PGA Championship: A look back at 100 years of tournament history
By Bill Felber
1944: Lord Byron’s fall
Among the most stunning upsets in PGA Championship history, Bob Hamilton’s victory over Byron Nelson at Manito Golf Club in Spokane ranks at or near the top.
Nelson was at his absolute prime during those World War II years. Holder of four major championships, he would compile eight tour victories in 1944, a prelude to his remarkable 18 victories just one year later.
Nelson’s chances were further enhanced by the absence from the field of several of the game’s biggest names, among them Sam Snead and Ben Hogan, who were both in military service.
Aside from Nelson, the field’s most prominent contenders appeared to be former Masters champion Craig Wood and Sammy Byrd, whose fame rested as much for his play with baseball’s New York Yankees as with his golf game. But both Byrd and Wood were gone by the end of the second round.
Nelson cruised through the preliminary rounds, none of his first four challengers lasting longer than the 33rd hole of the 36-hole matches. In the semis, he dismissed Charles Congdon 8&7.
Nobody gave Hamilton, who had one tournament victory to his credit, a second look. His breakthrough came in his 2&1 third-round victory over the player viewed as most likely to meet Nelson, Harold “Jug” McSpaden. A lightly regarded pro from Indians, Hamilton earned his own shot at Nelson by defeating George Schneiter 1-up in the semi-final.
Nelson was expected to polish off Hamilton in the final, but the morning round ended with the players all even. Hamilton birdied the first hole of the afternoon round to take the lead, and extended the lead to two when Nelson bogeyed the 11th hole.
Byron came back to tie the match but a Hamilton birdie at 16 re-established his one-hole advantage. Both men parred the 17th, sending the outcome to the drivable 300-yard par 4 18th. Hamilton all but clinched the upset with an eagle chip that stopped inches from the hole, rendering Nelson’s own birdie meaningless.
About one week later, Hamilton was inducted into the military. After the war, he returned to the tour and won three more events, his best major finish being a third place at the 1946 Masters.