1955 Masters Tournament

The 1955 Masters Tournament was the 19th Masters Tournament, held April 7–10 at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia. It was the last one before CBS began televising the tournament the following year.

1955 Masters Tournament

Front cover of the 1955 Masters Guide
Tournament information
Dates	April 7–10, 1955
Location	Augusta, Georgia 33.503°N 82.020°W / 33.503; -82.020
Course(s)	Augusta National Golf Club
Organized by	Augusta National Golf Club
Tour(s)	PGA Tour
Statistics
Par	72
Length	6,950 yards (6,355 m)[1]
Field	78 players
Cut	None
Prize fund	$25,000
Winner's share	$5,000
Champion
Cary Middlecoff
279 (−9)
Location map
Augusta National Location in the United States Show map of the United States Augusta National Location in Georgia Show map of Georgia
← 1954 1956 →

Cary Middlecoff shot a 65 in the second round, including a then-record 31 on the first nine, to win his only Masters, seven strokes ahead of runner-up Ben Hogan,^[2][3] and the second of his three major championships.

After a third round at even-par 72, Middlecoff entered the final round with a four shot lead over Hogan, the champion in 1951 and 1953.^[4][5] The victory margin of seven strokes was a tournament record for ten years, until Jack Nicklaus won by nine strokes over Arnold Palmer and Gary Player in 1965, later increased to twelve in 1997 by Tiger Woods. The previous record was five strokes, set in 1948 by Claude Harmon and tied by Hogan in 1953. The runner-up finish was Hogan's fourth at the Masters.

Arnold Palmer, a professional for less than a year, finished tied for tenth in his first Masters.^[6]

The Sarazen Bridge, approaching the left side of the 15th green, was dedicated on Wednesday to commemorate the 20th anniversary of Gene Sarazen's double eagle in 1935.^[7][8][9] Included was a contest to duplicate the 232-yard (212 m) shot, with the closest by Fred Haas at 4 feet 1 inch (1.24 m) away.^[10]

Course

Main article: Augusta National Golf Club

Hole	Name	Yards	Par		Hole	Name	Yards	Par
1	White Pine	400	4		10	Camellia	470	4
2	Woodbine	555	5		11	Dogwood	445	4
3	Flowering Peach	355	4		12	Golden Bell	155	3
4	Palm	220	3		13	Azalea	470	5
5	Magnolia	450	4		14	Spanish Dagger	420	4
6	Juniper	190	3		15	Firethorn	505	5
7	Pampas	365	4		16	Redbud	190	3
8	Yellow Jasmine	520	5		17	Nandina	400	4
9	Carolina Cherry	420	4		18	Holly	420	4
Out		3,475	36		In		3,475	36
Source:[1]					Total		6,950	72

^ Holes 1, 2, 4, 11, and 14 were later renamed.

Field

1. Masters champions

Claude Harmon (10), Ben Hogan (2,4,6,9,10), Herman Keiser, Byron Nelson (2,6,9), Henry Picard (6), Gene Sarazen (2,4,6), Horton Smith, Sam Snead (4,6,9,10,12), Craig Wood (2)

• Jimmy Demaret and Ralph Guldahl (2) did not play.

2. U.S. Open champions

Julius Boros (9,10), Billy Burke, Johnny Farrell, Ed Furgol (10), Lawson Little (3,5), Tony Manero, Lloyd Mangrum (9,10), Fred McLeod, Cary Middlecoff (9,10,12), Sam Parks Jr., Lew Worsham (9,10)

3. U.S. Amateur champions

Ted Bishop (a), Dick Chapman (5,9,10,a), Charles Coe (9,a), Gene Littler (9,10), Billy Maxwell, Arnold Palmer (11), Skee Riegel (9), Jess Sweetser (5,a), Bud Ward

4. British Open champions

Jock Hutchison (6), Denny Shute (6)

5. British Amateur champions

Frank Stranahan, Robert Sweeny Jr. (11,a), Harvie Ward (8,9,a)

6. PGA champions

Walter Burkemo (9,12), Vic Ghezzi, Chick Harbert (9,12), Chandler Harper, Johnny Revolta, Jim Turnesa

7. Members of the U.S. 1955 Ryder Cup team

• Team not selected in time for inclusion

8. Members of the U.S. 1955 Walker Cup team

Rex Baxter (a), William C. Campbell (10,a), Don Cherry (11,a), Joe Conrad (a), Bruce Cudd (a), Jimmy Jackson (a), Ed Meister (11,a), Dale Morey (11,a), Billy Joe Patton (9,10,a), Hillman Robbins (a)

• Dick Yost (a) did not play. Baxter, Meister and Robbins were reserves for the team.

