# 1939 Masters Tournament

The 1939 Masters Tournament was the sixth Masters Tournament, held from March 31 to April 2 at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia. Due to adverse weather conditions, the first round was postponed to Friday and the final two rounds were played on Sunday.
Ralph Guldahl won his only Masters title with a tournament record 279 (−9), one stroke better than runner-up Sam Snead. He had finished as a runner-up the previous two years, and it was the third of Guldahl's three major titles; he won consecutive U.S. Open titles in 1937 and 1938. The previous Masters record was 282 (−6) in 1935, and Guldahl's mark stood until 1953, when Ben Hogan shot 274 (−14).
The purse was $5,000 with a winner's share of $1,500. The gallery for Sunday's final two rounds was estimated at 10,000 spectators. Challenging weather conditions during the second round on Saturday included hail, wind, rain, and some sun breaks.

## Field
### 1. Masters champions

Byron Nelson (7,9,10,12), Henry Picard (7,9,10,12), Gene Sarazen (2,4,6,7,9,10,12), Horton Smith (7,9,10,12)

### 2. U.S. Open champions

Tommy Armour (4,6,10), Billy Burke (9), Johnny Farrell, Ralph Guldahl (7,9,10), Walter Hagen (4,6), Bobby Jones (3,4,5,9), Tony Manero (7,9)

### 3. U.S. Amateur champions

Lawson Little (5,9), Jess Sweetser (5,a), Willie Turnesa (11,a)

### 4. British Open champions

Jock Hutchison (6), Denny Shute (6,7,10)

### 5. British Amateur champions

Charlie Yates (8,a)

### 6. PGA champions

Johnny Revolta (7,9,10), Paul Runyan (9,10,12)

### 7. Members of the U.S. 1937 Ryder Cup team

Ed Dudley (9), Sam Snead (12)

### 8. Members of the U.S. 1938 Walker Cup team

Ray Billows (a), Tommy Suffern Tailer (9,a)
* Johnny Fischer (3,a), Johnny Goodman (2,3,5,11,a), Fred Haas (a), Chuck Kocsis (9,a), Reynolds Smith (a) and Bud Ward (a) did not play. Tailer was a reserve for the team.

### 9. Top 30 players and ties from the 1938 Masters Tournament

Harry Cooper (10), Vic Ghezzi (10), Jimmy Hines (10,12), Ben Hogan, Ky Laffoon, Ray Mangrum, Jug McSpaden (10), Dick Metz (10), Felix Serafin, Jimmy Thomson, Frank Walsh, Al Watrous
* Wiffy Cox, Bobby Cruickshank and Sam Parks Jr. (2) did not play.

### 10. Top 30 players and ties from the 1938 U.S. Open

Joe Belfore, Jim Foulis (12), Frank Moore, Toney Penna
* Olin Dutra (2,6), Willie Hunter (5), Al Huske, Stanley Kertes, Butch Kreuger, Charles Lacey, Ray Mangrum, John Rogers, Charles Sheppard, George Von Elm (3), Al Zimmerman and Emery Zimmerman did not play,

### 11. 1938 U.S. Amateur quarter-finalists

Dick Chapman (a), Chick Harbert (a), Joe Thompson (a)
* Pat Abbott (a), Chris Brinke (a) and Ed Kingsley (a) did not play.

### 13. Two players, not already qualified, with the best scoring average in the winter part of the 1939 PGA Tour

Jimmy Demaret, Craig Wood

### 14 Foreign invitations

Stanley Horne

### Additional invitation

Ted Adams (a) winner of 1938 Canadian Amateur Championship

## Round summaries
### First round

Friday, March 31, 1939
| Place | Player | Score | To par |
| 1 | Billy Burke | 69 | −3 |
| 2 | Sam Snead | 70 | −2 |
| T3 | Tommy Armour | 71 | −1 |
| T3 | Byron Nelson | 71 | −1 |
| T3 | Henry Picard | 71 | −1 |
| T6 | Jimmy Demaret | 72 | E |
| T6 | Ralph Guldahl | 72 | E |
| T6 | Ky Laffoon | 72 | E |
| T6 | Lawson Little | 72 | E |
| T6 | Dick Metz | 72 | E |
| T6 | Toney Penna | 72 | E |
| T6 | Craig Wood | 72 | E |
Source:

### Second round

Saturday, April 1, 1939
| Place | Player | Score | To par |
| 1 | Gene Sarazen | 73-66=139 | −5 |
| T2 | Ralph Guldahl | 72-68=140 | −4 |
| T2 | Byron Nelson | 71-69=140 | −4 |
| T2 | Sam Snead | 70-70=140 | −4 |
| 5 | Billy Burke | 69-72=141 | −3 |
| 6 | Henry Picard | 71-71=142 | −2 |
| 7 | Lawson Little | 72-72=144 | E |
| T8 | Tommy Armour | 71-74=145 | +1 |
| T8 | Craig Wood | 72-73=145 | +1 |
| T10 | Ben Hogan | 75-71=146 | +2 |
| T10 | Jimmy Thomson | 75-71=146 | +2 |
Source:

