1953 - Ben Hogan Battles the British and His Own Body

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INTRODUCTION From The Sports Time Traveler™

Ben Hogan, the greatest golfer of his time, and some say the greatest ever, was at his height in the summer of 1953, despite the fact that he was 40 years old and playing an extremely limited schedule of only about a half dozen tournaments a year.

Hogan struggled to walk a golf course due to his near fatal auto accident in 1949 that disrupted his career when he was at his peak.

Prior to the accident Hogan had won 20 times in the first 3 post-war years from 1946 - 1948, including the 1948 U.S. Open.

The accident wiped out the 1949 season for Hogan and there was concern he would never walk, let alone play golf again.

But Hogan epitomized the word determination. The amount of practice he put in is legendary. The great golfer Gary Player believes Hogan practiced more than anyone in history. And so Hogan willed himself back to competitive golf.

In January, 1949, Hogan made his comeback at the Los Angeles Open, losing in a playoff to Sam Snead. The next year, 1950, he won the U.S. Open for the 2nd time.

But his amount of play was severely constrained. He had to wrap his legs to walk the course and he was in constant pain. He could practice endlessly, but his body could only endure walking the course for a few tournaments a year.

Despite his handicap, in April 1953, Hogan won the Masters for the 2nd time. And he followed that up in June with his 4th U.S. Open title.

Ben Hogan then decided to do something he had yet to do in his storied career - travel across the Atlantic to Scotland to compete in the British Open.

It was the 1st and only time he made the trip.

Naturally, I just had to make the virtual trip to Carnoustie in the Scottish Highlands to follow Ben Hogan’s one and only British Open, and experience the famous golf links there that have hosted the British Open 8 times.

Here is the story:

Ben Hogan Battles the British and His Own Body

CARNOUSTIE SCOTLAND - July 11, 1953

The British Open concluded yesterday here at Carnoustie and it was one for the ages.

Play began 5 days ago with the first of 2 qualifying rounds. All players must qualify for the “competition proper.”

This is one of several drawbacks for why most top American pros do not make the trip to the British Open back here in 1953. The other reasons include:

• A week trip each way crossing the Atlantic by ocean liner

• Typically cold, rainy and windy conditions

• A requirement to play with the smaller British golf ball

THE LACK OF MONEY

There is also the lack of money to be won. If you come in 6th place, for example, you earn only 30 pounds or about $150. The entire purse is only $7,000.

The funds are just not there as Britain is still recovering economically from World War II.

THE SCHEDULE CONFLICT

If that’s not enough to deter the Americans, there was also a schedule conflict in 1953, as the final 2 days of the PGA Championship in the USA overlapped with the British Open.

This PGA conflict didn’t impact Hogan’s decision however, for Hogan never played in the PGA Championship in the 1950s, as it required 36 holes to be played on each of the final 4 days in the match play format at that time.

Hogan’s damaged legs simply could not physically handle the demands of the PGA Championship until it was changed to a stroke play event.

THE QUALIFYING CONUNDRUM

On top of all the other issues keeping the Americans away, was the prospect that if you fail to qualify for the “competition proper” in the 2 days of qualifying rounds, your entire trip to Scotland earns you nothing.

As a result, only 8 Americans were here for the qualifying rounds which started on Monday, July 6th.

2 of the 8 Americans were amateurs. 1 of them was an U.S. army lieutenant J.S. Meiklejohn who shot a 90 on the opening day of qualifying and missed the qualifying cut line of 154 after the 2nd day by 17 shots.

FRANK STRANAHAN - The Professional Amateur

The other American amateur was an interesting character named Frank Stranahan.

Stranahan, 30, is the son of Robert Stranahan, the founder of the Champion Spark Plug company and a multi-millionaire. Frank’s father’s fortune has enabled him to live a life of ease and he has chosen to focus his time on golf. He is one of the leading amateurs in the world and has won the British Amateur twice.

He is a regular player in all the majors and finished 2nd in the 1947 Masters. Stranahan easily qualified for the competition proper, shooting 144 over the 2 days to fall 10 shots inside the cut line.

Among the 6 American professionals, only 3 qualified for the competition proper. D.W. Fairfield was in with a 149. Lloyd Mangrum, who placed 3rd in both this year’s Masters and U.S. Open, was in peril of not qualifying after a first day 78. But came back with a 67 to be safely in at 145.

