1946 Masters Tournament Results
Winner: Herman Keiser, 282
Where it was played: Augusta National Golf Club, Augusta, Georgia
Tournament dates: April 4-7, 1946
Leader after first round: Chick Harbert and Herman Keiser, 69
Leader after second round: Herman Keiser, 137
Leader after third round: Herman Keiser, 208
What Happened In the 1946 Masters Tournament
World War II canceled The Masters in 1943, 1944 and 1945. The winner of the 1946 Masters was Herman Keiser, who himself spent most of the years of 1942-45 in the United States Navy during the war.Keiser took a 5-shot lead into the final round, then barely survived. Keiser shot 74, while Ben Hogan made a run at the lead with a 70. But Keiser three-putted the final hole, which dropped him into a tie for the lead with Hogan, who was playing a couple groups behind Keiser.
Hogan had not yet won a major championship at this point, although he had 30 PGA Tour wins. When Hogan reached the 72nd green, he was still tied with Keiser. He needed a birdie to win and a par would get him into a playoff. But then Hogan, just like Keiser earlier, three-putted. He missed a two-foot par putt, and that miss made Herman Keiser the winner. (For the rest of his life, Keiser thought Augusta National members had tried to sabotage him in the final two rounds.)
The victory was the only major championship win for Keiser, who won five times total on the PGA Tour during his career. Hogan, by the way, did get his first win a major a few months later at the 1946 PGA Championship.
Future three-time major winner and 1955 Masters champ Cary Middlecoff played the tournament for the first time and finished tied for 12th place as low amateur.
1946 Masters Final Scores
| Herman Keiser | 69-68-71-74—282 |
| Ben Hogan | 74-70-69-70—283 |
| Bob Hamilton | 75-69-71-72—287 |
| Jimmy Demaret | 75-70-71-73—289 |
| Jim Ferrier | 74-72-68-75—289 |
| Ky Laffoon | 74-73-70-72—289 |
| Chick Harbert | 69-75-76-70—290 |
| Clayton Heafner | 74-69-71-76—290 |
| Byron Nelson | 72-73-71-74—290 |
| Sam Snead | 74-75-70-71—290 |
| Jim Foulis | 75-70-72-74—291 |
| Vic Ghezzi | 71-79-67-76—293 |
| a-Cary Middlecoff | 72-76-71-74—293 |
| George Schneiter | 73-73-72-75—293 |
| Fred Haas Jr. | 71-75-68-80—294 |
| Johnny Bulla | 72-76-73-74—295 |
| Lloyd Mangrum | 76-75-72-72—295 |
| Claude Harmon | 76-75-74-71—296 |
| Chandler Harper | 74-76-73-74—297 |
| a-Frank Stranahan | 76-74-73-75—298 |
| Lawson Little | 74-74-78-73—299 |
| Toney Penna | 71-73-80-75—299 |
| Felix Serafin | 76-75-79-69—299 |
| Horton Smith | 78-77-75-69—299 |
| Herman Barron | 74-73-74-79—300 |
| Henry Picard | 79-73-71-77—300 |
| Denny Shute | 79-77-71-73—300 |
| Jimmy Thomson | 72-70-79-79—300 |
| Gene Kunes | 76-72-77-76—301 |
| Harold McSpaden | 75-74-75-77—301 |
| Al Zimmerman | 76-76-74-75—301 |
| Ed Dudley | 76-76-76-74—302 |
| Bobby Jones | 75-72-77-78—302 |
| Dick Metz | 77-75-71-79—302 |
| Johnny Palmer | 76-75-77-74—302 |
| Al Watrous | 80-76-72-74—302 |
| Dutch Harrison | 75-77-75-76—303 |
| Ed Oliver | 79-73-71-80—303 |
| Jim Turnesa | 73-78-71-81—303 |
| Sam Byrd | 75-79-71-79—304 |
| a-Dick Chapman | 77-77-73-79—306 |
| Ralph Hutchison | 79-78-75-74—306 |
| Leland Gibson | 78-80-75-75—308 |
| Rod Munday | 78-77-76-78—309 |
| Buck White | 77-82-76-75—310 |
| Billy Burke | 80-80-77-75—312 |
| a-Bob Cochran | 81-76-76-80—313 |
| Ralph Guldahl | 85-76-78-76—315 |
| Jimmy Hines | 79-80-77-80—316 |
| a-Charlie Yates | 78-79-78-86—321 |
Previous and next:
1942 Masters - 1947 Masters