Sporting Highlights for 1938
Here are some of the sporting highlights in the world of sport for 1938. One of the major sporting events of the year was the FIFA World Cup tournament in France, in which Italy beat Hungary 4-2. The third Commonwealth Games (called the British Empire Games) was held in Australia.
Helen Wills Moody won the Wimbledon for the eighth time which was her 19th and final grand slam title. Her record for total grand slams won stood for 32 years until 1970 when Margaret Court tied and passed Helen with a golden slam. With seven US Open and four French Open titles, Helen stands fourth in the list of all-time winningest players.
Don Budge swept all four grand slams that year to become the first man ever to win the golden slam. Though Rod Laver achieved the golden slam twice in future, Don's six consecutive slam titles still stands as the record for the most number of consecutive grand slams won.
Henry Picard, Ralph Guldahl, Reg Whitcombe and Paul Runyan won the Masters Tournament, U.S. Open, The Open Championship and PGA Championship respectively. Guldahl and Picard won the Masters Tournament and the PGA Championship respectively the following year to each finish their career with three and two major wins.
It was the second year of the Titleholders Championship and Patty Berg repeated her win from the previous year for her second major title. She would three-pete at the event the following year and go win 10 major titles before retiring from the game.
Below is a timeline of some significant results in the world of sport for the year 1938.
| Date | Results |
|---|---|
| Jan | Tennis Australia Open won by Don Budge and Dorothy Bundy |
| Feb 5-12 | Commonwealth Games held in Sydney, Australia. |
| April | Golf Masters won by Henry Picard |
| May | Tennis French Open won by Don Budge and Simone Mathieu |
| June | Golf US Open won by Ralph Guldahl |
| June 4-19 | FIFA World Cup (Football) tournament was held in France, won by Italy. |
| July | the Cycling Tour de France won by Gino Bartali |
| July | Tennis Wimbledon won by Don Budge and Helen Moody |
| July | Golf The Open Championship won by Reg Whitcombe. |
| Aug | Golf US PGA won by Paul Runyan (2) |
| Sep | Tennis US National Championship won by Don Budge and Alice Marble |
| Oct | The Baseball World Series won by New York Yankees |
Please note that the dates for past events are not always known, and are sometimes just placed in the month that the current event is held. If no exact date is listed, then it is just an estimated month that it was held.
If you have a correction or know of events that should be included here, please let me know.
Related Pages
- Timeline (all years) in the world of sport
- For future sporting events, see the Calendar of Major Sporting Events
- More about the World of Sport
Any comments, suggestions, or corrections? Please let us know.
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