# 1931 PGA Championship

The 1931 PGA Championship was the 14th PGA Championship, held September 14–19 at Wannamoisett Country Club in Rumford, Rhode Island, northeast of Providence. Then a match play championship, Tom Creavy, age 20, defeated Gene Sarazen 5 and 3 in the semifinals and Denny Shute 2 and 1 in the finals.
This was the first year the defending champion was exempt from qualifying; Tommy Armour lost in the quarterfinals to Shute, 3 and 1. Sarazen was the medalist in the qualifying with 145 (+5).
Through 2016, Sarazen remains the youngest winner of a modern major title at age 20 (in 1922) and Creavy was just 2 months older. Finalist Shute won consecutive titles in 1936 and 1937.

## Format

The match play format at the PGA Championship in 1931 called for 12 rounds (216 holes) in six days:
* Monday – 36-hole stroke play qualifier
** defending champion Tommy Armour and top 31 professionals advanced to match play
* Tuesday – first round – 36 holes
* Wednesday – second round – 36 holes
* Thursday – quarterfinals – 36 holes
* Friday – semifinals – 36 holes
* Saturday – final – 36 holes

## Final results

Saturday, September 19, 1931
| Place | Player | Money ($) |
| 1 | Tom Creavy | 1,000 |
| 2 | Denny Shute | 500 |
| T3 | Billy Burke | 250 |
| T3 | Gene Sarazen | 250 |
| T5 | Tommy Armour | 200 |
| T5 | Abe Espinosa | 200 |
| T5 | Horton Smith | 200 |
| T5 | Cyril Walker | 200 |

## Final eight bracket

| Quarter-finals September 17 | Quarter-finals September 17 | Quarter-finals September 17 | Semi-finals September 18 | Semi-finals September 18 | Semi-finals September 18 | Finals September 19 | Finals September 19 | Finals September 19 |
| Tom Creavy | Tom Creavy | 3&1 | | | | | | |
| Cyril Walker | Cyril Walker | | | | | | | |
| Cyril Walker | Cyril Walker | | Tom Creavy | Tom Creavy | 5&3 | | | |
| | | | Gene Sarazen | Gene Sarazen | | | | |
| Gene Sarazen | Gene Sarazen | 5&4 | Gene Sarazen | Gene Sarazen | | | | |
| Horton Smith | Horton Smith | | | | | | | |
| Horton Smith | Horton Smith | | | | | Tom Creavy | Tom Creavy | 2&1 |
| | | | | | | Denny Shute | Denny Shute | |
| Denny Shute | Denny Shute | 3&1 | | | | | | | Denny Shute | Denny Shute |
| Tommy Armour | Tommy Armour | | | | | | | |
| Tommy Armour | Tommy Armour | | Denny Shute | Denny Shute | 1up | | | |
| | | | Billy Burke | Billy Burke | | | | |
| Billy Burke | Billy Burke | 5&3 | Billy Burke | Billy Burke | | | | |
| Abe Espinosa | Abe Espinosa | | | | | | | |

## Final match scorecards

Morning
| Hole | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 |
| Par | 4 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 4 |
| Creavy | 4 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
| Shute | 4 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
| Leader | – | – | C1 | C1 | C1 | C2 | C2 | C1 | C2 | C2 | C3 | C2 | C1 | C1 | C2 | C2 | C2 | C2 |
Afternoon
| Hole | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 |
| Par | 4 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 4 |
| Creavy | 4 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 6 | 5 | |
| Shute | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 6 | |
| Leader | C2 | C1 | C1 | C1 | C1 | C2 | C1 | C1 | C1 | C2 | C3 | C4 | C3 | C3 | C2 | C1 | C2 | |
* Source: