1	+1	+1	+1	+1	+2	+1	+1	E	E	+1	+1
Hogan	+2	+2	+2	+1	+1	+1	+2	+1	+1	+2	+2	+2	+2	+2	+1	+1	+1	+1
Nelson	E	E	+1	+2	+3	+3	+2	+1	+1	+1	+2	+2	+2	+2	+1	+1	+2	+2
Locke	E	E	+1	+1	+1	+1	+2	+2	+2	+2	+3	+3	+4	+4	+3	+3	+3	+3

Cumulative tournament scores, relative to par

	Eagle		Birdie		Bogey

External links

Masters.com – past winners and results
Augusta.com – 1948 Masters leaderboard and scorecards

Notes and References

News: Harmon wins Masters; ties record with 279. Milwaukee Sentinel. Associated Press. April 12, 1948. 3-part 2 .
News: Harmon cards blistering, record-tying 279 to win Masters' golf tourney . Spokesman-Review . Associated Press . April 12, 1948 . 10 .
The case of the missing green jacket . Golf Digest . Kindred . Dave . August 2013 . April 18, 2014.
News: Mangrum fires 69 for lead in Masters' golf . Chicago Daily Tribune . Bartlett . Charles . April 9, 1948 . 1, part 3 .
News: Harry Todd leads on 139 in Masters. Chicago Daily Tribune . Bartlett . Charles . April 10, 1948 . 1, part .
News: Harmon's 209 for 54, leads Masters golf . Chicago Sunday Tribune . Bartlett . Charles . April 11, 1948 . 1, part 2.
Web site: Masters – Past Winners & Results . Augusta National Inc. . April 20, 2021.
Web site: Past results – Masters tournament . PGA Tour . April 20, 2021.