BYRON NELSON WINS BRITISH OPEN AFTER MARATHON PLAYOFF
It took 23 holes on Monday but Byron Nelson finally disposed of Australian Peter Thomson to win the 1946 British Open Championship. It was an amazing finish to the tournament for Nelson as a final round 66 on Sunday allowed him to make up 5 strokes on the leader and force the extra days action. Nelson and Thomson each shot an even par 72 during the 18 hole playoff. At that point the two golfers returned to the first tee for a sudden death playoff. Both Nelson and Thomson parred each of the first 4 holes, all par fours. On the par 5 5th, Nelson sank a 30 foot birdie putt while Thomson came up short in his birdie effort
Here is a recap of what led up to the playoff.
On Thursday it was all Ben Hogan as the American birdied 7 of the first 9 holes and ended the day with a 9 under 63. Skee Reigel and Roberto de Vicenzo were tied for second 4 strokes back.
On Friday the winds picked up a little and the scores began to rise. However, Hogan was in an early group and got a strong round of 71 in before the weather started getting messy. After two days Hogan had a 3 stroke lead on HenryBradshaw who put together rounds of 69 and 68. Dai Reis, who finished in the top 5 at Augusta remains in the hunt with back to back 69's. Rees and Reigel are 4 strokes off the pace. de Vicenzo saw his game exploded on the front 9 and he limped home with a 77 to barely make the cut.
Saturday, as is so often the case at the British Open, weather played a big role. Just 10 of the 31 golfers who made the cut managed to break par and the race tightened up as Hogan's lead slipped to one stroke on Australian Peter Thomson. Thomson shot a 69 and made up four strokes on Hogan. Rees and Jimmy Demaret where two strokes off the pace while Reigel and Little are 3 back heading into Sunday. Bradshaw fell out of contention with a 74.
On Sunday Byron Nelson made a huge charge and finished with a 66 to give him a 4-round total of 278. However, his score of -10 did not appear to be good enough to win as Hogan and Thomson, on number 16 when Nelson parred the 18th were sitting at -12 and -11 respectively. Then the bottom fell out for Hogan as he double-bogeyed 16 and bogeyed 17 to fall one stroke behind Nelson. Thomson saved par on 16 but he too took a bogey on 17 and he entered the final hole tied with Nelson. Thomson had a chance to win it but his birdie putt lipped out setting the stage for Monday's playoff. Nelson also parred 18 to finish a stroke off the pace after leading each of the first 3 days.
Playoff round scores
Nelson 4 4 4 3 6 3 4 2 4 4 2 4 4 7 4 6 4 3 =72 4 4 4 4 4
Thomson 4 4 4 4 5 4 4 2 3 4 3 4 4 7 4 3 5 4 =72 4 4 4 4 5
The leaderboard
Final Scores - St. Andrews (1946 British Open)
B. Nelson -10* won playoff
P. Thomson -10
B. Hogan -9
D. Ford -8
S. Snead -7
B. Hamilton -6
C. Harbert -6
C. Harper -6
R. Horne -6
A. Cerda -6
J. Burke Jr -6
BONHAM AND MELTON TO START IN ALL-STAR GAME AT WRIGLEY FIELD
It comes as no surprise that Cliff Melton of the Pirates has been named the National League starting pitcher for Tuesday's allstar game at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Melton took the loss in his only start last week but his record still stands at 16-3. The American League will counter with Tiny Bonham on the hill. The Yankees ace is 13-2 with a 2.31 era.
Washington will be the best represented AL club as 6 Senators will be on the allstar squad. All but one American League team will be represented as the Chicago White Sox failed to have a player named to the team. The Chisox perhaps could have made a case for OF Danny Litwhiler (.263,9,32) but the outfielders that were selected over him have certainly put up better numbers. No one else on the last place pale hose belongs anywhere near Wrigley Field on Tuesday.
Brooklyn and Cincinnati led the National League with 5 players each. The host Chicago Cubs will only be represented by pitcher Paul Erickson. The last place Boston Braves did not have anyone named to the team although perhaps slugging 1B Rudy York (.216,12,38) deserved inclusion over Brooklyn's Zeke Bonura.
Here is the complete roster for the game:
These players were selected for the AL OOTP-Allstar Team :
P Tiny Bonham from New York 13-2, 2.31
P Joe Beggs from Washington 13-5, 2.60
P Tom Baker from St. Louis(A) 12-6, 2.34
P Steve Gromek from Cleveland 12-8, 2.58
P Bob Bowman from Boston (A) 10-4, 2.54
P Red Barrett from Washington 10-7, 2.96
P Stubby Overmire from Detroit 11-7, 3.73
P Steve Roser from New York 1-3, 3.31
P Jack Wilson from Philadelphia (A) 1-1, 4.32 4 sv
P Ray Poat from Cleveland 1-1, 2.70
C Al Evans from Washington .298,3,28
C Bob Scheffing from New York .282,5,22
1B Babe Young from Boston (A) .296,10,54
2B Odell Hale from St. Louis(A) .253,5,38
3B Buddy Lewis from Washington .340,7,54
SS Skeeter Newsome from Philadelphia (A) .283,7,36
LF Ted Williams from Boston (A) .346,14,44
CF Phil Cavarretta from Washington .281,6,47
RF Roy Cullenbine from Philadelphia (A) .298,6,44
1B George Mcquinn from St. Louis(A) .272,7,40
LF Mel Mazzera from Washington .327,5,43
RF Tommy Henrich from Detroit .309,8,32
LF Jeff Heath from Cleveland .300,8,47
3B Oscar Grimes from Cleveland .303,13,40
3B Billy Johnson from New York .290,8,37
These players were selected for the NL OOTP-Allstar Team :
P Cliff Melton from Pittsburgh 16-3, 2.44
P Mickey Haefner from Brooklyn 11-7, 2.42
P Ernie White from St. Louis 10-6, 2.96
P Paul Erickson from Chicago (N) 10-6, 3.27
P Bill Voiselle from New York(N) 10-7, 3.35
P Dave Koslo from New York(N) 9-8, 2.99
P Don Black from Brooklyn 8-5, 2.66
P Jake Mooty from Cincinnati 2-2, 3.90
P Frank Seward from New York(N) 1-2, 2.66 5 sv
P Johnny Hetki from Cincinnati 3-2, 2.45 8 sv
C Walker Cooper from St. Louis .305,5,29
C Bennie Warren from Philadelphia (N) .280,4,23
1B Stan Musial from St. Louis .282,8,39
2B Tony Cuccinello from Pittsburgh .301,9,44
3B Bob Elliott from Pittsburgh .265,3,38
SS Pee wee Reese from Brooklyn .281,4,39
LF Pete Reiser from Brooklyn .337,4,50
CF Bobby Estalella from New York(N) .331,3,38
RF Enos Slaughter from St. Louis .260,8,59
1B Zeke Bonura from Brooklyn .261,8,48
CF Ben Chapman from St. Louis .355,3,37
LF Joe Medwick from Cincinnati .319,6,27
RF Ford Garrison from Cincinnati .328,2,28
2B Alex Kampouris from Cincinnati .320,5,35
SS Arky Vaughan from Pittsburgh .333,2,31