first tournament to make a contribution to charity-$10,000. The 14-club rule is instituted by the USGA. The USGA also begins a two-year trial of the first major modification to the stymie. An obstructing ball within of the hole could be marked and moved regardless of the distance between the balls. The USGA made this rule permanent in 1941, but the Royal and Ancient Golf Club never made this change. 1939 Byron Nelson wins the U.S. Open at Philadelphia Country Club after a 3-man playoff against Craig Wood and Denny Shute. Sam Snead, needing a 5 at the last hole to win the championship, takes 8, and misses even making the playoff. The U.S. Open would remain the only major championship Snead never won. 1940–1945 1940 The British Open and Amateur are discontinued for the duration of the Second World War. Golf courses all over the United Kingdom are converted to airfields or otherwise given over to anti-air and anti-invasion defences. 1942 The U.S. Open is discontinued for the duration of the war. A world-wide shortage of rubber, a vital military supply, creates a shortage and huge price increase in golf balls. Sam Snead manages to complete an entire four-day tournament playing one ball, but the professional circuit is severely curtailed. The U.S. government halts the manufacture of golf equipment for the duration of the war. 1943 The PGA Championship is cancelled for the year, and The Masters is discontinued for the duration of the war. 1944 The PGA expands its tour to 22 events despite the absence of many of its star players due to military service. 1945 Byron Nelson wins 18 tournaments in a calendar year to set an all-time PGA Tour record-including a record 11 in a row and a record 19 consecutive rounds under 70. His total prize earnings during his 11-win streak, $30,000, is less than last place money for the PGA Tour Championship by 1992. The Tam O'Shanter Open offers a then-record purse of $60,000. In Japan, the Shimofusa Country Club (also known as the Musashino Country Club), once the premier golf course in the Tokyo area, is appropriated by the Imperial Japanese Army Air Service and converted into a fighter airfield as part of efforts to combat allied air raids. Post-war it will eventually become Shimofusa Air Base. References History of golf Golf timelines