1931 PGA Championship
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The 1931 PGA Championship was the 14th PGA Championship, held September 14–19 at Wannamoisett Country Club in Rumford, Rhode Island, northeast of Providence. Then a match play championship, Tom Creavy, age 20, defeated Gene Sarazen 5 and 3 in the semifinals and Denny Shute 2 and 1 in the finals.
This was the first year the defending champion was exempt from qualifying; Tommy Armour lost in the quarterfinals to Shute, 3 and 1. Sarazen was the medalist in the qualifying with 145 (+5).
Through 2016, Sarazen remains the youngest winner of a modern major title at age 20 (in 1922) and Creavy was just 2 months older. Finalist Shute won consecutive titles in 1936 and 1937.
Format
The match play format at the PGA Championship in 1931 called for 12 rounds (216 holes) in six days:
- Monday – 36-hole stroke play qualifier defending champion Tommy Armour and top 31 professionals advanced to match play
- Tuesday – first round – 36 holes
- Wednesday – second round – 36 holes
- Thursday – quarterfinals – 36 holes
- Friday – semifinals – 36 holes
- Saturday – final – 36 holes
Final results
Saturday, September 19, 1931
Final eight bracket
| Quarter-finals September 17 | Semi-finals September 18 | Finals September 19 | ||||||||||||
| Tom Creavy | 3&1 | |||||||||||||
| Cyril Walker | ||||||||||||||
| Tom Creavy | 5&3 | |||||||||||||
| Gene Sarazen | ||||||||||||||
| Gene Sarazen | 5&4 | |||||||||||||
| Horton Smith | ||||||||||||||
| Tom Creavy | 2&1 | |||||||||||||
| Denny Shute | ||||||||||||||
| Denny Shute | 3&1 | |||||||||||||
| Tommy Armour | ||||||||||||||
| Denny Shute | 1up | |||||||||||||
| Billy Burke | ||||||||||||||
| Billy Burke | 5&3 | |||||||||||||
| Abe Espinosa |
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 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 4 |
| United States Creavy | 4 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
| United States Shute | 4 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
| Leader | – | – | C1 | C1 | C1 | C2 | C2 | C1 | C2 | C2 | C3 | C2 | C1 | C1 | C2 | C2 | C2 | C2 |
Afternoon
| Hole | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Par | 4 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 4 |
| United States Creavy | 4 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 6 | 5 | |
| United States Shute | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 6 | |
| Leader | C2 | C1 | C1 | C1 | C1 | C2 | C1 | C1 | C1 | C2 | C3 | C4 | C3 | C3 | C2 | C1 | C2 |
- Source:
External links
- – 1931 PGA Championship
41°50′42″N 71°21′32″W/41.845°N 71.359°W/ 41.845; -71.359