The PGA Championship

Tournament Info for: 1942 PGA Championship
Date:	May 23 - 31, 1942
Site:	Seaview Country Club
Champion:	Sam Snead
Purse:	$7,550.00
Field:	32
Cut at:
Par:	36 - 35 - 71 (00 yards)
Players Advanced:	0

Qualifying for Match Play: A 36-hole qualifying round to get into match play was conducted the Tuesday before the Championship. Defending PGA Champion Vic Ghezzi was exempt and 31 players qualified. Harry Cooper was low qualifier with 138. A score of 146 qualified for match play, and eight players at 147 had a playoff for five spots. Notable players who lost in the playoff were Paul Runyan and A1 Watrous. Others missing a berth included Gene Sarazen (149), Horton Smith (150), Johnny Revolta (150), Ralph Guldahl (150), Leo Diegel (155) and Walter Hagen (156). All matches at 36 holes. Early Matches: The first round saw only one upset, as defending PGA Champion Vic Ghezzi was eliminated by Jimmy Demaret, 4 and 3. In the second round, Ben Hogan and Sam Snead again had easy matches, beating Ky Laffoon and Willie Goggin by 9-and-8 margins. Craig Wood also had an easy time in defeating Leland Gibson, 7 and 6, while Jimmy Demaret beat Tommy Harmon, 3 and 2. In some tough matches, Byron Nelson had a surprising contest with Joe Kirkwood, needing 35 holes for a 2-and-1 victory. Another good match had Jim Turnesa nipping Harold McSpaden, 1-up, as Turnesa tied the match with a birdie on the 34th hole and made a four-foot par putt on the next hole just to get a half. Turnesa went on to win the match at the final hole when McSpaden hit his tee shot in the woods and couldn't match Turnesa's par. In the quarter-finals, the match of the day was Byron Nelson beating Harry Cooper, 1-up, on the 39th hole. After 27 holes the match was even, but when Cooper birdied the 28th, 29th and 30th, and Nelson bogeyed the 31st hole, Cooper was in the driver's seat with a 3-up lead with just five holes left to play. Things looked hopeless for Nelson when they halved the 32nd hole, but, with birdies at the 33rd and 34th holes he got two back. Cooper made a great putt at the 35th hole for a par and a half, but Nelson played a great second shot on the final hole and made a birdie to complete the comeback and send the match into extra holes. They halved the first two holes, but when Cooper bogeyed the 39th hole, it spelled doom as Nelson made par and won the match. The upset of the day belonged to Jim Turnesa, who eliminated Ben Hogan, 2 and 1, in a match that saw Hogan take the lead only once. In the semifinals, Byron Nelson was forced into overtime again, but this time he was on the losing side as he drove it out of bounds on the 37th hole to lose to Jim Turnesa. The finals turned into a pride match with Corporal Jim Turnesa of the Army taking on Sam Snead, who was to report to the Navy the day after his match. As the match was about to start, no one gave him much of a chance to beat Snead, even though Turnesa had beaten the best golfers in the world to get there. Turnesa needed little aid during the morning round, as he toured the course in 70 and went to lunch 3-up. In the afternoon, Turnesa maintained his lead until a bogey on the 24th cost him a hole. By the end of the front nine, Snead had the match square, and before they teed off the 28th hole, he saw some changes in Turnesa that gave him confidence. "I saw that he took more waggles than usual on his drive, and then he hooked it. I knew he was getting tight, and then I had more confidence in myself." Snead was right in his assessment as Turnesa bogeyed the hole to go 1-down, then made another bogey at the 30th hole to go 2-down. The match ended on the 35th hole when Snead holed a spectacular 60-foot chip shot for a birdie to secure the 2-and-1 victory and his first major championship.

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