Mary Goes to Cleveland

Mary McMillin never took a golf lesson in her life, and her swing looks it. Both arms fly up in the air in" a "short, jerky backswing and come down with practically no wrist motion. But back in Green Bay, Wis., where she worked as a stenographer, 19-year-old, 5 ft. 2 in. Mary McMillin had won the state women's golf championship two years running. Last week, in her first round at the Western Amateur Tournament at Cleveland, Newcomer Mary drew Defending Champion Phyllis Otto and confided to her mother: "I'm glad to be able to go around with such a good player as Miss Otto."

It was Mary's first important tourney, but because she didn't expect to win she felt little pressure. On the twelfth hole, she was two up. Miss Otto took the next two to square the match. On the next hole, Mary shot a ball out of a trap and it plopped in the cup for a birdie. At the 18th, after more good golf, it was exit Miss Otto.

In the semifinals, Mary was matched against the great Mildred ("Babe") Didrickson Zaharias. Babe's tee shots boomed down the fairways about 80 yards farther than Mary's. Mary's unorthodox swing, which her father, a golfing dentist, refuses to correct, looked pitifully inadequate. But the closer she got to the green, the deadlier her game became. The best stick in her bag was a battered 15-year-old putter, with which she sank two 35-ft. putts. Babe fell two holes behind in the first three and could not catch up. Exit the Babe.

That was as much Cinderella business as Mary could stand. She cried on her mother's shoulder, right before everybody. Next day in the final, she lost out, 11-and-10, to Veteran Campaigner Louise ("Sister") Suggs of Lithia Springs, Ga., who won her seventh major tournament of the year.

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