The 1939 PGA Championship was the 22nd

PGA Championship The PGA Championship (often referred to as the US PGA Championship or USPGA outside the United States) is an annual golf tournament conducted by the Professional Golfers' Association of America. It is one of the four men's major championships ...

, held July 9–15 at

Pomonok Country Club Pomonok Country Club was a country club in the northeastern United States, located in what is now the Pomonok neighborhood of the New York City borough of Queens. The golf course was located between Kissena Boulevard and 164th Street, just to ...

Queens Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

. Then a

match play Match play is a scoring system for golf in which a player, or team, earns a point for each hole in which they have bested their opponents; as opposed to stroke play, in which the total number of strokes is counted over one or more rounds of 18 h ...

championship,

Henry Picard Henry Gilford Picard (November 28, 1906 – April 30, 1997) was an American professional golfer. Born in Plymouth, Massachusetts, Picard learned to play golf while caddying at the Plymouth Country Club. Already a talented player by his early 20s ...

won his only PGA Championship, defeating

Byron Nelson John Byron Nelson Jr. (February 4, 1912 – September 26, 2006) was an American professional golfer between 1935 and 1946, widely considered one of the greatest golfers of all time. Nelson and two other legendary champions of the time, Ben Hoga ...

with a birdie at the 37th hole. It was the second of his two

major Major ( commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicato ...

titles; he won the Masters in

1938 Events January * January 1 ** The new constitution of Estonia enters into force, which many consider to be the ending of the Era of Silence and the authoritarian regime. ** State-owned railway networks are created by merger, in France ...

. Nelson won the U.S. Open three months earlier and the next PGA Championship in

1940 A calendar from 1940 according to the Gregorian calendar, factoring in the dates of Easter and related holidays, cannot be used again until the year 5280. Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * Januar ...

. Beginning in 1939, he made five finals in six PGA Championships, and won his second title in

1945 1945 marked the end of World War II and the fall of Nazi Germany and the Empire of Japan. It is also the only year in which Nuclear weapon, nuclear weapons Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, have been used in combat. Events Below, ...

. Picard had not trailed and led by two as late as the 26th hole, but the match was squared on the 29th green and Nelson led by one after 32 holes. Both birdied the par-5 33rd and Picard sank a curling putt from over for par to halve the 34th hole and stay one back. They halved the par-3 35th at par and both had birdie putts on the 36th green. Nelson missed his from feet while Picard sank his from three to square up the match. On the extra hole, both again had birdie putts: Picard made his from ten feet while Nelson missed his from six. Defending champion

Paul Runyan Paul Scott Runyan (July 12, 1908 – March 17, 2002) was an American professional golfer. Among the world's best players in the mid-1930s, he won two PGA Championships, and is a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame. Runyan was also a golf instruct ...

lost in the quarterfinals to

Dick Metz Richard C. Metz (May 29, 1908 – May 5, 1993) was an American professional golfer. Metz won 10 times on the PGA Tour in the 1930s and 1940s. He had continued success as a senior golfer winning the Senior PGA Championship and World Seniors Cham ...

. This PGA Championship was held during the

1939 New York World's Fair The 1939–40 New York World's Fair was a world's fair held at Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in Queens, New York, United States. It was the second-most expensive American world's fair of all time, exceeded only by St. Louis's Louisiana Purc ...

. The golf course no longer exists;

disbanded in 1949 and the property was developed for residences.

Format

The

format at the PGA Championship in 1939 called for 12 rounds (216 holes) in seven days: * Sunday and Monday – 36-hole

stroke play Stroke play, also known as medal play, is a scoring system in the sport of golf in which the total number of strokes is counted over one or more rounds of 18 holes. In stroke play, the winner is the player who has taken the fewest strokes over the ...

qualifier, 18 holes per day; **defending champion and top 63 professionals advanced to match play * Tuesday – first two rounds, 18 holes each * Wednesday – third round – 36 holes * Thursday – quarterfinals – 36 holes * Friday – semifinals – 36 holes * Saturday – final – 36 holes

Past champions in the field

Failed to qualify

Source:

Final results

''Saturday. July 15, 1939'' Source:

Final eight bracket

Final match scorecards

''Morning'' ''Afternoon'' ''Extra hole'' *Source:

References

External links

PGA Media Guide 2012
– 1939 PGA Championship {{Coord, 40.734, -73.810, type:event, display=title PGA Championship Golf in New York (state) Sports competitions in New York City Sports in Queens, New York

1930s in Queens Flushing, Queens