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1949 PGA Championship

Golf tournament held in 1949

Field	Value
name	1949 PGA Championship
location	Henrico County, Virginia, U.S.
course	Hermitage Country Club (now known as Belmont Golf Course)
dates	May 25–31, 1949
par	71
yardage	6677 yd
org	PGA of America
tour	PGA Tour
field	64 to match play
cut	149 (+8), playoff
format	Match play - 6 rounds
purse	$17,700
winners_share	$3,500
champion	USA Sam Snead
score	def. Johnny Palmer, 3 and 2
previous	[1948](1948-pga-championship)
next	[1950](1950-pga-championship)

|}} |USA |USA Virginia Golf Course

Hermitage Country Club golf course in Goochland County, Virginia (pictured in 2025), where the Championship was held.

The 1949 PGA Championship was the 31st PGA Championship, held May 25–31 in Virginia at Belmont Golf Course (formerly known as Hermitage Country Club), north of Richmond. Native Virginian Sam Snead won the match play championship, 3 and 2 over Johnny Palmer in the Tuesday final; the winner's share was $3,500 and the runner-up's was $1,500.

It was the second of Snead's three wins in the PGA Championship, and the fourth of his seven major titles. At age 37, Snead was the oldest to win the PGA Championship; he won again two years later in 1951.

The medalist in the stroke play qualifier was unsung Ray Wade Hill of Louisiana, who advanced to the quarterfinals.

Snead won the Masters in April; this was the first time the Masters champion had won the PGA Championship in the same calendar year. This has only been accomplished four times, most recently : Snead was followed by Jack Burke Jr. in 1956 and Jack Nicklaus in 1963 and 1975. Snead's double was in the spring, Burke and Nicklaus completed theirs in the summer.

Defending champion Ben Hogan did not play in any of the majors during the 1949 season, following a near-fatal automobile accident in west Texas in early February. In 1948, he won two majors, led the tour in money and wins (ten), and was player of the year; he had won two events in January 1949 (Pebble Beach, Long Beach), with a playoff runner-up in a third (Phoenix). Although Hogan returned to the tour in 1950 on a limited basis and won six more majors (nine total), he did not enter the PGA Championship again until age 48 in 1960, its third year as a stroke play event.

Format

The match play format at the PGA Championship in 1949 called for 12 rounds (216 holes) in seven days:

Wednesday and Thursday – 36-hole stroke play qualifier, 18 holes per day;
- the top 64 professionals advanced to match play
  - defending champion Ben Hogan did not enter, out for the season with injuries from an automobile accident
Friday – first two rounds, 18 holes each
Saturday – third round – 36 holes
Sunday – quarterfinals – 36 holes
Monday – semifinals – 36 holes
Tuesday – final – 36 holes

Final results

Tuesday, May 31, 1949

Place	Player	Money ($)
1	USA Sam Snead	3,500
2	USA Johnny Palmer	1,500
T3	USA Jim Ferrier	750
USA Lloyd Mangrum
T5	USA Jimmy Demaret	500
USA Clayton Heafner
USA Ray Wade Hill
USA Henry Williams, Jr.

Source:--

Final eight bracket

May 29 May 30 May 31

| score-width= 35px | team-width= 100px

| RD1-team1= Sam Snead | RD1-score1= 4&3 | RD1-team2= Jimmy Demaret | RD1-score2=

| RD1-team3= Jim Ferrier | RD1-score3= 3&2 | RD1-team4= Clayton Heafner | RD1-score4=

| RD1-team5= Johnny Palmer | RD1-score5= 7&6 | RD1-team6= Henry Williams, Jr. | RD1-score6=

| RD1-team7= Lloyd Mangrum | RD1-score7= 7&6 | RD1-team8= Ray Wade Hill | RD1-score8=

| RD2-team1= Sam Snead | RD2-score1= 3&2 | RD2-team2= Jim Ferrier | RD2-score2=

| RD2-team3= Johnny Palmer | RD2-score3= 6&5 | RD2-team4= Lloyd Mangrum | RD2-score4=

| RD3-team1= Sam Snead | RD3-score1= 3&2 | RD3-team2= Johnny Palmer | RD3-score2=

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	4	3	4	4	4	4	5	5	4	4	3	4	4	4	4	3
USA Snead	4	4	4	3		4	3	4	5	4	4	4	4	3	4	4	5	3	3
USA Palmer	4	3	4	2	4	4	4	4	4	^	5	4	3	3	4	4	^	4
Leader	–	P1	P1	P2	P2	P1	P1	P2	P2	P1	–	–	–	P1	P1	P2	P1	–

^ = picked up ball (hole concession)

Afternoon

Hole	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18
Par	4	4	4	3	4	4	4	4	5	5	4	4	3	4	4	4	4	3
USA Snead	4	4	4	2	4	3	3	4	6	4	4	4	2	4	4	4	Snead
wins
3 and 2
USA Palmer	4	4	4	3	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	3	4	4	4
Leader	–	–	–	S1	S1	S2	S3	S3	S2	S2	S2	S2	S3	S3	S3	S3

Source:

References

Gundelfinger, Phil. (May 25, 1949). "Worsham fires record-tying 63 in PGA tuneup". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
"Tournament Info for: 1949 PGA Championship". PGA of America.
Gundelfinger, Phil. (June 1, 1949). "Snead wins PGA, walloping Palmer in finals, 3 and 2". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
Bartlett, Charles. (June 1, 1949). "Snead wins P.G.A. title, 3 and 2". Chicago Daily Tribune.
(June 1, 1949). "Snead beats Palmer 3-2, takes PGA title". Milwaukee Journal.
Fraley, Oscar. (May 27, 1949). "PGA match play begins". Miami News.
(February 3, 1949). "Golfer Ben Hogan injured in car crash". Chicago Daily Tribune.
(February 4, 1949). "Improving Hogan will play again". Chicago Daily Tribune.
(January 26, 1949). "Hogan cards 69 to top Demaret in playoff". Chicago Daily Tribune.
(February 1, 1949). "Demaret beats Hogan by 3 to win playoff". Chicago Daily Tribune.

Info: Wikipedia Source

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