9. Top 24 players and ties from the 1954 Masters Tournament

Jerry Barber (12), Al Besselink, Tommy Bolt (10,12), Jack Burke Jr. (10), Pete Cooper, Marty Furgol (10), Jay Hebert (10), Ed Oliver, Bob Rosburg, Earl Stewart, Bob Toski (10)

• Dutch Harrison and Ken Venturi (a) did not play.

10. Top 24 players and ties from the 1954 U.S. Open

Max Evans, Leland Gibson, Fred Haas, Dick Mayer, Shelley Mayfield (12), Al Mengert, Johnny Weitzel

11. 1954 U.S. Amateur quarter-finalists

Ted Lenczyk (a), Davis Love Jr. (a)

• Ed Martin (a) did not play.

12. 1954 PGA Championship quarter-finalists

13. One amateur, not already qualified, selected by a ballot of ex-U.S. Amateur champions

Bill Goodloe (a)

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

Johnny Palmer

15. Two players, not already qualified, from a points list based on finishes in the winter part of the 1955 PGA Tour

Mike Souchak, Bo Wininger^[11]

16. Foreign invitations

Pat Fletcher, Rudy Horvath (10), Stan Leonard, Peter Thomson (4,9)

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

Round summaries

First round

Thursday, April 7, 1955

Place	Player	Score	To par
1	Jack Burke Jr.	67	−5
T2	Julius Boros	71	−1
	Mike Souchak
T4	Cary Middlecoff	72	E
	Byron Nelson
	Bob Rosburg
	Sam Snead
T8	Walter Burkemo	73	+1
	Pete Cooper
	Ben Hogan
	Skee Riegel

Source:^[12]

Second round

Friday, April 8, 1955

Place	Player	Score	To par
1	Cary Middlecoff	72-65=137	−7
2	Ben Hogan	73-68=141	−3
T3	Jack Burke Jr.	67-76=143	−1
	Sam Snead	72-71=143
5	Bob Rosburg	72-72=144	E
6	Mike Souchak	71-74=145	+1
T7	Tommy Bolt	76-70=146	+2
	Julius Boros	71-75=146
	Walter Burkemo	73-73=146
	Pete Cooper	73-73=146
	Ed Furgol	74-72=146
	Skee Riegel	73-73=146
	Harvie Ward (a)	77-69=146

Source:^[13]

Third round

Saturday, April 9, 1955

Place	Player	Score	To par
1	Cary Middlecoff	72-65-72=209	−7
2	Ben Hogan	73-68-72=213	−3
3	Jack Burke Jr.	67-76-71=214	−2
4	Bob Rosburg	72-72-72=216	E
T5	Sam Snead	72-71-74=217	+1
	Mike Souchak	71-74-72=217
T7	Julius Boros	71-75-72=218	+2
	Walter Burkemo	73-73-72=218
	Stan Leonard	77-73-68=218
T10	Lloyd Mangrum	74-73-72=219	+3
	Skee Riegel	73-73-73=219

Source:^[4][5]

Final round

Sunday, April 10, 1955

Final leaderboard

Champion

Silver Cup winner (low amateur)

(a) = amateur

(c) = past champion

Top 10

Place	Player	Score	To par	Money (US$)
1	Cary Middlecoff	72-65-72-70=279	−9	5,000
2	Ben Hogan (c)	73-68-72-73=286	−2	3,125
3	Sam Snead (c)	72-71-74-70=287	−1	2,125
T4	Julius Boros	71-75-72-71=289	+1	1,333
	Bob Rosburg	72-72-72-73=289
	Mike Souchak	71-74-72-72=289
7	Lloyd Mangrum	74-73-72-72=291	+3	875
T8	Stan Leonard	77-73-68-74=292	+4	813
	Harvie Ward (a)	77-69-75-71=292		0
T10	Dick Mayer	78-72-72-71=293	+5	696
	Byron Nelson (c)	72-75-74-72=293
	Arnold Palmer	76-76-72-69=293

