tournament ’ s low post — pulled him to just one shot behind leader Johnny Palmer going into Sunday ’ s round .
The final round saw Snead ’ s flatstick rise to the occasion again . While Palmer and most of the other leaders posted scores in the low 70s , Snead blistered the course for another 67 for a three-shot win . Snead ’ s 134 total on the weekend was the lowest of any Masters champion until Jack Nicklaus ’ s 64-69 133 weekend rampage in 1965 .
Snead became the first Masters champion to don the iconic green jacket in the award ceremony after Sunday ’ s round , making him an honorary Augusta National member . In just a few years , he ’ d get to do it again .
1952
The golfing world placed Ben Hogan and Snead , who had been playing well all winter , as consensus favorites in this Masters . Hogan , sporting a limp , had largely overcome his horrendous car collision to again become one of the world ’ s top golfers . Playing just a few select events each year , Hogan had captured the 1950 and 1951 U . S . Opens and was the defending champion in the 1952 Masters .
Some observers felt that Hogan had Snead ’ s number in the majors : each of Snead ’ s post-war majors ( the 1949 Masters and 1949 and 1950 PGA Championships ) came when Hogan was not in the field ; each of Hogan ’ s majors had been won at Snead ’ s expense . A potential Augusta shootout between the two giants focused the golfing public ’ s attention .
Sam Snead lines up a putt on the 9th green during the 1949 Masters .
Thursday yielded high scores ; the leaders managed only 69 . Snead was one shot behind after a roller-coaster round that featured a double bogey on his first hole , six birdies and an approach on the 18th hole finding the 9th green . Hogan , too , shot 70 .
By Friday evening , Snead had separated himself from the field with a sterling 67 and a three-shot cushion over second-place Hogan , the model of consistency with another 70 .
In Saturday ’ s 30 mph winds and 45 degree temperatures , Snead didn ’ t keep it together . His 77 must have felt deadly at first , but on a day when no one broke 71 , Snead went into Sunday hanging onto a piece of the lead . His co-leader ? Hogan , who shot a 74 on that treacherous day . The table was set .
On Sunday — again a very windy , cool day — only one player , Jack Burke , Jr ., could manage to break 70 . Snead would card an even-par 72 , while Hogan ’ s round quickly disintegrated to a 79 . The title bout everyone anticipated never happened .
With a 286 total , Snead earned a Masters-record $ 4,000 and his second Masters title by three shots over Burke . The Virginian ’ s performance vis a vis Hogan may have hushed some of his detractors , but others needed to see more . They would .
1954
As the 1954 Masters Tournament opened , Snead and Hogan had captured four of the last five Masters titles ( Snead in 1949 and 1952 ; Hogan in 1951 and 1953 ).
Hogan ’ s 1953 campaign was perhaps golf ’ s all-time , most amazing performance . A study in perfection , he played in only four official events — the Masters , U . S . Open , British Open and the Pan American Open — and won them all .
On a track toughened in response to Hogan ’ s record 274 in 1953 , Augusta ’ s stage was set for a Snead-Hogan clash . This time , the golfing gods delivered .
By Sunday , Hogan ’ s 72-73-69 214 put him the lead . Snead was three shots behind going into that last day but tallied a 72 to Hogan ’ s 75 to tie at 289 — one over par and the new highest winning score ever posted at Augusta .
Playoffs at Augusta in those days ( there had only been one before , in 1935 ) were 18-hole affairs , so these two titans met the next day in an epic battle that had the potential to settle the question , “ Who is the better golfer ?”
Through the first 15 holes , the two golfers were never separated by more than a shot . They were both 1-under after Snead ’ s bogey at the par-3 12th . But Sam exploited his strength on the par-5 13th , drawing his drive around the corner and ultimately two-putting for a birdie and a one-stroke lead . Both golfers birdied the par-5 15th , leaving the margin at one shot going into the last three holes .
Hogan hit his tee shot on the par-3 16th to fifteen feet , with Snead just outside him . Snead got his tap-in par , but Hogan left himself three feet short . Adding to the several short putts he missed all week , Hogan stabbed at his par putt and walked to No . 17 with the round ’ s first two-shot deficit .
Both contestants parred No . 17 . Still , when Snead bunkered his approach on No . 18 , the Hogan camp felt a glimmer of hope . It proved to be fleeting . Snead hit his sand shot to six feet and when Hogan missed his 20-foot birdie putt , Sam only had to cozy his effort next to the hole . He did , tapping in for a bogey , a 70 and a one-shot win over his eternal rival .
It was as though the golfing gods had decreed it was Snead ’ s turn to win again at Augusta .
USGA MUSEUM
If you ’ d like to learn more about Sam Snead and the Masters Tournament , please consider these two books : Sam : The One and Only Sam Snead , by Al Barkow , 2005 ; The Story of the Masters , by David Barrett , 2021 .
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