1941 Masters Tournament
Golf tournament
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The 1941 Masters Tournament was the eighth Masters Tournament, held April 3–6 at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia. Craig Wood won his first major title, three strokes ahead of runner-up Byron Nelson.
| Tournament information | |
|---|---|
| Dates | April 3–6, 1941 |
| Location | Augusta, Georgia 33.503°N 82.020°W |
| Course | Augusta National Golf Club |
| Organized by | Augusta National Golf Club |
| Tour | PGA Tour |
| Statistics | |
| Par | 72 |
| Length | 6,800 yards (6,220 m)[1] |
| Field | 51 players |
| Cut | None |
| Prize fund | $5,000 |
| Winner's share | $1,500 |
| Champion | |
 Craig Wood | |
| 280 (−8) | |
| Location map | |
  Augusta National Location in the United States  Augusta National Location in Georgia | |
Wood opened with a 66 and led by five strokes after the first round.[1][2] During the final round, Nelson caught him on the front nine and the two were briefly co-leaders. Wood scored a 34 (−2) over the final nine holes to secure the victory.[3] The purse was $5,000 and the winner's share was $1,500.[4]
Wood, 39, led the entire tournament, the Masters' first wire-to-wire champion. He also won the next major, the 1941 U.S. Open. Prior to his win at the Masters, Wood had lost in a playoff (or extra holes) in all four of the modern major championships, a dubious distinction since matched by only one other, Greg Norman.[5]
Through 2026, there have been only five wire-to-wire champions; Wood was followed by Arnold Palmer (1960), Jack Nicklaus (1972), Raymond Floyd (1976), Jordan Spieth (2015), and Rory McIlroy in 2026.
Field
- 1. Masters champions
Jimmy Demaret (9), Ralph Guldahl (2,9,10,12), Byron Nelson (2,6,9,10,12), Gene Sarazen (2,4,6,9,10,12), Horton Smith (10)
- Henry Picard (6,9,10) did not play.
- 2. U.S. Open champions
Tommy Armour (4,6,10), Walter Hagen (4,6), Bobby Jones (3,4,5), Lawson Little (3,5,9,10), Tony Manero (9), Francis Ouimet (3,a), Sam Parks Jr. (10)
- 3. U.S. Amateur champions
Dick Chapman (11,a)
- 4. British Open champions
Denny Shute (6)
- 5. British Amateur champions
Charlie Yates (9,a)
- 6. PGA champions
Paul Runyan (9,12)
- 7. Members of the U.S. Ryder Cup team
- Not held
- 8. Members of the U.S. Walker Cup team
- Not held
- 9. Top 30 players and ties from the 1940 Masters Tournament
Johnny Bulla, Sammy Byrd, Harry Cooper, Ed Dudley (10), Jim Foulis (10), Willie Goggin, Jimmy Hines (10), Ben Hogan (10,12), Lloyd Mangrum (10), Jug McSpaden (10,12), Dick Metz (10), Toney Penna, Sam Snead (10,12), Frank Walsh (10), Al Watrous, Craig Wood (10)
- Johnny Farrell (2,10), Ed Oliver, Johnny Revolta (6,10) and Bud Ward (3,11,a) did not play.
- 10. Top 30 players and ties from the 1940 U.S. Open
Bruce Coltart, Vic Ghezzi, Andy Gibson, Jock Hutchison Jr., Gene Kunes, Ray Mangrum, Henry Ransom, Jack Ryan, Felix Serafin, Andrew Szwedko (a)
- Al Huske, Eddie Kirk (12), Wilford Wehrle (11,a) and Pat Willcox did not play.
- 11. 1940 U.S. Amateur quarter-finalists
George Dawson (a), Duff McCullough (a)
- Ray Billows (a), John P. Burke (a) and Johnny Fischer (3,a) did not play
- 12. 1940 PGA Championship quarter-finalists
- 13. One amateur, not already qualified, selected by a ballot of ex-U.S. Amateur champions
Art Doering (a)
- 14. One professional, not already qualified, selected by a ballot of ex-U.S. Open champions
- 15. Two players, not already qualified, with the best scoring average in the winter part of the 1940 PGA Tour
Leonard Dodson, Clayton Heafner
- 16 Foreign invitations
Jim Ferrier (9,10), Martin Pose
- Numbers in brackets indicate categories that the player would have qualified under had they been American.
