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1949
Snead Wins Masters Title
Mangrum, Bulla Next Best
By Randy Russell
Chronicle Sports Editor
Augusta, Ga., Monday, April 11, 1949 -- Slammin' Sam Snead used his putter and irons to save his wood clubs at the Augusta National Golf club yesterday afternoon to score his second straight 67 in the 13th Masters tournament and win the $2,500 top money with a 72-hole score of 282.
It was an uphill climb from the ruck for the 35-year-old White Sulphur Springs, W.Va., slammer. He was tied for ninth after shooting a 73 on the first day, tied for 14th after a 75 on the second. On Saturday, the wind died down and Snead began fashioning 67s. He was in a three-way tie for second place when the final round started.
Bulla, Mangrum Next
Three strokes behind were Johnny Bulla, veteran Pittsburgh pro who finished with a 69, and Lloyd Mangrum of Niles, Ill., the early leader, who had a 70 in his final round. The 285 finish was good enough for $1,000 apiece.
Johnny Palmer, the up-and-coming Badin, N.C., power-hitter who had a one-stroke lead over Snead, Mangrum and Joe Kirkwood Jr. at the start of the day's play, could do no better than a 72 today for 286. He was tied at that level with Jim Turnesa.
Lew Worsham Jr., former National Open champion from Oakmont, Pa., zoomed home with a 68 to finish with a 289 good for sixth place. Kirkwood, who soared to a 75, held down the 290 spot and took seventh money.
Charles Coe of Oklahoma City, Okla., and John Dawson of Los Angeles, were the top amateurs with 295 scores.
Par for the 6,900-yard Augusta National course, for the 72 holes, is 288, a figure which only five could better. Even so, that was a greater number than beat regulation figures last year when Claude Harmon tied the tournament record with a 279.
Only Harmon, Cary Middlecoff and Chick Harbert stayed under par for that tournament.
Snead, last year, was in a tie with Al Smith for 14th place with a 294.
Huge Crowd
The crowd was estimated variously from 12,000 to 20,000 with the lower figure, to judge by past experience, probably closer to correct. Similar estimates were made last year when a check at the gate revealed only slightly more than 11,000 customers.
Later, tournament officials said a check of the receipts indicated that even that figure was too high.
Snead, by winning the Masters, registered his third straight tournament victory, a streak that began in Aiken last month, where he was the low pro in the Palmetto club's one-day pro-amateur.
A play-off victory over Lloyd Mangrum in the Greensboro open six days later brought the suddenly hot Sammy to Augusta as one of the favorites to win the Masters, a prize which has eluded Snead in the six previous tournaments in which he has played.
Snead, who has lost more tournaments than he cares to count on the putting greens, used only 30 blows on the carpet in his final round yesterday, a mere 14 of them on the outgoing nine.
Both the Snead putter and the Snead putting-stance were changed just prior to the Greensboro tournament, the new champion reported after finishing his final round.
A gallery of thousands, rooting hard for Snead to come through, and a dog-fight added to the winner's hazards as he clicked off his final 67.
Snead Starts Fast
The gallery, which numbered about 2,000 to start off with, assumed epic proportions after Snead started off with one-putt birdies on the first and second greens. He missed a 30-footer by inches and had to settle for a par on the fourth but resumed his bird-shooting ways on the fourth by sinking a 10-footer for a deuce. He bogeyed the next one but shaved off a stroke on the uphill eighth to finish the round three strokes under par.
Then came trouble.
His second shot was slammed over the green on No. 10 costing a bogey five. The dog-fight came on No. 11, where, Snead reported with a straight face, he became so interested in the canine warfare that he missed a five-footer.
That got the gallery nervous but they had little to worry about. Their fair-haired boy slapped down a 10-footer for a deuce on the short 12th and narrowly missed putts for eagles on the 13th and 15th.
He came up to the 18th with plenty to spare, but caused momentary apprehension when he drove off into the rough. Refusing to crack under the pressure, Snead set a seven-iron shot 22 feet away from the pin and holed out his eighth birdie of the round.
Goes For Hole
``I was going for the hole,'' Sam said, passing off easily the shot that was perhaps the most spectacular of the day.
Mangrum, in the last analysis, had his 74 on the second day to blame for his second place finish. His best round was his opening-day 69, but he was holding up well throughout except for his shakes in Friday's wind.
The 16th hole, newly rebuilt for this tournament, was a constant thorn in the side of the Tam O'Shanter pro.
He had a five on the hole Saturday and a four today teeing off into the water each time.
Famous Loser
Snead, who has been playing the tournament circuit since 1936, has won his share of big money over the years but has been more noted for the tournaments he has lost than those which he won. He lost the National Open in 1947 by failing to drop a 30-inch putt and was beaten by Claude Harmon on the 37th hole of a quarter-final match in last year's PGA tournament by a stymie.
The latter mishap was labeled the toughest golfing break of the year in a PGA year-end poll.
The balding West Virginian is one of the most colorful players on the circuit and a constant subject of stories dealing with his mountain background, colored up, of course, for just that purpose.
Snead's previous best finish in a Masters tournament was in 1939 when he was the runner-up to Ralph Guldahl with a 280.
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