Closed Open

Before last week's National Open Golf tournament at Pittsburgh's Oakmont Country Club, the guessing ran hot and heavy on two questions: 1) Could anyone crack Oakmont's tough par of 288 for 72 holes--something never done in two previous opens at Oakmont? 2) Could anyone stop Ben Hogan, who had won three of the last five Open championships? Bantam Ben himself, complaining that he was a creaking 40 and that his back ached, undertook to answer both questions.

Round One. On a sweltering day, Hogan appeared on the course dressed in a heavy cardigan sweater, explaining that he wanted to keep his ailing back warm. Back warm and putter hot, Ben blazed around the course in 67--never once going over par--for a three-stroke lead.

Round Two. Still wearing the sweater, Ben shot a par 72 on the second round and watched his leading margin narrow to two strokes as Sam Snead, sinking a chip shot on the 18th, fired a 69. Facing two tough rounds the next day, Ben announced, "I feel better than a year ago, and I'm not tired." How about his chances? He was still cautious: "Anyone within ten strokes of me now may be able to win."

Round Three. Snead, who had tried twelve times and failed to win the Open, jubilantly figured he had plumbed Oakmont's secret. In his best hillbilly drawl, Sam explained: "You gotta sneak up on these holes. Effen you clamber and clank up on 'em, they're liable to turn around and bite you." By the 45th hole, Snead had a one-stroke lead. But at the end of the round, Hogan, playing in his shirtsleeves now, had the lead back--by one stroke--with a 73 to Snead's 72.

Round Four. Both Snead and Hogan, with the pressure on them, stroked one-over-par 385 on the outgoing nine. Coming in, and knowing Snead was still hot on his heels, Hogan characteristically closed the Open with a brilliant finish: 3-3-3, two under par on the last three holes.

Hogan's winning 283 whipped Runner-Up Snead by six strokes, Oakmont's par by five. Ben's fourth title tied the record first set by Willie Anderson just after the turn of the century, later tied by Bobby Jones when he completed his"grand slam" in 1930. Would Ben try for a record-breaking fifth next year? Maybe. But this week, concentrating on one title at a time, Ben was on his way to Carnoustie, Scotland for his first crack at one of golf's most venerable titles, the British Open.

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