1931 PGA Championship
Golf tournament
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The 1931 PGA Championship was the 14th PGA Championship, held September 14â19 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[4] and Denny Shute 2 and 1 in the finals.[3][5][6][7]
| Tournament information | |
|---|---|
| Dates | September 14â19, 1931 |
| Location | Rumford, Rhode Island |
| Course | Wannamoisett Country Club |
| Organized by | PGA of America |
| Tour | PGA Tour |
| Format | Match play - 5 rounds |
| Statistics | |
| Par | 70 [1][2] |
| Field | 32 to match play |
| Cut | 153 (+13), playoff |
| Prize fund | $7,200[3] |
| Winner's share | $1,000 |
| Champion | |
 Tom Creavy | |
| def. Denny Shute, 2 and 1 | |
Country Club
This was the first year the defending champion was exempt from qualifying; Tommy Armour lost in the quarterfinals to Shute, 3 and 1.[8] Sarazen was the medalist in the qualifying with 145 (+5).[9][10]
Through 2016, Sarazen remains the youngest winner of a modern major title at age 20 (in 1922) and Creavy was just 2 months older.[11][12] Finalist Shute won consecutive titles in 1936 and 1937.
Format
The match play format at the PGA Championship in 1931 called for 12 rounds (216 holes) in six days:[3]
- Monday â 36-hole stroke play qualifier
- defending champion Tommy Armour and top 31 professionals advanced to match play
- Tuesday â first round â 36 holes
- Wednesday â second round â 36 holes
- Thursday â quarterfinals â 36 holes
- Friday â semifinals â 36 holes
- Saturday â final â 36 holes
Final results
Saturday, September 19, 1931
| Place | Player | Money ($) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tom Creavy | 1,000 |
| 2 | Denny Shute | 500 |
| T3 | Billy Burke | 250 |
| Gene Sarazen | ||
| T5 | Tommy Armour | 200 |
| Abe Espinosa | ||
| Horton Smith | ||
| Cyril Walker |
Final eight bracket
| Quarter-finals September 17 | Semi-finals September 18 | Finals September 19 | ||||||||||||
| Tom Creavy | 3&1 | |||||||||||||
| Cyril Walker | ||||||||||||||
| Tom Creavy | 5&3 | |||||||||||||
| Gene Sarazen | ||||||||||||||
| Gene Sarazen | 5&4 | |||||||||||||
| Horton Smith | ||||||||||||||
| Tom Creavy | 2&1 | |||||||||||||
| Denny Shute | ||||||||||||||
| Denny Shute | 3&1 | |||||||||||||
| Tommy Armour | ||||||||||||||
| Denny Shute | 1up | |||||||||||||
| Billy Burke | ||||||||||||||
| Billy Burke | 5&3 | |||||||||||||
| 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 | â | â | 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 |