When Hogan came to the difficult 18 th hole (then 458 yards … this year, it will be 521 yards so that golfers, even with better equipment, will have to replicate Hogan’s grueling second shot), he needed a par to force a playoff. The legend is he did not carry a 7-iron at Merion, and when asked why he said: “Because there are no 7-iron shots at Merion.” There was something otherworldly about him, how purely he hit his shots, how dedicated he was to practice, how distant he was from competitors. A competitor, Cary Middlecoff, actually marked Hogan’s balls on the greens because Hogan was in such agony. Hogan himself would admit almost quitting after the 13 th hole his caddie pressed him to go on. David Barrett, author of the engrossing “Miracle at Merion,” points out that on the 12 th hole Hogan almost fell down, and he could barely walk after that. Open demanded that golfers play 36 holes on the usually scorching final day, a physical toll under the best of circumstances. Sixteen months later, Hogan was at Merion for the U.S. He fractured his collarbone, pelvis, ankle and rib, and doctors proclaimed his golf career over. It almost certainly would have killed him but it seems just before impact Hogan leaned over to protect his wife, Valerie, and this move not only saved her life, but his own.
Open, 1950, and it was his first tournament back after his car crashed head first into a bus, a crash that, by all logic, should have killed him. Even God can’t hit a 1-iron.”īut more, much more, Hogan himself was miraculous. He said, “Stand in the middle of the fairway and hold up a 1-iron. Lee Trevino was once struck by lightning and was asked how to avoid such a fate. Just start with the most basic of facts: Hogan was hitting a 1-iron, which is all but impossible to do. Open: Articles, videos and photosĮverything about the photograph – and the moment – seems miraculous. The photograph is of Ben Hogan, looking down the fairway of the 18 th hole at Merion, standing in perfect balance after hitting the 1-iron shot for the ages.ġ13th U.S.
And if it’s nowhere nearby, you can probably just close your eyes and see it. The photograph is … well, if you are a committed golfer you can probably just look up right now (in your office, in your house, at your favorite sports themed restaurant, at your golf club) and see that picture on the wall. I have told it to several people now, and each one immediately said, “Come on, that’s not true.” But it apparently is true or, if nothing else, the hero of our story claimed it was true.
There is something about the most famous golf photograph ever taken that you probably do not know and certainly will not believe.
0 kommentar(er)
