# 1946 Masters Tournament

The 1946 Masters Tournament was the tenth Masters Tournament, held April 4–7 at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia. It was the first in four years, because of World War II. The purse was $10,000, double that of the previous Masters in 1942, with a winner's share of $2,500.
Herman Keiser won his only major title, one stroke ahead of runner-up Ben Hogan, the tour's money leader. Keiser and Hogan both three-putted the slick 18th green on Sunday; Keiser from 20 feet (6 m), and a half-hour later Hogan from 15 feet (4.6 m).
Hogan won the PGA Championship four months later in August for his first major title at age 34. He later won the Masters in 1951 and 1953 and finished his career with nine wins in majors.

## Field

With only one major championship played in 1945, the invitation criteria were modified. Eight amateurs and eight professionals were selected by a committee in February and four further professionals were invited just before the event.

### 1. Masters champions

Jimmy Demaret (7), Ralph Guldahl (2,7), Byron Nelson (2,6,7,8), Henry Picard (6,7), Horton Smith (7), Craig Wood (2,7)
* Gene Sarazen (2,4,6,7) did not play.

### 2. U.S. Open champions

Billy Burke (7), Bobby Jones (3,4,5,7), Lawson Little (3,5,7)

### 3. U.S. Amateur champions

Dick Chapman (a)

### 4. British Open champions

Denny Shute (6,8)

### 5. British Amateur champions

Charlie Yates (7,a)

### 6. PGA champions

Vic Ghezzi (8), Bob Hamilton, Sam Snead (7)

### 7. Top 30 players and ties from the 1942 Masters Tournament

Sammy Byrd (8), Jim Ferrier, Jim Foulis, Chick Harbert, Chandler Harper, Dutch Harrison, Ben Hogan, Herman Keiser, Gene Kunes, Jug McSpaden, Johnny Palmer, Toney Penna, Felix Serafin, Jimmy Thomson
* Tommy Armour (2,4,6), Harry Cooper, Bobby Cruickshank, Willie Goggin, Paul Runyan (6) and Bud Ward (3,a) did not play.

### 8. 1945 PGA Championship quarter-finalists

Claude Harmon, Ralph Hutchison, Ky Laffoon
* Clarence Doser did not play.

### 9. Selected amateurs, not already qualified

Bob Cochran (a), Fred Haas, Cary Middlecoff (a), Frank Stranahan (a)
* Ray Billows (a), Harry Givan (a), Chuck Kocsis (a), Jim McHale Jr. (a) did not play. Haas turned professional before the event.

### 10. Selected professionals, not already qualified

Herman Barron, Johnny Bulla, Ed Dudley, Jimmy Hines, Lloyd Mangrum, Dick Metz, Ed Oliver, Jim Turnesa

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

* Tommy Suffern Tailer (a) did not play

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

Al Watrous

### 13. Two players, not already qualified, with the best scoring average in the winter part of the 1946 PGA Tour

Leland Gibson, George Schneiter

### 14. Additional invitations

Clayton Heafner, Rod Munday, Buck White, Al Zimmerman

## Round summaries
### First round

Thursday, April 4, 1946
| Place | Player | Score | To par |
| T1 | Chick Harbert | 69 | −3 |
| T1 | Herman Keiser | 69 | −3 |
| T3 | Vic Ghezzi | 71 | −1 |
| T3 | Fred Haas | 71 | −1 |
| T3 | Toney Penna | 71 | −1 |
| T6 | Johnny Bulla | 72 | E |
| T6 | Cary Middlecoff | 72 | E |
| T6 | Byron Nelson | 72 | E |
| T6 | Jimmy Thomson | 72 | E |
| T10 | George Schneiter | 73 | +1 |
| T10 | Clayton Heafner | 73 | +1 |
Source:

### Second round

Friday, April 5, 1946
| Place | Player | Score | To par |
| 1 | Herman Keiser | 69-68=137 | −7 |
| 2 | Jimmy Thomson | 72-70=142 | −2 |
| 3 | Clayton Heafner | 74-69=143 | −1 |
| T4 | Bob Hamilton | 75-69=144 | E |
| T4 | Chick Harbert | 69-75=144 | E |
| T4 | Ben Hogan | 74-70=144 | E |
| T4 | Toney Penna | 71-73=144 | E |
| T8 | Jimmy Demaret | 75-70=145 | +1 |
| T8 | Jim Foulis | 70-75=145 | +1 |
| T8 | Byron Nelson | 72-73=145 | +1 |
Source:

### Third round

Saturday, April 6, 1946
| Place | Player | Score | To par |
| 1 | Herman Keiser | 69-68-71=208 | −8 |
| 2 | Ben Hogan | 74-70-69=213 | −3 |
| T3 | Jim Ferrier | 74-72-68=214 | −2 |
| T3 | Fred Haas | 71-75-68=214 | −2 |
| T3 | Clayton Heafner | 74-69-71=214 | −2 |
| 6 | Bob Hamilton | 75-69-71=215 | −1 |
| T7 | Jimmy Demaret | 75-70-71=216 | E |
| T7 | Byron Nelson | 72-73-71=216 | E |
| T9 | Jim Foulis | 75-70-72=217 | +1 |
| T9 | Vic Ghezzi | 71-79-67=217 | +1 |
| T9 | Ky Laffoon | 74-73-70=217 | +1 |
Source:

