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Middlecoff is Masters winner by largest margin in history
279 leads Hogan by 7 strokes
Snead takes third money in big show
By Randy Russell
Chronicle Sports Editor
Augusta, Ga., Monday, April 11, 1955 -- Cary Middlecoff scored the most decisive Masters Tournament victory in the history of the storied event yesterday when he finished with a 70 for a 72-hole total of 279 at the Augusta National Golf Club to lead his nearest competitor, Ben Hogan, by the whopping margin of seven strokes.
Never before had the Masters been won by a margin of more than five strokes, and never before was the final round so one-sided. Hogan was six strokes behind at the end of the first six holes and there was never much doubt after that of the eventful outcome.
It was the second year in a row that Hogan, who shot a final round of 73 for his 288 total, has been the runner-up. Last year he lost in a playoff to Sam Snead.
Snead, then re-tournament favorite, carved out a 36-34-70 yesterday to take third money with a score of 287. Bog Rosburg, Julius Boros and Mike Souchak were next in line, all with 289.
Ward leads amateurs
Harvie Ward closed with a one-under-par 71 to take the amateur laurels with a 292 total, while Jack Burke Jr., the first-day leader, wound up the tournament with a dismal 80 to finish far back in the pack at the 294 level. Burke out-Sneaded Snead by shooting a 9 at the 13th hole, the place where the Slammer marked down an 8 on the opening day of the tournament.
Middlecoff, starting off four strokes to the good, was on his game from the beginning. He was putting from within 15 feet of the pin on No. 1 and almost holed out an eagle on the second. He hit the third and fourth greens in regulation figures and went to the fifth hole before he struck his first snag.
Trying for distance on the dangerous par 4, he hit an exceptionally poor drive into a fairway bunker. It took him two more shots to get on the green and he was still 40 feet from the cup and lucky to emerge with a bogey 5.
A 12-foot putt for a birdie at No. 6 put him back under par, however, and it was at this stage that almost everybody, including Middlecoff, figured that he had the tournament almost in the bag. Hogan was one over par to this point and Cary had his six stroke bulge. When he sank an eight-footer for a birdie at No. 7, there was no logical course for Middlecoff except to pull in his neck and play it safe.
There was this reservation in the mind of the 6-foot-2-inch 185-pounder from Memphis:
Middlecoff had been Jim Ferrier's playing partner on Easter Sunday, 1950, when Ferrier had this tournament absolutely in the bag, with a six-stroke lead and six holes to play. Yet Ferrier had lost and Middlecoff had seen it all and recognized that Ferrier had hit some ``really wonderful'' shots in the process.
``Ferrier had it sewed up better than I did,'' Middlecoff recalled. ``and I knew that anything could happen on the back nine.''
Nevertheless, Cary felt that it was almost time to rehearse his presentation ceremony speech when he finished the front side in 34 strokes. He was brought rudely to earth at No. 10.
There Middlecoff hit his second shot into a trap, was still in the same trap after his third stroke, and finally came out of it with an extremely hard 6. It could just as well have been a triple bogey 7.
A light rain was beginning to fall, the wind was rising and the crowd sensed disaster. But Middlecoff, putting aside his forensic rehearsals, parred No. 11 and birdied the 12th. He played safe on both the par 5's, where so much drama has occurred in previous tournaments, and rolled home without further incident.
Hogan was never able to gain on the leader, and nobody else had any chance at all unless Middlecoff blew sky high.
Threatening weather
The weather, more threatening than actively unhealthy, evidently discouraged the fans, for the Sunday crowd was considerably smaller that had been the usual case. Nevertheless, the tournament committee paid a 150 per cent bonus to the money winners, making the total pay-off $25,000 plus $250 to every pro who did not win a prize.
Middlecoff, 34 years old, has been playing in the Masters annually since 1946 when he was invited under a special provision that permitted bids to four outstanding golfers who had been inactive because of duty in the armed forces. A dentist before turning pro, Middlecoff was stationed at Oliver General Hospital in Augusta during the war. He recalled at the presentation ceremonies that in those days, he was a frequent guest at the Augusta National for rounds of golf.
This is the first ``new'' champion the Masters has had since 1951 when Ben Hogan won the crown for the first time. There have been 19 Masters Tournaments and 12 different winners.
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