1946 Open Championship


The 1946 Open Championship was the 75th Open Championship, played 3–5 July at the Old Course at St Andrews, Scotland. Due to World War II, it was the first Open since 1939, also held at St Andrews. Sam Snead won his only Open title, four strokes ahead of runners-up Johnny Bulla and Bobby Locke. It was the first win by an American in thirteen years and the second of Snead's seven major titles. Four Americans were in the field of 100; the three that made the cut all finished in the top ten.
Qualifying took place on 1–2 July, Monday and Tuesday, with 18 holes on the Old Course and 18 holes on the New Course. The number of qualifiers was limited to a maximum of 100, ties for 100th place would not qualify. The qualifying score was 159 and exactly 100 players qualified. The Australian Norman Von Nida led the qualifiers at 145. The maximum number of players making the cut after 36 holes was set at forty and ties for 40th place did not make the cut.
In his second Open Championship appearance and first since 1937, Snead did not endear himself to the St Andrews crowd on arrival. His first impression of the course was "It looks like an old abandoned kinda place," ensuring a cold reception at the start of the tournament. He opened with a round of 71, two behind the lead of Locke, who led by one from Henry Cotton and Von Nida. Cotton took the lead after 36-holes with consecutive rounds of 70, one ahead of Snead and two ahead of Dai Rees.
Snead, Bulla, and Rees were tied for the lead at 215 going into the final round on Friday afternoon, with Cotton one behind. Snead best navigated the strong winds of the final round; after dropping four shots on the front-nine, he was able to use his length and accuracy to record a 35 on the back for a round of 75 and a 290 total. Locke moved into second with a 76, while Bulla finished with a 79 to tie Locke for third place. Rees tied for fourth with the help of a tournament record-tying round of 67 in the second round.
Snead's win here was his only Open Championship title and he played the tournament only three more times, not returning until 1962. He was the first American to win the title since Denny Shute in 1933. The next was Ben Hogan in 1953 at Carnoustie in his only trip to Britain, then Arnold Palmer's consecutive wins in 1961 and 1962.
Dick Burton, the defending champion from 1939, relinquished the trophy after seven years and finished in twelfth place.

Past champions in the field

Made the cut

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Missed the cut

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Did not enter:

First round

Wednesday, 3 July 1946
PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo par
1Bobby Locke69−4
T2Henry Cotton70−3
T2Norman Von Nida70−3
T4Johnny Bulla71−2
T4Bill Hancock71−2
T4Joe Kirkwood Sr.71−2
T4Sam Snead71−2
T4Reg Whitcombe71−2
9Charlie Ward73E
T10Percy Alliss74+1
T10Dick Burton74+1

Source:

Second round

Thursday, 4 July 1946
PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo par
1Henry Cotton70-70=140−6
2Sam Snead71-70=141−5
3Dai Rees75-67=142−4
T4Johnny Bulla71-72=143−3
T4Bobby Locke69-74=143−3
T6Percy Alliss74-72=146E
T6Joe Kirkwood Sr.71-75=146E
T6Norman Von Nida70-76=146E
T6Charlie Ward73-73=146E
10Reg Whitcombe71-76=147+1

Source:

Third round

Friday, 5 July 1946
PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo par
T1Johnny Bulla71-72-72=215−4
T1Dai Rees75-67-73=215−4
T1Sam Snead71-70-74=215−4
4Henry Cotton70-70-76=216−3
5Bobby Locke69-74-75=218−1
6Charlie Ward73-73-73=219E
7Norman Von Nida70-76-74=220−1
T8Fred Daly77-71-76=224+5
T8Joe Kirkwood Sr.71-75-78=224+5
10Lawson Little78-75-72=225+6

Source:

Final round

Friday, 5 July 1946
PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo parMoney
1Sam Snead71-70-74-75=290–2150
T2Johnny Bulla71-72-72-79=294+287 ½
T2Bobby Locke69-74-75-76=294+287 ½
T4Henry Cotton70-70-76-79=295+326 ¼
T4Dai Rees75-67-73-80=295+326 ¼
T4Norman Von Nida70-76-74-75=295+326 ¼
T4Charlie Ward73-73-73-76=295+326 ¼
T8Fred Daly77-71-76-74=298+615
T8Joe Kirkwood Sr.71-75-78-74=298+615
10Lawson Little78-75-72-74=299+715

Source:
Amateurs: Bell, Wilson, Dowie, White, Urry.