Round summaries
First round
Thursday, April 3, 1941
| Place | Player | Score | To par |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Craig Wood | 66 | −6 |
| T2 | Willie Goggin | 71 | −1 |
| Ben Hogan | |||
| Lawson Little | |||
| Byron Nelson | |||
| T6 | Harry Cooper | 72 | E |
| Felix Serafin | |||
| T8 | Johnny Bulla | 73 | +1 |
| Sammy Byrd | |||
| Ed Dudley | |||
| Clayton Heafner | |||
| Tony Manero | |||
| Toney Penna | |||
| Jack Ryan | |||
| Jimmy Thomson | |||
| Sam Snead |
Second round
Friday, April 4, 1941
| Place | Player | Score | To par |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Craig Wood | 66-71=137 | −7 |
| 2 | Byron Nelson | 71-69=140 | −4 |
| 3 | Lawson Little | 71-70=141 | −3 |
| T4 | Sammy Byrd | 73-70=143 | −1 |
| Willie Goggin | 71-72=143 | ||
| Ben Hogan | 71-72=143 | ||
| Clayton Heafner | 73-70=143 | ||
| Jug McSpaden | 76-67=143 | ||
| T9 | Ed Dudley | 73-72=145 | +1 |
| Harry Cooper | 72-73=145 |
Source:[6]
Third round
Saturday, April 5, 1941
| Place | Player | Score | To par |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Craig Wood | 66-71-71=208 | −8 |
| 2 | Sammy Byrd | 73-70-68=211 | −5 |
| 3 | Byron Nelson | 71-69-73=213 | −3 |
| T4 | Willie Goggin | 71-72-72=215 | −1 |
| Lawson Little | 71-70-74=215 | ||
| 6 | Jimmy Demaret | 77-69-71=217 | +1 |
| 7 | Ben Hogan | 71-72-75=218 | +2 |
| T8 | Dick Chapman (a) | 76-73-70=219 | +3 |
| Vic Ghezzi | 77-71-71=219 | ||
| Clayton Heafner | 73-70-76=219 |
Final round
Sunday, April 6, 1941
Final leaderboard
| Place | Player | Score | To par | Money (US$) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Craig Wood | 66-71-71-72=280 | −8 | 1,500 |
| 2 | Byron Nelson (c) | 71-69-73-70=283 | −5 | 800 |
| 3 | Sammy Byrd | 73-70-68-74=285 | −3 | 600 |
| 4 | Ben Hogan | 71-72-75-68=286 | −2 | 500 |
| 5 | Ed Dudley | 73-72-75-68=288 | E | 400 |
| T6 | Vic Ghezzi | 77-71-71-70=289 | +1 | 275 |
| Sam Snead | 73-75-72-69=289 | |||
| 8 | Lawson Little | 71-70-74-75=290 | +2 | 200 |
| T9 | Willie Goggin | 71-72-72-76=291 | +3 | 117 |
| Lloyd Mangrum | 71-72-72-76=291 | |||
| Jug McSpaden | 76-67-80-68=291 |
| Leaderboard below the top 10 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Place | Player | Score | To par | Money ($) | |
| T12 | Jimmy Demaret (c) | 77-69-71-75=292 | +4 | 100 | |
| Clayton Heafner | 73-70-76-73=292 | ||||
| T14 | Harry Cooper | 72-73-75-73=293 | +5 | ||
| Ralph Guldahl (c) | 76-71-75-71=293 | ||||
| Jimmy Thomson | 73-75-72-73=293 | ||||
| 17 | Jack Ryan | 73-74-74-74=295 | +7 | ||
| 18 | Denny Shute | 77-75-74-70=296 | +8 | ||
| T19 | Dick Chapman (a) | 76-73-70-78=297 | +9 | ||
| Jimmy Hines | 76-74-75-72=297 | ||||
| Gene Kunes | 76-74-76-71=297 | ||||
| Dick Metz | 74-72-75-76=297 | ||||
| Sam Parks Jr. | 75-76-75-71=297 | ||||
| Toney Penna | 73-74-80-70=297 | ||||
| Gene Sarazen (c) | 76-72-74-75=297 | ||||
| Felix Serafin | 72-79-74-72=297 | ||||
| Horton Smith (c) | 74-72-77-74=297 | ||||
| 28 | Ray Mangrum | 76-70-78-74=298 | +10 | ||
| T29 |  Jim Ferrier | 75-76-73-75=299 | +11 | ||
| Jim Foulis | 76-75-71-77=299 | ||||
 Martin Pose | 77-74-76-72=299 | ||||
| 32 | Al Watrous | 74-75-76-75=300 | +12 | ||
| 33 | Leonard Dodson | 75-77-78-71=301 | +13 | ||
| 34 | George Dawson (a) | 74-78-77-73=302 | +14 | ||
| T35 | Paul Runyan | 78-78-74-73=303 | +15 | ||
| Charlie Yates (a) | 78-75-75-75=303 | ||||
| 37 | Frank Walsh | 74-76-76-78=304 | +16 | ||
| 38 | Tommy Armour | 75-75-76-79=305 | +17 | ||
| 39 | Johnny Bulla | 73-76-78-79=306 | +18 | ||
| 40 | Bobby Jones | 76-74-78-79=307 | +19 | ||
| 41 | Bruce Coltart | 80-78-75-75=308 | +20 | ||
| 42 | Andy Gibson | 78-75-80-76=309 | +21 | ||
| 43 | Jock Hutchison Jr. | 77-81-76-78=312 | +24 | ||
| T44 | Tony Manero | 73-80-78-82=313 | +25 | ||
| Duff McCullough (a) | 79-74-84-76=313 | ||||
| 46 | Art Doering (a) | 77-79-77-81=314 | +26 | ||
| 47 | Andrew Szwedko (a) | 81-79-78-81=319 | +31 | ||
| WD | Francis Ouimet (a) | 82 | +10 | ||
| Walter Hagen | 87 | +15 | |||
| Henry Ransom | |||||