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The Shot Still Heard
In the World of Golf
of TheColumnists.com
It was the middle of the 42nd Walker Cup golf tournament on the weekend, and people ambled over to the fairway of the 18th hole at the storied Merion Golf Club in Ardmore, PA.
They looked down at history.
On the grass lay a brass plaque about eight inches by five inches that read:
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US OPEN FOURTH ROUND BEN HOGAN 1-IRON |
And therein lies a story.
It is the story of a memorable moment in golf history that became legend because of a brilliant photo.
Ben Hogan, one of the all time greats, came into the 1950 US Open a man battered by injuries suffered in a car accident 16 months earlier. At 37, he struggled throughout the tournament, 18 holes each on Thursday and Friday and then 36 holes on Saturday. He approached the 18th hole on Saturday, the 72d in all, needing a par to finish in a three-way tie and force a playoff.
His drive reached a spot on the fairway later estimated at 223 yards from the hole.
Now join me as I tarried at the plaque on Sunday and eavesdropped on people who came over during a lull between rounds to look at one of the two famous plaques on the course. The other marker is on the 11th hole commemorating where Bobby Jones clinched his fourth grand slam victory in 1930. History reverberates at the Marion course.
Some men took imaginary swings with their arms from the plaque. A few men--and women-just stood there, looked toward the green and let their imagination carry the moment.
One man in a red Merion Golf cap swung an umbrella and urged his reluctant teenage daughter to do it as well. She desisted. A few asked, “How far is it to the green?,” others took photos with their Blackberries or whatever.
A man with a “P” (for Phillies) baseball cap wondered aloud. “I would hit a No. 7 iron. Then I’d hit another seven iron.” His friend, capless, said, “As the caddy said, ‘You would always reach it-eventually.’ ”
A father said to his son, “Think you could reach it?” The boy said, “I’m only 13 years old.”
A hearty, engaging man in his late 60s brought a few people over to the marker. Stewart Bracken, a marshall at the tournament, was a teenager in the Marion area at the time of the 1950 Open.
“I’m telling the story for the 50th time,” he said. “Hogan was hurting so bad that he thought he would quit earlier in the round. But his caddy told him, ‘I don’t caddy for quitters’ and he kept on going.
“Hogan hit a one-iron. They say, ‘Only God can hit a one-iron.’ Well, Hogan hit a low line drive to the green. He then two-putted for a par and that got him into the playoff.
“But that isn’t the end of the story,” he said. “The caddy dropped the clubs at the side of the green and somebody stole the one-iron. That was it. Until many years later when the club turned up. Either the guy’s conscience got to him or some collector got hold of it. They showed it to Hogan and he attested that it was his club. And now it’s at the museum of the US Golf Association.”
When I first heard the story, I figured Hogan’s legendary one-iron shot must have set him up for a birdie--not a par--to tie the tournament. I found out later that the fact of Hogan’s gallantry playing through injury-and a photo--lifted the shot to mythic standing. The photo, beautifully balanced, shows Hogan from behind with people lined up on both sides of the fairways watching him finishing a swing toward the American flag on the green in the distance.
The photo was shot by Hy Peskin, a sports photographer for Life Magazine. That is now regarded as the greatest photo in golf history. It is part of American lore, like the photo of the Wright Brothers taking off in their plane, like the shot of Ty Cobb sliding into third base.
The photo is so revered it was for sale in the Merion Golf Club gift shop--$799 for a colorized photo, $395 framed, $125 unframed.
Hogan’s one-iron shot settled 40 feet to the left of the pin. His first putt landed four feet from the hole. And after making the putt to tie at 287, he went on to win a playoff the next day over Lloyd Mangrum and George Fazio,
Out on the fairway Sunday I watched two of the young amateur golfers competing in the Walker Cup--the USA vs. Great Britain and Ireland match--hitting on the 18th green. Rickie Fowler of the USA drove a ball that landed about six feet parallel to the marker. His partner, Bud Cauley, then hit what I was told was a six-iron to the middle of the green. The United States won the competition, 16 1/2 to 9 1/2.
On a last look at the hallowed spot on the fairway I noticed two scuffed dirt divots next to the marker. I surmise that at some point golfers with dreams of glory had hit balls to feel the karma of Ben Hogan.
©2009 by Stan Isaacs. The Stan Isaacs caricature is ©2001 by Jim Hummel. The one-iron shot photo was made by Hy Peskin for Life Magazine. This column first posted Sept. 14, 2009.
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