Leaderboard below the top 10
Place	Player	Score	To par	Money ($)
T13	Jack Burke Jr.	67-76-71-80=294	+6	594
	Skee Riegel	73-73-73-75=294
T15	Walter Burkemo	73-73-72-77=295	+7	563
	Jay Hebert	75-74-74-72=295
	Frank Stranahan	77-76-71-71=295
T18	Joe Conrad (a)	77-71-74-75=297	+9	0
	Billy Maxwell	77-72-77-71=297		525
	Johnny Palmer	77-73-72-75=297
	Peter Thomson	74-73-74-76=297
T22	Tommy Bolt	76-70-77-75=298	+10	513
	Gene Littler	75-72-76-75=298
T24	Pete Cooper	73-73-78-75=299	+11	500
	Ed Furgol	74-72-78-75=299
	Hillman Robbins (a)	77-76-74-72=299		0
27	Max Evans	76-75-75-76=302	+14	500
T28	Bill Goodloe (a)	74-73-81-75=303	+15	0
	Claude Harmon (c)	77-75-78-73=303		250
T30	Don Cherry (a)	79-75-78-72=304	+16	0
	Bud Ward	77-73-77-77=304		250
T32	Charles Coe (a)	74-77-76-78=305	+17	0
	Pat Fletcher	76-75-77-77=305		250
	Chick Harbert	76-80-73-76=305
	Al Mengert	79-71-78-77=305
T36	Billy Burke	75-78-77-76=306	+18	250
	William C. Campbell (a)	77-73-80-76=306		0
	Bruce Cudd (a)	75-74-79-78=306
	Shelley Mayfield	77-73-80-76=306		250
	Denny Shute	78-71-77-80=306
T41	Henry Picard (c)	78-79-75-75=307	+19	250
	Bob Toski	78-71-79-79=307
T43	Marty Furgol	79-74-79-76=308	+20	250
	Leland Gibson	81-75-75-77=308
	Rudy Horvath	79-77-76-76=308
	Jimmy Jackson (a)	79-75-77-77=308		0
	Earl Stewart	78-80-72-78=308		250
48	Jim Turnesa	77-75-79-78=309	+21	250
T49	Billy Joe Patton (a)	79-76-77-78=310	+22	0
	Johnny Revolta	75-78-79-78=310		250
	Johnny Weitzel	78-80-78-74=310
	Lew Worsham	80-75-79-76=310
T53	Dick Chapman (a)	74-79-73-85=311	+23	0
	Vic Ghezzi	78-79-77-77=311		250
	Ed Oliver	77-76-81-77=311
T56	Jerry Barber	75-77-77-83=312	+24	250
	Herman Keiser (c)	82-79-75-76=312
58	Rex Baxter (a)	74-76-80-83=313	+25	0
T59	Ted Lenczyk (a)	77-80-77-81=315	+27
	Horton Smith (c)	81-81-79-74=315		250
61	Sam Parks Jr.	80-80-78-78=316	+28	250
62	Craig Wood (c)	81-81-79-76=317	+29	250
T63	Al Besselink	80-75-80-83=318	+30	250
	Dale Morey (a)	82-77-81-78=318		0
65	Lawson Little	81-77-77-84=319	+31	250
66	Bo Wininger	81-74-81-84=320	+32	250
67	Ed Meister (a)	86-87-74-77=324	+36	0
68	Davis Love Jr. (a)	82-85-83-77=327	+39
WD	Ted Bishop (a)	79-76-80=235	+19
	Fred Haas	75-77=152	+8
	Chandler Harper	77-79=156	+12
	Gene Sarazen (c)	83-80=163	+19
	Johnny Farrell	81-84=165	+21
	Jess Sweetser (a)	79	+7
	Jock Hutchison	83	+11
	Tony Manero	87	+15
	Fred McLeod	91	+19
	Robert Sweeny Jr. (a)

Sources:^[14][15]

Scorecard

Hole	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18
Par	4	5	4	3	4	3	4	5	4	4	4	3	5	4	5	3	4	4
Middlecoff	−7	−8	−8	−8	−7	−8	−9	−9	−9	−7	−7	−8	−8	−8	−9	−9	−8	−9
Hogan	−3	−3	−3	−3	−2	−2	−2	−3	−3	−2	−1	−1	−2	−2	−2	−2	−2	−2
Snead	E	E	E	E	E	+1	+1	+1	+1	+1	+1	+1	E	E	−1	−1	−1	−1
Boros	+2	+2	+2	+2	+3	+3	+4	+4	+4	+4	+4	+4	+3	+3	+2	+1	+1	+1
Rosburg	+1	+1	+1	+2	+3	+3	+3	+3	+3	+3	+3	+3	+2	+3	+1	+1	+1	+1
Souchak	+1	E	E	E	E	E	E	−1	E	E	E	E	+1	+1	E	+1	+1	+1
Burke	−1	−1	−1	−1	−1	−1	−1	−1	−1	E	E	+1	+5	+5	+5	+5	+6	+6

Cumulative tournament scores, relative to par

Eagle

Birdie

Bogey

Double bogey

Triple bogey +