1942 Masters Tournament Winner and Scores
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