1951 Masters Tournament

The 1951 Masters Tournament was the 15thMasters Tournament, held April5–8 at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia. Ben Hogan, age38, won the first of his two Masters titles, two strokes ahead of runner-up Skee Riegel. It was the fifth of his nine major titles.

After three rounds, Hogan was one stroke out of the lead, behind Riegel and Sam Snead, the 1949 champion. Hogan shot a bogey-free final round of 68(−4), while Riegel carded a 71 and Snead an 80(+8). Prior to this victory, Hogan had eight top ten finishes at the Masters, twice as runner-up in 1942 and 1946.

The reigning U.S.Open champion, Hogan also won the year's next major, the 1951U.S.Open.

With high attendance of about 15,000 on Sunday, a fifty percent bonus for the prize money was declared, boosting the purse to $15,000 and the winner's share to $3,000. Ticket prices were raised to $10 that year.

Field

1. Masters champions

Jimmy Demaret (9,10,12), Claude Harmon, Herman Keiser (9), Byron Nelson (2,6,9), Gene Sarazen (2,4,6,9), Horton Smith (9), Sam Snead (4,6,9,10)

• Ralph Guldahl (2), Henry Picard (6,9,10,12) and Craig Wood (2) did not play.

2. U.S. Open champions

Johnny Farrell, Ben Hogan (6,9,10), Lawson Little (3,5,9), Lloyd Mangrum (9,10,12), Fred McLeod, Cary Middlecoff (9,10), Lew Worsham

3. U.S. Amateur champions

Dick Chapman (8,a), Charles Coe (8,a), Skee Riegel (9,10), Sam Urzetta (8,11,a), George Von Elm

4. British Open champions

Denny Shute (6)

5. British Amateur champions

Frank Stranahan (8,9,11,a), Robert Sweeny Jr. (a)

6. PGA champions

Jim Ferrier (9,10), Vic Ghezzi (9), Chandler Harper (12), Johnny Revolta

7. Members of the U.S. 1951 Ryder Cup team

• Team not selected in time for inclusion.

8. Members of the U.S. 1951 Walker Cup team

William C. Campbell (a), Dow Finsterwald, Bill Goodloe (a), Bobby Knowles (11,a), Jim McHale Jr. (a), Harold Paddock Jr. (a), Harvie Ward (a)

• Willie Turnesa (a) did not play. Finsterwald, Goodloe and Ward were reserves for the team.

9. Top 24 players and ties from the 1950 Masters Tournament

George Fazio (10), Leland Gibson, Fred Haas (10), Chick Harbert, Clayton Heafner, Joe Kirkwood Jr. (10), Johnny Palmer (10,12), Toney Penna

• Skip Alexander (10) did not play.

10. Top 24 players and ties from the 1950 U.S. Open

Al Besselink, Julius Boros, Johnny Bulla, Marty Furgol, Dutch Harrison, Dick Mayer, Bill Nary, Henry Ransom, Bob Toski, Harold Williams

• Dick Metz did not play.

11. 1950 U.S. Amateur quarter-finalists

Bill Shields (a), Tom Veech (a), John Ward (a)

• Bud Holscher (a) and Dick Kinchla (a) did not play.

12. 1950 PGA Championship quarter-finalists

Dave Douglas, Ray Gafford, Henry Williams Jr.

13. One amateur, not already qualified, selected by a ballot of ex-U.S. Amateur champions

• Johnny Dawson (a) was selected but did not play.

14. One professional, not already qualified, selected by a ballot of ex-U.S. Open champions

Jack Burke Jr.

15. Two players, not already qualified, with the best scoring average in the winter part of the 1951 PGA Tour

Ed Furgol, Ted Kroll

16. Foreign invitations

Roberto De Vicenzo (9), Tony Holguin, Bill Mawhinney, Juan Segura (a)

• Numbers in brackets indicate categories that the player would have qualified under had they been American.

Round summaries

First round

Thursday, April 5, 1951

<small>Source:</small>

Second round

Friday, April 6, 1951

<small>Source:</small>

Third round

Saturday, April 7, 1951

<small>Source:</small>

Final round

Sunday, April 8, 1951

Final leaderboard

Sources:

Scorecard

Cumulative tournament scores, relative to par

<small>Source:</small>

References

External links

• Masters.com – past winners and results
• Augusta.com – 1951 Masters leaderboard and scorecards