### Final round

Sunday, April 7, 1946

#### Final leaderboard

* Champion
* Silver Cup winner (low amateur)
* (a) = amateur
* (c) = past champion
Top 10 :
| Place | Player | Score | To par | Money (US$) |
| 1 | Herman Keiser | 69-68-71-74=282 | −6 | 2,500 |
| 2 | Ben Hogan | 74-70-69-70=283 | −5 | 1,500 |
| 3 | Bob Hamilton | 75-69-71-72=287 | −1 | 1,000 |
| T4 | Jimmy Demaret (c) | 75-70-71-73=289 | +1 | 683 |
| T4 | Jim Ferrier | 74-72-68-75=289 | +1 | 683 |
| T4 | Ky Laffoon | 74-73-70-72=289 | +1 | 683 |
| T7 | Chick Harbert | 69-75-76-70=290 | +2 | 356 |
| T7 | Clayton Heafner | 74-69-71-76=290 | +2 | 356 |
| T7 | Byron Nelson (c) | 72-73-71-74=290 | +2 | 356 |
| T7 | Sam Snead | 74-75-70-71=290 | +2 | 356 |
Leaderboard below the top 10 :
| Place | Player | Score | To par | Money ($) |
| 11 | Jim Foulis | 75-70-72-74=291 | +3 | 250 |
| T12 | Vic Ghezzi | 71-79-67-76=293 | +5 | 213 |
| T12 | Cary Middlecoff (a) | 72-76-71-74=293 | +5 | 0 |
| T12 | George Schneiter | 73-73-72-75=293 | +5 | 213 |
| 15 | Fred Haas | 71-75-68-80=294 | +6 | 175 |
| T16 | Johnny Bulla | 72-76-73-74=295 | +7 | 138 |
| T16 | Lloyd Mangrum | 76-75-72-72=295 | +7 | 138 |
| 18 | Claude Harmon | 76-75-74-71=296 | +8 | 100 |
| 19 | Chandler Harper | 74-76-73-74=297 | +9 | 100 |
| 20 | Frank Stranahan (a) | 76-74-73-75=298 | +10 | 0 |
| T21 | Lawson Little | 74-74-78-73=299 | +11 | 50 |
| T21 | Toney Penna | 71-73-80-75=299 | +11 | 50 |
| T21 | Felix Serafin | 76-75-79-69=299 | +11 | 50 |
| T21 | Horton Smith (c) | 78-77-75-69=299 | +11 | 50 |
| T25 | Herman Barron | 74-73-74-79=300 | +12 | |
| T25 | Henry Picard (c) | 79-73-71-77=300 | +12 | |
| T25 | Denny Shute | 79-77-71-73=300 | +12 | |
| T25 | Jimmy Thomson | 72-70-79-79=300 | +12 | |
| T29 | Gene Kunes | 76-72-77-76=301 | +13 | |
| T29 | Jug McSpaden | 75-74-75-77=301 | +13 | |
| T29 | Al Zimmerman | 76-76-74-75=301 | +13 | |
| T32 | Ed Dudley | 76-76-76-74=302 | +14 | |
| T32 | Bobby Jones | 75-72-77-78=302 | +14 | |
| T32 | Dick Metz | 77-75-71-79=302 | +14 | |
| T32 | Johnny Palmer | 76-75-77-74=302 | +14 | |
| T32 | Al Watrous | 80-76-72-74=302 | +14 | |
| T37 | Dutch Harrison | 75-77-75-76=303 | +15 | |
| T37 | Ed Oliver | 79-73-71-80=303 | +15 | |
| T37 | Jim Turnesa | 73-78-71-81=303 | +15 | |
| 40 | Sammy Byrd | 75-79-71-79=304 | +16 | |
| T41 | Dick Chapman (a) | 77-77-73-79=306 | +18 | |
| T41 | Ralph Hutchison | 79-78-75-74=306 | +18 | |
| 43 | Leland Gibson | 78-80-75-75=308 | +20 | |
| 44 | Rod Munday | 78-77-76-78=309 | +21 | |
| 45 | Buck White | 77-82-76-75=310 | +22 | |
| 46 | Billy Burke | 80-80-77-75=312 | +24 | |
| 47 | Bob Cochran (a) | 81-76-76-80=313 | +25 | |
| 48 | Ralph Guldahl (c) | 85-76-78-76=315 | +27 | |
| 49 | Jimmy Hines | 79-80-77-80=316 | +28 | |
| 50 | Charlie Yates (a) | 78-79-78-86=321 | +33 | |
| WD | Craig Wood (c) | 83 | +11 | |
Sources:

#### 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 |
| Keiser | −7 | −8 | −8 | −8 | −7 | −8 | −7 | −8 | −7 | −7 | −7 | −7 | −7 | −7 | −7 | −7 | −7 | −6 |
| Hogan | −2 | −3 | −3 | −3 | −3 | −3 | −3 | −4 | −4 | −4 | −4 | −5 | −6 | −5 | −6 | −6 | −6 | −5 |
Cumulative tournament scores, relative to par