Hogan at the Masters, 1955

[8thehardway]

Found this in Herbert Warren Wind's book Following Through (p 349-350) and wanted to share it in appreciation for the help and direction I've found here.

 

"... However, in 1955, to mark the twentieth anniversary of Sarazen's double eagle, the field was asked to assemble on the fifteenth fairway, and each player was given two attempts to see how close he could come to getting the ball into the cup from about the same spot Sazazen had played from. Few of the pros expected Hogan to participate; he generally bypassed clinics and other such added attractions at tournaments. The two dozen or so golfers who preceded him in this contest had, with few exceptions, played rather ragged shots. Only a handful of shots finished anyplace near the pin. When Hogan's name was called, a heavy silence fell. No one held him in more awe than his colleagues did. Hogan set himself up carefully before his first ball. He hit a nice low fade that landed on the front part of the green and finished about fifteen feet to the left of the flag. He then set himself up for his second shot, and hit an exact duplicate of the first. He shook his head a little and walked away."

[highergr0und]

Well even Hogan admitted he rarely hit perfect shots.... crazy

[MizunoJoe]

[quote name='8thehardway' timestamp='1353949569' post='5980393']
Found this in Herbert Warren Wind's book Following Through (p 349-350) and wanted to share it in appreciation for the help and direction I've found here.

"... However, in 1955, to mark the twentieth anniversary of Sarazen's double eagle, the field was asked to assemble on the fifteenth fairway, and each player was given two attempts to see how close he could come to getting the ball into the cup from about the same spot Sazazen had played from. Few of the pros expected Hogan to participate; he generally bypassed clinics and other such added attractions at tournaments. The two dozen or so golfers who preceded him in this contest had, with few exceptions, played rather ragged shots. Only a handful of shots finished anyplace near the pin. When Hogan's name was called, a heavy silence fell. No one held him in more awe than his colleagues did. Hogan set himself up carefully before his first ball. He hit a nice low fade that landed on the front part of the green and finished about fifteen feet to the left of the flag. He then set himself up for his second shot, and hit an exact duplicate of the first. He shook his head a little and walked away."
[/quote]

Great story - hadn't heard it before. Hogan said that a hole-in-one could only happen from a misplayed shot, and so he probably thought the same about any approach shot. He hit two perfect shots, and was shaking his head, not because they didn't go in, but because he wasn't lucky enough to get a good shot to finish any closer than 15 ft.

[tembolo1284]

excellent post. Thanks very much for putting it up!

[ALIF]

The master! BH is the man.