The 1931 PGA Championship was the 14th

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 September 14–19 at Wannamoisett Country Club in

Rumford, Rhode Island Rumford is the northern section of the city of East Providence, Rhode Island, USA. The Rumford section of East Providence borders Seekonk, Massachusetts, Pawtucket, Rhode Island and the Ten Mile River (Seekonk River). Rumford has been part of thre ...

, northeast of Providence. 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, Tom Creavy, age 20, defeated Gene Sarazen 5 & 3 in the semifinals and

Denny Shute Herman Densmore "Denny" Shute (October 25, 1904 – May 13, 1974) was an American professional golfer who won three major championships in the 1930s. Life and career Born in Cleveland, Ohio, Shute was the son of a golf pro from England; Hermon ...

2 & 1 in the finals. This was the first year the defending champion was exempt from qualifying;

Tommy Armour Thomas Dickson Armour (24 September 1896 – 11 September 1968) was a Scottish-American professional golfer. He was nicknamed The Silver Scot. He was the winner of three of golf's major championships: 1927 U.S. Open, 1930 PGA, and 1931 Open C ...

lost in the quarterfinals to Shute, Sarazen was the medalist in the qualifying with 145 (+5). Through 2016, Sarazen remains the youngest winner of a modern major title at age 20 (in

1922 Events January * January 7 – Dáil Éireann, the parliament of the Irish Republic, ratifies the Anglo-Irish Treaty by 64–57 votes. * January 10 – Arthur Griffith is elected President of Dáil Éireann, the day after Éamon de Valera ...

) and Creavy was just 2 months older. Finalist Shute won consecutive titles in

1936 Events January–February * January 20 – George V of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India, dies at his Sandringham Estate. The Prince of Wales succeeds to the throne of the United Kingdom as King E ...

and 1937.

Format

The

format at the PGA Championship in 1931 called for 12 rounds (216 holes) in six days: * Monday – 36-hole stroke play qualifier **defending champion

and top 31 professionals advanced to match play * Tuesday – first round – 36 holes * Wednesday – second round – 36 holes * Thursday – quarterfinals – 36 holes * Friday – semifinals – 36 holes * Saturday – final – 36 holes

Final results

''Saturday, September 19, 1931''

Final eight bracket

Final match scorecards

''Morning'' ''Afternoon'' *Source:

References

External links

PGA Media Guide 2012
– 1931 PGA Championship {{coord, 41.845, -71.359, type:event, display=title PGA Championship Golf in Rhode Island East Providence, Rhode Island