1951 Masters Tournament

The 1951 Masters Tournament was the 15th Masters Tournament, held April 5–8 at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia. Ben Hogan, age 38, won the first of his two Masters titles, two strokes ahead of runner-up Skee Riegel. It was the fifth of his nine major titles.

After three rounds, Hogan was one stroke out of the lead, behind Riegel and Sam Snead, the 1949 champion. Hogan shot a bogey-free final round of 68 (−4), while Riegel carded a 71 and Snead an 80 (+8). Prior to this victory, Hogan had eight top ten finishes at the Masters, twice as runner-up in 1942 and 1946.

The reigning U.S. Open champion, Hogan also won the year's next major, the 1951 U.S. Open.

With high attendance of about 15,000 on Sunday, a fifty percent bonus for the prize money was declared, boosting the purse to $15,000 and the winner's share to $3,000.

Field
Jimmy Demaret (9,10,12), Claude Harmon, Herman Keiser (9), Byron Nelson (2,6,9), Gene Sarazen (2,4,6,9), Horton Smith (9), Sam Snead (4,6,9,10)
 * 1. Masters champions
 * Ralph Guldahl (2), Henry Picard (6,9,10,12) and Craig Wood (2) did not play.

Johnny Farrell, Ben Hogan (6,9,10), Lawson Little (3,5,9), Lloyd Mangrum (9,10,12), Fred McLeod, Cary Middlecoff (9,10), Lew Worsham
 * 2. U.S. Open champions

Dick Chapman (8,a), Charles Coe (8,a), Skee Riegel (9,10), Sam Urzetta (8,11,a), George Von Elm
 * 3. U.S. Amateur champions

Denny Shute (6)
 * 4. British Open champions

Frank Stranahan (8,9,11,a), Robert Sweeny Jr. (a)
 * 5. British Amateur champions

Jim Ferrier (9,10), Vic Ghezzi (9), Chandler Harper (12), Johnny Revolta
 * 6. PGA champions


 * 7. Members of the U.S. 1951 Ryder Cup team
 * Team not selected in time for inclusion.

William C. Campbell (a), Dow Finsterwald, Bill Goodloe (a), Bobby Knowles (11,a), Jim McHale Jr. (a), Harold Paddock Jr. (a), Harvie Ward (a)
 * 8. Members of the U.S. 1951 Walker Cup team


 * Willie Turnesa (a) did not play. Finsterwald, Goodloe and Ward were reserves for the team.

George Fazio (10), Leland Gibson, Fred Haas (10), Chick Harbert, Clayton Heafner, Joe Kirkwood Jr. (10), Johnny Palmer (10,12), Toney Penna
 * 9. Top 24 players and ties from the 1950 Masters Tournament


 * Skip Alexander (10) did not play.

Al Besselink, Julius Boros, Johnny Bulla, Marty Furgol, Dutch Harrison, Dick Mayer, Bill Nary, Henry Ransom, Bob Toski, Harold Williams
 * 10. Top 24 players and ties from the 1950 U.S. Open


 * Dick Metz did not play.

Bill Shields (a), Tom Veech (a), John Ward (a)
 * 11. 1950 U.S. Amateur quarter-finalists


 * Bud Holscher (a) and Dick Kinchla (a) did not play.

Dave Douglas, Ray Gafford, Henry Williams Jr.
 * 12. 1950 PGA Championship quarter-finalists


 * 13. One amateur, not already qualified, selected by a ballot of ex-U.S. Amateur champions
 * Johnny Dawson (a) was selected but did not play.

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

Ed Furgol, Ted Kroll
 * 15. Two players, not already qualified, with the best scoring average in the winter part of the 1951 PGA Tour

Roberto De Vicenzo (9), Tony Holguin, Bill Mawhinney, Juan Segura (a)
 * 16. Foreign invitations


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

First round
Thursday, April 5, 1951 Source:

Second round
Friday, April 6, 1951 Source:

Third round
Saturday, April 7, 1951 Source:

Final round
Sunday, April 8, 1951

Final leaderboard
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Scorecard
Cumulative tournament scores, relative to par

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