### Third round

Sunday, April 2, 1939 (morning)
| Place | Player | Score | To par |
| 1 | Ralph Guldahl | 72-68-70=210 | −6 |
| 2 | Gene Sarazen | 73-66-72=211 | −5 |
| T3 | Billy Burke | 69-72-71=212 | −4 |
| T3 | Lawson Little | 72-72-68=212 | −4 |
| T3 | Byron Nelson | 71-69-72=212 | −4 |
| T3 | Sam Snead | 70-70-72=212 | −4 |
| 7 | Craig Wood | 72-73-71=216 | E |
| T8 | Ben Hogan | 75-71-72=218 | +2 |
| T8 | Henry Picard | 71-71-76=218 | +2 |
| T10 | Ed Dudley | 75-75-69=219 | +3 |
| T10 | Toney Penna | 72-75-72=219 | +3 |

### Final round

Sunday, April 2, 1939 (afternoon)

#### Final leaderboard

* Champion
* Silver Cup winner (low amateur)
* (a) = amateur
* (c) = past champion
Top 10 :
| Place | Player | Score | To par | Money (US$) |
| 1 | Ralph Guldahl | 72-68-70-69=279 | −9 | 1,500 |
| 2 | Sam Snead | 70-70-72-68=280 | −8 | 800 |
| T3 | Billy Burke | 69-72-71-70=282 | −6 | 550 |
| T3 | Lawson Little | 72-72-68-70=282 | −6 | 550 |
| 5 | Gene Sarazen (c) | 73-66-72-72=283 | −5 | 400 |
| 6 | Craig Wood | 72-73-71-68=284 | −4 | 300 |
| 7 | Byron Nelson (c) | 71-69-72-75=287 | −1 | 250 |
| 8 | Henry Picard (c) | 71-71-76-71=289 | +1 | 175 |
| 9 | Ben Hogan | 75-71-72-72=290 | +2 | 175 |
| T10 | Ed Dudley | 75-75-69-72=291 | +3 | 100 |
| T10 | Toney Penna | 72-75-72-72=291 | +3 | 100 |
Leaderboard below the top 10 :
| Place | Player | Score | To par | Money ($) |
| T12 | Tommy Armour | 71-74-76-72=293 | +5 | 33 |
| T12 | Vic Ghezzi | 73-76-72-72=293 | +5 | 33 |
| T12 | Jug McSpaden | 75-72-74-72=293 | +5 | 33 |
| 15 | Denny Shute | 78-71-73-72=294 | +6 | |
| T16 | Paul Runyan | 73-71-75-76=295 | +7 | |
| T16 | Felix Serafin | 74-76-73-72=295 | +7 | |
| T18 | Chick Harbert (a) | 74-73-75-74=296 | +8 | |
| T18 | Jimmy Thomson | 75-71-73-77=296 | +8 | |
| T18 | Charlie Yates (a) | 74-73-74-75=296 | +8 | |
| 21 | Tommy Suffern Tailer (a) | 78-75-73-71=297 | +9 | |
| T22 | Jimmy Hines | 76-73-74-75=298 | +10 | |
| T22 | Ky Laffoon | 72-75-73-78=298 | +10 | |
| T22 | Frank Moore | 75-74-75-74=298 | +10 | |
| 25 | Al Watrous | 75-75-74-75=299 | +11 | |
| T26 | Tony Manero | 76-73-77-74=300 | +12 | |
| T26 | Horton Smith (c) | 75-79-74-72=300 | +12 | |
| T26 | Willie Turnesa (a) | 78-70-79-73=300 | +12 | |
| T29 | Jess Sweetser (a) | 75-75-75-77=302 | +14 | |
| T29 | Frank Walsh | 76-76-72-78=302 | +14 | |
| T31 | Dick Metz | 72-80-77-74=303 | +15 | |
| T31 | Johnny Revolta | 77-74-76-76=303 | +15 | |
| T33 | Harry Cooper | 76-77-73-78=304 | +16 | |
| T33 | Jimmy Demaret | 72-81-77-74=304 | +16 | |
| T33 | Walter Hagen | 76-76-76-76=304 | +16 | |
| T33 | Bobby Jones | 76-77-78-73=304 | +16 | |
| T37 | Dick Chapman (a) | 78-77-77-77=309 | +21 | |
| T37 | Jim Foulis | 80-76-77-76=309 | +21 | |
| 39 | Johnny Farrell | 81-75-79-77=312 | +24 | |
| 40 | Ted Adams (a) | 78-77-83-76=314 | +26 | |
| 41 | Ray Billows (a) | 75-84-78-80=317 | +29 | |
| 42 | Joe Belfore | 83-79-78-78=318 | +30 | |
| 43 | Joe Thompson | 81-84-79-78=322 | +34 | |
| WD | Jock Hutchison | 79-77=156 | +12 | |
| WD | Ray Mangrum | 77 | +5 | |
| WD | Stanley Horne | 82 | +10 | |
Sources: