1939 PGA Championship

1939 PGA Championship
Tournament information
DatesJuly 9–15, 1939
LocationQueens, New York, U.S.
Course(s)Pomonok Country Club
Organized byPGA of America
Tour(s)PGA Tour
FormatMatch play - 6 rounds
Statistics
Par72
Length6,354 yards (5,810 m)
Field109 players,
64 to match play
Cut148 (+4), playoff
Prize fund$10,600
Winner's share$1,100
Champion
United States Henry Picard
def. Byron Nelson, 37 holes
← 1938
1940 →
New York City  is located in the United States
New York City 
New York City 
Location in the United States
Pomonok CC  is located in New York
Pomonok CC 
Pomonok CC 
Location in New York
Pomonok CC  is located in New York City
Pomonok CC 
Pomonok CC 
Location in New York City

The 1939 PGA Championship was the 22nd PGA Championship, held July 9–15 at Pomonok Country Club in Queens, New York. Then a match play championship, Henry Picard won his only PGA Championship, defeating Byron Nelson with a birdie at the 37th hole. It was the second of his two major titles; he won the Masters in 1938. Nelson won the U.S. Open three months earlier and the next PGA Championship in 1940. Beginning in 1939, he made five finals in six PGA Championships, and won his second title in 1945.

Picard had not trailed and led by two as late as the 26th hole, but the match was squared on the 29th green and Nelson led by one after 32 holes. Both birdied the par-5 33rd and Picard sank a curling putt from over twenty feet (6 m) for par to halve the 34th hole and stay one back. They halved the par-3 35th at par and both had birdie putts on the 36th green. Nelson missed his from ten feet (3 m) feet while Picard sank his from three to square up the match. On the extra hole, both again had birdie putts: Picard made his from ten feet while Nelson missed his from six.

Defending champion Paul Runyan lost in the quarterfinals to Dick Metz.

This PGA Championship was held during the 1939 New York World's Fair. The golf course no longer exists; Pomonok Country Club disbanded in 1949 and the property was developed for residences.

Format

The match play format at the PGA Championship in 1939 called for 12 rounds (216 holes) in seven days:

  • Sunday and Monday – 36-hole stroke play qualifier, 18 holes per day;
    • defending champion and top 63 professionals advanced to match play
  • Tuesday – first two rounds, 18 holes each
  • Wednesday – third round – 36 holes
  • Thursday – quarterfinals – 36 holes
  • Friday – semifinals – 36 holes
  • Saturday – final – 36 holes

Past champions in the field

Player Country Year(s) won Record Advanced to Finish
Paul Runyan  United States 1934, 1938 3–1 Quarterfinals T5
Johnny Revolta  United States 1935 2–1 Third round T9
Denny Shute  United States 1936, 1937 2–1 Third round T9
Leo Diegel  United States 1928, 1929 1–1 Second round T17
Walter Hagen  United States 1921, 1924,
1925, 1926, 1927
0–1 First round T33
Gene Sarazen  United States 1922, 1923, 1933 0–1 First round T33

Failed to qualify

Player Country Year won R1 R2 Total To par
Tom Creavy  United States 1931 153 +9

Source:

Final results

Saturday. July 15, 1939

Place Player Country Money ($)
1 Henry Picard  United States 1,100
2 Byron Nelson  United States 600
T3 Dutch Harrison  United States 350
Dick Metz  United States
T5 Emerick Kocsis  United States 250
Rod Munday  United States
Paul Runyan  United States
Horton Smith  United States

Source:

Final eight bracket

Quarter-finals
July 13
Semi-finals
July 14
Finals
July 15
         
Henry Picard 2&1
Rod Munday
Henry Picard 1up
Dick Metz
Dick Metz 2&1
Paul Runyan
Henry Picard 37h
Byron Nelson
Byron Nelson 10&9
Emerick Kocsis
Byron Nelson 9&8
Dutch Harrison
Dutch Harrison 4&3
Horton Smith

Final match scorecards

Morning

Hole  1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9  10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18
Par 4 4 3 5 4 3 4 4 4 3 5 5 4 4 5 4 3 4
United States Picard 4 5 3 4 4 3 4 4 4 3 3 5 4 3 5 4 2 4
United States Nelson 5 3 4 5 4 4 4 4 2 3 4 4 4 3 4 4 3 3
Leader P1 P1 P2 P2 P3 P3 P3 P2 P2 P3 P2 P2 P2 P1 P1 P2 P1

Afternoon

Hole  1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9  10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18
Par 4 4 3 5 4 3 4 4 4 3 5 5 4 4 5 4 3 4
United States Picard 4 3 3 4 3 3 4 4 4 3 5 5 4 4 4 4 3 3
United States Nelson 3 5 3 5 3 3 4 4 3 3 4 5 4 3 4 4 3 4
Leader P1 P1 P2 P2 P2 P2 P2 P1 P1 N1 N1 N1 N1

Extra hole

Hole  1 
Par 4
United States Picard 3
United States Nelson 4
Leader P1
  • Source:

Coordinates: 40°44′02″N 73°48′36″W / 40.734°N 73.810°W / 40.734; -73.810


This page was last updated at 2021-12-05 03:04 UTC. Update now. View original page.

All our content comes from Wikipedia and under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.


Top

If mathematical, chemical, physical and other formulas are not displayed correctly on this page, please useFirefox or Safari