1937 Masters Tournament Winner and Scores
Winner: Byron Nelson, 283
Where it was played: Augusta National Golf Club, Augusta, Georgia
Tournament dates: April 1-4, 1937
Leader after first round: Byron Nelson, 66
Leader after second round: Byron Nelson, 138
Leader after third round: Ralph Guldahl, 209
What Happened at the 1937 Masters Tournament
Augusta National Golf Club is today dotted with reminders of events past, including a series of bridges dedicated to winners of The Masters. One of those bridges is known as the Nelson Bridge. It was dedicated to Byron Nelson in 1958, commemorating what Nelson did to win the 1937 tournament.What did Nelson do to win this tournament? Nelson caught and passed Ralph Guldahl for the victory, making his move on the 12th and 13th holes in the final round — beating Guldahl by six strokes over those two holes.
Nelson was the first-round leader with a 66, which was The Masters' 18-hole scoring record at the time. With a 72 in Round 2, Nelson still held the lead after 36 holes, by three strokes over Guldahl.
But in the third round, Guldahl surged to the front with a 68. Nelson's third-round 75 dropped him into a tie for third place, four strokes behind Guldahl.
And when Nelson made the turn in the final round, he still trailed Guldahl by four strokes. But all that changed over the 12th and 13th holes, two of the holes that later (along with the 11th) were dubbed "Amen Corner" because of the miracles that sometimes seemed to happen there. Nelson scored a 2 on the par-3 12th hole, then an eagle 3 on the par-5 13th hole. Guldahl, meanwhile, had a double-bogey 5 on No. 12 and bogey 6 on No. 13. Nelson played the two holes in 5 strokes, Guldahl in 11 strokes.
Nelson went into those holes trailing by four and came out of them leading by two. He parred out from there to score 70, compared to Guldahl's 76. Nelson's winning total was 283.
At age 25, it was Nelson's first major championship victory and just his third PGA Tour win. Guldahl went on to win the 1937 U.S. Open a couple months later. He was runner-up again at Augusta National in 1938 before winning the 1939 Masters. Nelson finished with five wins in majors over his career, Guldahl with three. But Nelson's 12th- and 13th-hole heroics here, in 1937, were what is commemorated on the bridge that crosses Rae's Creek as golfers exit the 13th tee.
Sam Snead, a future 3-time Masters champion, played this tournament for the first time in 1937, finishing 18th. This was just the fourth time The Masters was played, and the first two champions, Horton Smith (who won two of the first three Masters played) and Gene Sarazen, finished 19th and 24th, respectively.
This was the year that Augusta National members first began wearing green jackets during tournament week. It was done to make the members more visible to fans in attendance, in case fans had questions or needed assistance.
1937 Masters Final Scores
| Byron Nelson | 66-72-75-70—283 |
| Ralph Guldahl | 69-72-68-76—285 |
| Ed Dudley | 70-71-71-74—286 |
| Herman Cooper | 73-69-71-74—287 |
| Ky Laffoon | 73-70-74-73—290 |
| Jimmy Thomson | 71-73-74-73—291 |
| Al Watrous | 74-72-71-75—292 |
| Tommy Armour | 73-75-73-72—293 |
| Vic Ghezzi | 72-72-72-77—293 |
| Leonard Dodson | 71-75-71-77—294 |
| Jimmy Hines | 77-72-68-77—294 |
| Wiffy Cox | 70-72-77-76—295 |
| Clarence Clark | 77-75-70-74—296 |
| Tony Manero | 71-72-78-75—296 |
| Johnny Revolta | 71-72-72-81—296 |
| Denny Shute | 74-75-71-76—296 |
| Bobby Cruickshank | 79-69-71-78—297 |
| Sam Snead | 76-72-71-79—298 |
| Lawson Little | 70-79-74-76—299 |
| Willie Macfarlane | 73-76-73-77—299 |
| Paul Runyan | 74-77-72-76—299 |
| Felix Serafin | 75-76-71-77—299 |
| Horton Smith | 75-72-77-75—299 |
| Ray Mangrum | 71-80-72-77—300 |
| Gene Sarazen | 74-80-73-73—300 |
| Craig Wood | 79-77-74-71—301 |
| a-Charlie Yates | 76-73-74-78—301 |
| a-Francis Francis | 77-74-75-76—302 |
| Billy Burke | 77-71-75-80—303 |
| Al Espinosa | 72-76-79-76—303 |
| Bobby Jones | 79-74-73-77—303 |
| Harold "Jug" McSpaden | 77-79-72-76—304 |
| Bill Mehlhorn | 73-76-77-79—305 |
| Henry Picard | 75-77-75-78—305 |
| a-Chuck Kocsis | 76-72-77-82—307 |
| Al Brosch | 78-79-74-77—308 |
| Tom Kerrigan | 75-77-77-79—308 |
| Sam Parks Jr. | 76-75-80-77—308 |
| Frank Moore | 73-79-76-82—310 |
| a-Jess Sweetser | 75-80-85-79—319 |
| a-John Riddell | 79-81-82-79—321 |
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