BEN HOGAN - The Favorite

The other American professional to qualify was Ben Hogan. Hogan was making his 1st appearance in the British Open. And he was the enormous favorite to win.

He was urged to make the trip by many of his fellow professionals and by golf officials on both sides of the Atlantic. Hogan would be vying to become the 1st man to ever win the Masters, U.S. Open and British Open in the same year.

Hogan came over here 3 weeks ago to get accustomed to the weather, the course and the tiny ball. He was intrigued by Carnoustie. The New York Times reported Hogan saying before the tournament, “I understand Carnoustie requires a lot of thinking.” Fred Corcoran, tournament director of the PGA, told the Times, “I believe that’s what appealed most to Ben.”

Hogan shot 70 on the 1st day of qualifying and posted his 2 round qualifying score of 145 - 9 shots inside the cut line.

THE MASTER OF THE QUALIFYING ROUNDS

9 shots ahead of Hogan and Mangrum in the 2 day qualifying was the medalist Bobby Locke, the defending British Open champ. Locke, from South Africa, won 15 pounds ($75) for having the lowest score in the qualifying with a 65-71 - 136 total that was 5 shots better than anyone else in the field.

Note that the 65 was shot at the easier and shorter Burnside course that each player played on 1 of the 2 qualifying rounds days.

Unfortunately for Locke his 5 shot advantage over the field meant nothing as everyone started over again at even par when the competition proper began 3 days ago on Wednesday, July 8th.

ROUND 1 - July 8, 1953

91 players qualified for the competition proper.

The New York Times described the conditions they faced, “wind, hail and cold that beset the ancient Carnoustie layout.”

But that didn’t deter an estimated 10,000 fans from coming out to follow Ben Hogan. This consisted of nearly all the fans in attendance on the entire course in the 1st official round of the tournament. Hogan treated them to, “a flawless exhibition against the wind to the turn (the end of the 9th hole), according to the London Daily Telegraph, which added this anecdote, “Caught in a violent hailstorm at the 6th, he hit the ball just like an arrow to the green.”

Hogan parred 14 of the 1st 15 holes. However, bogeys down the stretch left him with 1st round score of 73, still good enough for a tie for 7th place.

Hogan was not satisfied. The Times reported him saying, “I don’t mind scoring high. But I hate to do stupid things.”

Compared to the crowd following Hogan, Frank Stranahan, “played in comparative privacy,” according to the Times. He equaled the course record with a 33 on the back 9. That gave him a 70 and the lead after 1 round.

Lloyd Mangrum shot a 75 to put him in a tie for 15th. And the 4th American D.W. Fairfield was well back with an 82.

LEADING SCORERS AFTER ROUND 1

Frank Stranahan, USA 70

Eric Brown, Britain 71

Bobby Locke, South Africa 72

Roberto Di Vicenzo, Argentina 72

Dai Rees, Britain 72

Ben Hogan, USA 73

Fred Daly, Ireland 73

ROUND 2 - July 9, 1953

Ben Hogan got off to a great start to round 2 at Carnoustie, where the opening 5 holes are all par 4’s. The London Daily Telegraph reported, “those who saw his first five holes roundly declared that they ought to have been five threes… It is not until one has seen the amazing accuracy of his iron play that one can appreciate the full stature of this astounding golfer.”

But his great iron play was offset by his struggles on the green and he had to settle for a 71 and a 2 day score of 144. The New York Times quoted Hogan after the round, “I’d feel real good about it if I was just putting a little better.”

Hogan’s 144 put him 2 shots off the lead at the halfway mark of the tournament. The leaders were 2 Britains, Dai Rees and Eric Brown at 142.

Stranahan started the day well with a par 36 on the front 9, but he had to scramble on several holes on the back 9 and came in with a 38 for score of 74 on the day, and a 144 after 2 rounds, to put him in a tie with Hogan.

Mangrum shot a 76 to give him a 2 day total of 151, putting him well back, but inside the cut line of 154.

LEADING SCORERS AFTER ROUND 2

Eric Brown, Britain 142

Dai Rees, Britain 142

Roberto Di Vicenzo, Argentina 143

Ben Hogan, USA 144

Frank Stranahan 144

Peter Thomson, Australia 144

3 others tied at 145

ROUNDS 3 and 4 - July 10, 1953

The final day of the British Open is a 36 hole affair. This makes it exceedingly difficult for the damaged hero Hogan.

Leonard Crawley covered the action in the London Daily Telegraph. He described Hogan’s start in round 3, “Hogan, followed by a crowd the like of which I have never seen on any golf course, began 4, 3, 4.”

