1942 Masters Tournament Winner and Scores

The 9th edition of the championship, the 1942 Masters, ended in an 18-hole playoff between two emerging legends who had been battling each other since both were caddies at the same club as youths: Byron Nelson and Ben Hogan. This time, Nelson was the winner.

Winner: Byron Nelson, 280

Where it was played: Augusta National Golf Club, Augusta, Georgia

Tournament dates: April 9-13, 1942

Leader after first round: Horton Smith and Paul Runyan, 67

Leader after second round: Byron Nelson, 135

Leader after third round: Byron Nelson, 207

What Happened at the 1942 Masters Tournament

Horton Smith, the tournament's only two-time winner to this point, was the co-leader after Round 1. But Byron Nelson was the co-leader, with Ben Hogan, after Round 4, and when Nelson defeated Hogan in the playoff he joined Smith as a two-time winner of The Masters.

Nelson shot 68 in the first round and 67 in the second to move into the lead at the halfway point. Hogan was eight strokes behind him at that point. Hogan moved into second place with a 67 in the third round, but, after carding a 72 in Round 3, Nelson still held a three-stroke lead heading into the final round.

Hogan birdied the 18th hole of the final round, scoring 70 and posting 280 as the clubhouse leader. Nelson bogeyed No. 17 to fall into a tie, and missed a 12-foot birdie putt on the 18th that would have won the tournament outright. Instead, Nelson also finished at 280, necessitating an 18-hole playoff the next day.

The playoff at the 1942 Masters might have had the most star power of any playoff ever, given the two golfers involved and the fact they were joined by playoff referee Bobby Jones. Nelson and Hogan had been facing each other since growing up at the same time in the Fort Worth, Texas, area. Nelson once beat Hogan for the caddie championship at Glen Garden Country Club.

Hogan jumped to an early lead after Nelson double-bogeyed the first playoff hole, but Nelson turned it around with an eagle and three birdies on Holes 8-13. Nelson led by two going to the final playoff hole, which he bogeyed. That made the final score Nelson 69, Hogan 70, and made Nelson — who previously won the 1937 Masters — the tournament's second two-time champion.

Hogan led the PGA Tour money list three years running, 1940-42, but had not yet, by the time of the 1942 Masters, won any majors. He wound up winning nine of them, including The Masters in 1951 and 1953.

Paul Runyan, a two-time PGA Championship winner, finished third, the last of his six Top 10 finishes in The Masters. First-round co-leader Smith wound up in fifth place. It was the final Top 10 finish in any major championship for the winner of the inaugural 1934 Masters plus the 1936 Masters.

1942 Masters Final Scores

x-Byron Nelson 68-67-72-73—280
Ben Hogan 73-70-67-70—280
Paul Runyan 67-73-72-71—283
Sam Byrd 68-68-75-74—285
Horton Smith 67-73-74-73—287
Jimmy Demaret 70-70-75-75—290
Dutch Harrison 74-70-71-77—292
Lawson Little 71-74-72-75—292
Sam Snead 78-69-72-73—292
Chick Harbert 73-73-72-75—293
Gene Kunes 74-74-74-71—293
Jimmy Thomson 73-70-74-77—294
Chandler Harper 75-75-76-69—295
Willie Goggin 74-70-78-74—296
Bobby Cruickshank 72-79-71-75—297
Jim Ferrier 71-76-80-70—297
Henry Picard 75-72-75-75—297
Harry Cooper 74-77-76-72—299
Harold McSpaden 74-72-79-74—299
Felix Serafin 75-74-77-73—299
Ralph Guldahl 74-74-76-76—300
Toney Penna 74-79-73-75—301
Billy Burke 71-79-80-72—302
Herman Keiser 74-74-78-76—302
Craig Wood 72-75-82-73—302
Jim Foulis 75-71-79-78—303
Johnny Palmer 78-75-75-75—303
Tommy Armour 74-79-76-75—304
Bobby Jones 72-75-79-78—304
Gene Sarazen 80-74-75-75—304
Bud Ward 76-73-80-75—304
a-Charlie Yates 78-76-74-76—304
a-Ed Dudley 71-77-81-76—305
Jimmy Hines 77-76-79-73—305
a-Steve Kovack 76-79-78-73—306
Herman Barron 77-75-80-75—307
Jack Ryan 77-71-76-83—307
Joe Zarhardt 76-76-83-76—311
Jerry Gianferante 77-80-82-73—312
Johnny Morris 83-75-80-75—313

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1941 Masters - 1946 Masters

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