Activities Sports & Athletics 1944 PGA Championship: Hamilton Tops Nelson in Final Share PINTEREST Email Print 1944 PGA Championship winner Bob Hamilton is on the left, with Sam Snead, in this photo taken in 1949. Keystone/Getty Images Sports & Athletics Golf Golf Tournaments Basics History Gear Golf Courses Famous Golfers Baseball Basketball Bicycling Billiards Bodybuilding Bowling Boxing Car Racing Cheerleading Cricket Extreme Sports Football Gymnastics Ice Hockey Martial Arts Professional Wrestling Skateboarding Skating Paintball Soccer Swimming & Diving Table Tennis Tennis Track & Field Volleyball Other Activities Learn More By Brent Kelley Brent Kelley is an award-winning sports journalist and golf expert with over 30 years in print and online journalism. our editorial process Brent Kelley Updated March 17, 2017 A field thinned out by World War II gathered for the 1944 PGA Championship, giving lesser-known golfers better opportunities to win. And one of them did. Quick Bits Championship match: Bob Hamilton over Byron Nelson (match scores below)Dates: Aug. 14-20, 1944Golf course: Manito Golf and Country Club in Washington stateTournament number: This was the 26th time the PGA Championship was played. Notes on the 1944 PGA Championship The 1944 PGA Championship was the only one of the professional majors played during the year, with World War II still raging. Given that the tournament was not played in 1943, that made 1942 winner Sam Snead the defending champion. But Snead was unable to play, laid up with a bad back and still in the Navy. Ben Hogan also missed this tournament, as did many others who had military obligations. That explains why so many of the golfers' names in the match results listed below are little-known today. It also explains why the PGA of America reduced the match play bracket from 64 golfers in the first round (as was the case in recent previous years and in most match play years after 1944) to just 32 golfers. Bob Hamilton was one of those golfers with military obligations - he was the head pro of the military golf course at Fort Lewis in Washington state. But the 1944 PGA Championship was played in Spokane, Wash., which gave Hamilton a chance to participate. And Hamilton made the most of that chance, winning the title by beating Byron Nelson in the championship match, 1-up. En route to the finals, Hamilton defeated Gene Kunes, Harry Bassler, Jug McSpaden and George Schneiter. Nelson dispatched Mike DeMassey, Mark Fry, Willie Goggin and Charles Congdon. Hamilton and Nelson were all square after the morning 18 of the championship match. Hamilton went to 2-up after 29, but Nelson squared the match again on the 33rd hole. Hamilton went 1-up by winning the 34th, then held on for the victory. Between 1939 and 1945, Nelson reached the championship match in five of the six years the PGA was played. He won two of those and lost three of them. This was Hamilton's second win of 1944, and he won three more times during the 1940s. He was also a member of the USA's 1949 Ryder Cup team. While Hamilton is not well-remembered today, he long held a oddball record in golf: In 1975, Hamilton, then 59 years old, recorded a score of 59. That made him the youngest golfer ever to shoot his age. 1944 PGA Championship Scores Results from the 1944 PGA Championship golf tournament played at Manito Golf and Country Club in Spokane, Washington (all matches scheduled for 36 holes): First Round Byron Nelson def. Mike DeMassey, 5 and 4Mark Fry def. Neil Christian, 2 and 1Willie Goggin def. Purvis Ferree, 8 and 7Tony Manero def. Clayton Aleridge, 1-upSam Byrd def. W.A. Stackhouse, 4 and 3Charles Congdon def. Henry Williams Jr., 7 and 6Ed Dudley def. Steve Savel, 7 and 6Jimmy Hines def. Thurman Edwards, 7 and 6Jug McSpaden def. Bruce Coltart, 7 and 5Fred Annon def. Harry Nettlebladt, 5 and 4Bob Hamilton def. Gene Kunes, 6 and 5Harry Bassler def. Joe Mazel, 6 and 5Arthur Bell def. Joe Zarhardt, 1-up (37 holes)Craig Wood def. Jimmy D'Angelo, 5 and 4Toney Penna def. Morrie Gravatt, 3 and 2George Schneiter def. Ted Longworth, 7 and 6 Second Round Byron Nelson def. Mark Fry, 7 and 6Willie Goggin def. Tony Manero, 4 and 3Charles Congdon def. Sam Byrd, 2 and 1Ed Dudley def. Jimmy Hines, 1-up (37 holes)Jug McSpaden def. Fred Annon, 8 and 7Bob Hamilton def. Harry Bassler, 6 and 5Arthur Bell def. Craig Wood, 3 and 2George Schneiter def. Toney Penna, 4 and 3 Quarterfinals Byron Nelson def. Willie Goggin, 4 and 3Charles Congdon def. Ed Dudley, 6 and 5Bob Hamilton def. Jug McSpaden, 2 and 1George Schneiter def. Art Bell, 2 and 1 Semifinals Byron Nelson def. Charles Congdon, 8 and 7Bob Hamilton def. George Schneiter, 1-up Championship Match Bob Hamilton def. Byron Nelson, 1-up 1942 PGA Championship | 1945 PGA Championship Back to PGA Championship winners list