Hogan was striking the ball well, but Crawley noted, “the nightmare of three putts,” kept him from scoring better.

At the 250 yard par 3 16th hole, Hogan managed a par with what Crawley described as “the finest spoon (3 wood) I ever saw.”

Hogan was 3 under for his round coming into the par 4 454 yard 17th hole. He was in the sand trap in 2, blasted out and 3 putted for a double bogey 6. But he got a shot back when he birdied the par 5 18th hole to finish with a round of 70.

That put Hogan into a tie for the lead Di Vicenzo of Argentina at the lunch break.

Hogan’s 3 rounds had been successively better at 73, 71 and 70.

The low round of the morning was posted by Antonio Cerda with a 69. That boosted him from 10th place to a tie for 3rd.

Stranahan had a difficult round, but an eagle 3 at 18 gave him a 73 and kept him at 3 strokes off the pace.

LEADING SCORERS AFTER ROUND 3

Ben Hogan, USA 214

Roberto Di Vicenzo, Argentina 214

Antonio Cerda, Argentina 215

Dai Rees, Britain 215

Peter Thomson, Australia 215

Eric Brown, Scotland 217

Frank Stranahan, USA 217

ROUND 4 - Afternoon of July 10, 1953

After lunch the sun came out. Hogan would now begin the difficult test of playing another round of 18 on his wrapped up legs.

Crawley wrote, “He went off with four perfectly played fours and then at the fifth had a break. His tee shot finished in a vile spot. He played a grand second but his ball spun back to the lip of the bunker. After infinite study he decided to chip with a straight faced club and holed out. That made and inspired him once again.”

The New York Times described the 50 foot birdie chip shot as “one of the most dramatic shots of the tournament.”

Hogan then followed that up by reaching the green in 2 on the par 5 6th hole. His birdie put him 2 under for the round and he remained 2 under after 9 holes.

Di Vicenzo, meanwhile had a 1 over 37 on the front 9. He finished with a 73, well off the lead.

Stranahan also had a 37 on the front 9 keeping him well back. But he came back with a course record 32 on the back 9, including another eagle on the 18th hole for a 69 to finish the tournament. Still he was far behind Hogan.

Rees, who started the final round just 1 back, was having a good afternoon at 2 under on his 1st 14 holes. But after a bogey on 15, he was not a factor.

Cerda, “finished gallantly in 71,” according to Crawley, but it left him too far back.

Hogan played rock steady on the final 9 holes. With no competitors in sight, he finished his final round with 4 birdies, 14 pars and no bogeys.

It was a brilliant 68.

In fact it was a championship record in a final round.

Ben Hogan had improved his score in each round of the competition proper, ending the championship with a 282 to capture the British Open title by 4 shots.

FINAL SCORES

Ben Hogan, USA 282

Frank Stranahan, USA 286

Antonio Cerda, Argentina 286

Dai Rees, Britain 286

Peter Thomson, Australia 286

Roberto Di Vicenzo 287

Leonard Crawley called Ben the, “unbeatable Hogan,” which was his headline in the London Daily Telegraph. And he followed that up writing, “who shall say he is not the best of all time?”

Morris Peden of the London Daily Herald started his article with this, “Hail the greatest golfer of our time - Ben Hogan of the United States - the man who staked his reputation on a bid to win the British Open championship and succeeded late last night in the most memorable finish in the history of the event.”

George Harley in the London Daily Mirror wrote, “Hogan has proved himself the greatest golfer in the world. His final round was a picture of sustained accuracy, splashed with brilliance.”

Hogan, exhausted after the final 36 holes, announced that he plans to rest and not compete again until the 1954 Masters.

VIDEO

There is a very short 77 second highlight video of the 1953 British Open.

At the 30 second mark you can see Hogan teeing off.

At the 1 minute mark you can see Hogan holing his final short putt on the last hole of the tournament.

POSTSCRIPT From The Sports Time Traveler™

No one besides Ben Hogan has ever won the Masters, U.S. Open and the British Open in the same year.

If the PGA Championship would have been a stroke play event, held in the month after the British Open, as was the calendar for most of the past 6 decades, it is very possible that Ben Hogan could have won the grand slam in 1953.

Regardless of the possibilities, Hogan’s 1953 season is one of the all time greatest in professional golf. And this from a man who was reduced to playing in constant pain in just a few tournaments a year.