1941 Masters Tournament

The 1941 Masters Tournament was the eighth Masters Tournament, held April 3–6 at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia. Craig Wood won his first major title, three strokes ahead of runner-up Byron Nelson.

Wood opened with a 66 and led by five strokes after the first round. During the final round, Nelson caught him on the front nine and the two were briefly co-leaders. Wood scored a 34 (−2) over the final nine holes to secure the victory. The purse was $5,000 and the winner's share was $1,500.

Wood, 39, led the entire tournament, the Masters' first wire-to-wire champion. He also won the next major, the 1941 U.S. Open. Prior to his win at the Masters, Wood had lost in a playoff (or extra holes) in all four of the modern major championships, a dubious distinction since matched by only one other, Greg Norman.

Through 2019, there have been only five wire-to-wire champions; Wood was followed by Arnold Palmer (1960), Jack Nicklaus (1972), Raymond Floyd (1976), and Jordan Spieth (2015).

Field
Jimmy Demaret (9), Ralph Guldahl (2,9,10,12), Byron Nelson (2,6,9,10,12), Gene Sarazen (2,4,6,9,10,12), Horton Smith (10)
 * 1. Masters champions


 * Henry Picard (6,9,10) did not play.

Tommy Armour (4,6,10), Walter Hagen (4,6), Bobby Jones (3,4,5), Lawson Little (3,5,9,10), Tony Manero (9), Francis Ouimet (3,a), Sam Parks Jr. (10)
 * 2. U.S. Open champions

Dick Chapman (11,a)
 * 3. U.S. Amateur champions

Denny Shute (6)
 * 4. British Open champions

Charlie Yates (9,a)
 * 5. British Amateur champions

Paul Runyan (9,12)
 * 6. PGA champions


 * 7. Members of the U.S. Ryder Cup team
 * Not held


 * 8. Members of the U.S. Walker Cup team
 * Not held

Johnny Bulla, Sammy Byrd, Harry Cooper, Ed Dudley (10), Jim Foulis (10), Willie Goggin, Jimmy Hines (10), Ben Hogan (10,12), Lloyd Mangrum (10), Jug McSpaden (10,12), Dick Metz (10), Toney Penna, Sam Snead (10,12), Frank Walsh (10), Al Watrous, Craig Wood (10)
 * 9. Top 30 players and ties from the 1940 Masters Tournament


 * Johnny Farrell (2,10), Ed Oliver, Johnny Revolta (6,10) and Bud Ward (3,11,a) did not play.

Bruce Coltart, Vic Ghezzi, Andy Gibson, Jock Hutchison Jr., Gene Kunes, Ray Mangrum, Henry Ransom, Jack Ryan, Felix Serafin, Andrew Szwedko (a)
 * 10. Top 30 players and ties from the 1940 U.S. Open


 * Al Huske, Eddie Kirk (12), Wilford Wehrle (11,a) and Pat Willcox did not play.

George Dawson (a), Duff McCullough (a)
 * 11. 1940 U.S. Amateur quarter-finalists


 * Ray Billows (a), John P. Burke (a) and Johnny Fischer (3,a) did not play


 * 12. 1940 PGA Championship quarter-finalists

Art Doering (a)
 * 13. One amateur, not already qualified, selected by a ballot of ex-U.S. Amateur champions

Jimmy Thomson
 * 14. One professional, not already qualified, selected by a ballot of ex-U.S. Open champions

Leonard Dodson, Clayton Heafner
 * 15. Two players, not already qualified, with the best scoring average in the winter part of the 1940 PGA Tour

Jim Ferrier (9,10), Martin Pose
 * 16 Foreign invitations


 * Numbers in brackets indicate categories that the player would have qualified under had they been American.

First round
Thursday, April 3, 1941 Source:

Second round
Friday, April 4, 1941 Source:

Third round
Saturday, April 5, 1941 Source:

Final round
Sunday, April 6, 1941

Final leaderboard
Sources: