We are a mere five days away from the start of the Masters Golf Tournament, the first major golf championship of 2018. Contested at Augusta National Golf Club, the Masters is oftentimes advertised as “a tradition like no other.” The Masters is all about its Tuesday evening Champions Dinner, its iconic world top-10 golf course designed by founder and amateur great Bobby Jones alongside Dr. Alister Mackenzie, its first tee ceremony with honorary starters Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player, and its tournament-concluding green jacket ceremony.
Yet the Masters and its myriad of traditions have come to pass over time. Today we’re going to look back 70 years and review all the happenings of the 1948 Masters. There is very little similarity between the game of golf as we now know it in 2018 and the way the game was played in 1948 as far as course setup, equipment, and most noticeably, money.
When the 12th annual Masters teed it up in early April of 1948, there were just 57 contestants playing in the all-invitational tournament. There was no 36-hole cut. Although 1948 was three years removed from the conclusion of World War II and was the apex of the Ben Hogan-Sam Snead-Byron Nelson era of professional golf, very few golfers of note were making a living from tournament golf. A great many of the professionals of that era also held club jobs at high-profile private clubs. In a nutshell, their pro job paid the bills and a great many of them simply dabbled on the PGA Tour when they could get away from the member-guest and lessons.
The day-one leader at Augusta in 1948 was Lloyd Mangrum, who carded a 3-under-par 69. Mangrum was a top-10 golfer, won 45 times as a pro, captured the 1946 U.S. Open, and might have had a greater career had he not served in World War II. He was part of the D-Day invasion and was injured at the Battle of the Bulge. One stroke back was the foursome of Ed Furgol, Ben Hogan, 1946 Masters champ Herman Keiser, and Winged Foot club pro Claude Harmon.
After the conclusion of round two on Friday, journeyman Harry Todd was 5-under-par following his second-round 67, the low round of the day. Todd was also a club pro who had his 15 minutes of fame when he won the Orlando Open two years earlier. Harmon shot another 70 and was one stroke back. Ben Hogan was two strokes back while the threesome of Mangrum, Keiser, and Bobby Locke were three back.
Claude Harmon took charge of the ’48 Masters after a 69 in round three. His 7-under aggregate total put him two shots ahead of Chick Harbert. Harbert would win seven times on tour, including the 1954 PGA Championship. Dr. Cary Middlecoff, a dentist, was in third place, five shots out of the lead. Middlecoff would win 41 times and among his victories would be two future U.S. Opens as well as the 1955 Masters. Ben Hogan, arguably the top golfer of that era, would balloon to a third-round 77 and find himself nine shots off the pace.
If anyone were to think that the club pro from Winged Foot would falter on Sunday afternoon at the 1948 Masters, they were sorely wrong. Although he had never won a tour event, Harmon carded a final-round 70 to finish atop the leader board at 9-under-par 279. Middlecoff matched Harmon’s 70 and finished in second place, five strokes back. Harbert put up a 76 to finish at 1-under for the Masters. Harmon, Middlecoff and Harbert were the only golfers under par at the 1948 Masters. Harmon’s 9-under-par total tied the 72-hole tournament record at that time. It also was the last time that Masters founder Bobby Jones competed in his tournament. He was 46 years old.
At the conclusion of the Masters, Harmon did not receive a green jacket. It wasn’t part of the show back then. When they did begin the green jacket ceremony the following year, the nine past champions were also awarded green jackets. The total purse at the 1948 Masters was $10,000, with Harmon winning $2,500, Middlecoff $1,500 and Harbert $1,000. The attendance figures that year were the greatest in Masters history with an estimated 10,000 spectators at Augusta National on Sunday.
Nowadays it would be a most stunning development if a club professional were to win a major championship. Yet if Claude Harmon were around today, he would probably be a tour professional instead of a well-known teaching golf pro. Also, while we might be duly impressed with Harmon’s win in 1948, it was not a total surprise. Harmon always had game.
In 1931, 15-year-old Claude Harmon qualified into the U.S. Amateur. He was a contestant in 25 Masters, nine U.S. Opens, one British Open, and 15 PGA Championships. In the days of the PGA being contested at match play, Harmon was a semifinalist in 1945, 1948 and 1953. He finished in third place at the 1959 U.S. Open. Harmon also won 12 pro events that weren’t affiliated with the tour, including the Westchester Open and the Metropolitan Open. He was a club professional over the years at Winged Foot, Seminole, and Thunderbird to maintain a normal life for his large and active family.
Three of Harmon’s sons are well known as top-50 golf instructors, namely Butch, Craig and Bill. His late son Dick was also a teaching pro. His grandson Claude III is also a noted instructor. Nowadays, Claude Harmon is merely a footnote in Masters’ history. After all, while he won the 1948 Masters, he was a decade ahead of the advent of television. He didn’t receive a green jacket at the conclusion of play because they didn’t do that kind of thing in 1948. His winner’s share of $2,500 probably equaled his monthly salary in those days at Winged Foot.
It was a much different time on the PGA Tour during the post-war and pre-television era. While the game had its triumvirate of stars named Hogan, Snead and Nelson, they weren’t going to win all the tournaments all the time. On a magic week in early April of 1948, club professional Claude Harmon played four consistently great rounds of golf at the Augusta National Golf Club and won the Masters by five strokes.
Yes, it truly was a much different time. Next Sunday, the 2018 Masters champion will pocket $1,980,000 from an $11 million purse. He’ll also get to wear the green jacket.
