A Great One for World Golf Hall of Fame Golfers
World War II had just ended and the golfing world was getting back into the swing of things.
The Major Championships, which had been on hold during the war years, were now back on the schedule for the elite professional golfers. This would be a year of firsts for many future World Golf Hall of Fame Members.
The first Open Championship held since 1939 took place at the home of golf in St Andrews, Scotland on the Old Course. American Sam Snead made the trip across the Atlantic to play The Open Championship and took home his first and only Claret Jug, winning by four strokes over fellow American Johnny Bulla and South African Bobby Locke.
Despite his wounds from seeing action at the Battle of the Bulge in Europe, Lloyd Mangrum won the first post-WWII U.S. Open at Canterbury Golf Club in Beachwood, Ohio. The victory did not come easily as he battled both Vic Ghezzi and fellow Hall of Fame Member Byron Nelson in a 36-hole playoff to take the title and claim his only Major Championship victory.
Ben Hogan, the “Wee Ice Man,” claimed the first of his nine Major Championships by winning the PGA Championship at Portland Golf Club. The competition was still Match-Play at that time and Hogan took the crown with a commanding 6-and-4 victory over fellow competitor Ed Oliver in the final match.
Newcomer and amateur Louise Suggs won her first two professional Majors in 1946 and made her presence known by winning both the Titleholders Championship and the Women’s Western Open. She won the Titleholders by two strokes over her closest competitor, Eileen Stulb. In a Match-Play contest at the Women’s Western Open, Suggs bested fellow Hall of Fame Member Patty Berg, winning 2 up.
Patty Berg went on to win the inaugural U.S. Women’s Open Championship at the Spokane Country Club in Washington in Match-Play format – the only time the contest was played as such. She would take on Hall of Fame Member Betty Jameson in a 36-hole final and claim a 5-and-4 victory. This would be her only U.S. Women’s Open title.
