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1950
Masters Title Is Won 3rd Time by Demaret
His 283 Annexes Payoff As Ferrier, Hogan `Blow'
By Randy Russell
Chronicle Sports Editor
Augusta, Ga., Monday, April 10, 1950 -- Jimmy Demaret won the Masters championship for the third time yesterday, carding a 69 for a total of 283 while the two third-day leaders, Jim Ferrier and Ben Hogan, blew as high as a pair of kites.
Ferrier, who started the back nine needing to play only par golf for a 280, went completely haywire and scrambled home in 41 blows. That gave him a 75 for the day and 285 for the tournament good enough for second place.
Trouble began early in the round for Ben Hogan, the sentimental favorite, and his 38-38-76 put him in a fourth place tie with Byron Nelson at 288, one stroke behind defending champion Sam Snead, whose par-matching round of 36-36-72 was good for a 287.
Demaret, whose colorful garb made him look like an Easter egg rolling along the greensward, backed in to the victory that made him the first man in history to win the Masters three times.
FIVE STROKES BEHIND
Even after going out in 35 strokes, he was still five strokes behind Ferrier. He finished while the big native of Australia was still out on the course but already being hailed as the next champion.
With six holes to play and all other contenders through with their rounds, Ferrier could still waste two strokes and finish ahead of Demaret.
The 13th, where Demaret collected two eagles and two birdies during the tournament, told the story.
Ferrier, who had birdied the hole the first two days and matched par on the third, messed up his drive badly, the ball going into the brook bordering the fairway. He took a penalty stroke there and lifted out, managing a bogey through the good fortune of a long curving approach putt that almost hit the mark.
Demaret's chances increased immensely when on the 14th, Ferrier hooked his drive to the spot on the edge of the fairway and after reaching the edge of the green with his second shot, three putted for a bogey five.
CHANCES MISSED
Going to 15, where birdies are more common than anywhere else on the course, Ferrier needed to match par all the way to win the tournament. He hit his approach shot into the crowd gathered behind the green on 15 and had to settle for a five and then got into serious trouble when, trying to play safe, he missed an eight-foot putt for a bogey four on the 16th.
Ferrier hit into a trap on 17 resulting in another bogey and that for all practical purposes, was the golf tournament.
He could have tied Demaret with a birdie on 18, thus sending the tournament into its first play-off since 1942, but only a faint spark of hope glimmered when his iron shot to the green, left him a long and difficult putt. He eventually three-putted again for a bogey five that put him two strikes behind the dapper Ojai, Calif., professional.
The Masters, which has seen some great demonstrations of ground-gaining on the final day, has probably never seen such ground-losing by a leader before.
Demaret picked up seven strokes on the last six holes, four of them on the last three. Demaret, from 16 on in, shot 2-4-4 while the hapless Ferrier negotiated the same distance in 4-5-5.
While Demaret's victory came as a mild surprise, a check of the scoreboard showed that, as usual, the man with the steadiest game over the four-day test was the first in line at the pay-off.
The dapper Texan had rounds of 70, 72, 72, and 69, which included 11 three-putt greens. On no day of the tournament was Demaret the low scorer. Skee Riegel's 69 was the first day's low, Ferrier had a 67, best round of the tournament, on the second day. Cary Middlecoff's 68 was tops Saturday and Lloyd Mangrum, sneaking home with a 68 was the low scorer of the final round. All four of these hot-shots, however, had poor rounds, to offset their sub-par shooting while Demaret was never ever par for any round.
COLLECTS $2,400
Demaret collected $2,400 for his victory, a little less than previous Masters winners. First-prize money has been $2,500 in previous years, but was reduced to $2,000 this year in order to spread the $10,000 prize money out to give a larger chunk to the higher-finishing professionals. A 20 percent bonus paid to all money winners because of the good attendance at the tournament, raised Demaret's cut to $2,400.
Every pro who played received at least $100.
Demaret, who sweated out Ferrier's finish from the 18th green, pointed to the 13th as the ``death hole'' of the tournament. There's little doubt, but what his misadventure there shook the jittery Ferrier and helped make the rest of his round such bitter business. On the other hand, Demaret's job of saving himself strokes on the 13th hole during his four rounds was the brightest part about his story.
HOGAN NO FACTOR
Hogan was never a factor yesterday, after using up 38 blows on the front nine. Spraying his tee shots all over the course, Hogan seemed to be showing the effects of the tournament tension and three hard previous rounds in the tournament.
Demaret was the only one of the five leaders to break par on the pay-off round, his 69 being the second best score of the day.
As usual, club officials declined to give any official estimate of attendance. The final-day crowd appeared to be somewhat smaller than last year's Sunday throng and probably numbered in the neighborhood of 10,000.
The Ferrier gallery, largest of the day after Hogan's score soared, included about 2,500 fans over most of the back nine.
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