1940 PGA Championship


The 1940 PGA Championship was the 23rd PGA Championship, held August 26 to September 2 at Hershey Country Club in Hershey, Pennsylvania, east of Harrisburg. Then a match play championship, Byron Nelson won his first PGA Championship, defeating Sam Snead 1 up in the 36-hole final. It was the third of Nelson's five major titles; he won the PGA Championship again in 1945. From 1939 to 1945, Nelson made five of the six finals, missing only in 1942.
Defending champion and host professional Henry Picard lost in the third round to Gene Sarazen. Also out in the third round was five-time champion Walter Hagen, age 47, in his last PGA Championship match. He gained his last win in the second round over Vic Ghezzi, the champion the following year in 1941. Hagen ended his career with a 40-10 match record in the event. He played one last time at age 49 in the qualifier in 1942, but did not advance to match play.
Heavy rains on Saturday stopped play halfway through the semifinals which were completed on Sunday; the final round was pushed back to Monday, which was Labor Day.
Dick Metz was the medalist in the stroke play qualifier at 140 ; he lost 2 & 1 in the third round to Nelson. Two-time champion Denny Shute qualified at 151, but was rushed to a local hospital for an emergency appendectomy that night.

Format

The match play format at the PGA Championship in 1940 called for 12 rounds in seven days:

Failed to qualify

Source:

Final results

Monday, September 2, 1940
PlacePlayerCountryMoney
1Byron Nelson1,100
2Sam Snead600
T3Ralph Guldahl350
T3Jug McSpaden350
T5Ben Hogan250
T5Eddie Kirk250
T5Paul Runyan250
T5Gene Sarazen250

Source:

Final eight bracket

Final match scorecards

Morning
Hole 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 101112131415161718
Par445435443545534443
Nelson445434443535435443
Snead445435444545434443
Leader–––––N1N1N1N2N2N3N3N3N3N2N2N2N2

Afternoon
Hole 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 101112131415161718
Par445435443545534443
Nelson444434445545434333
Snead345434352544424443
LeaderN1N1N2N2N2N2N1N2N1N1N1––S1S1–N1N1