Evening star., 1915-12-29
BY JEROME D. TRAvERs.

| BY JEROME h u. TRAV EhS.
| If you should ever visit the British
Isles while big golf tournament is in
progress and should desire to watch
Harry Vardon, with no one around to
point Nardon out, j can furnish you at
least one simple direction that will
| make the quest easy:
You will hardly discover him off the
| tee where there will be many far and
straight.
You will hardly be able to pick him
out within $50 yards of the hole where
there will be many near the pin on
their next shot.
But when, out of the big field, you run
across one man who is making the
game look so easy that a child might
play it, whose form is the last word IN
poetry. and who from 1S0 to 220 yards
is putting a full shot closer to the pin
than most cracks can place mashie,
YOU may know that at last you are
looking at the greatest golfer the
world has ever seen-and your quest
for Nardon will be over.
To my mind, an intimate study of the
colfing methods of Nardon, Braid ana
Taylor, Britain's great trlumVlrate, -
the most interesting STUDY COIN .su
with golf; not only because these thIee
lead the field, but because they nave
reached the top over three separate
trails of form and style ..o
There are other great golfers in the
world. but when all is said and Wri.-
ten there can be no question that var
don Braid and Taylor, with their SIX
teen world championships out OF wen
ty years play, are at present 1ar III the
front.
There can be no question that OF thein
a..me Greater for a number of reasons
but largely because he has better con
troll over a greater numper ol
shots. OF all golfers, his form is the
most beautiful. the most rnytninlc' r,. om.
most perfect-to borrow a phrase OUT
of joint. ,,,, ox-
/ am not going into any technical eN-
PLANTATION or description OF an ma
Nardon does-of his style coinpie..1e .1:
Rut there are several important detalls
worth pointing out. In driving, Naruon
makes the shot look absolutely sinpie
He has a free. easy sWlhs' anu 49,
he gets good distance, ne never mani"
any attempt to get all the distance pos
sible.
Uses Upright Swing,
If Won will notice most of the star
golfers driving in this country you Will
see that they play with round, nat
swing that is inclined to produce
hooked ball. Vardon, on the contrary
employs an upright swing, in which he
keeps the club head within the intend
ed line of flight as long as possible.
His is more of pendulum aHaiI, III
which the timing is mIraculousiy true.
truer than that of any other player,
which can only be explained by saying
that he was born with a championship
knack and developed it. and held IL py
constant work and practice: - of
Another point: Vardon, in place OF
bending his left knee well in toward
the right at the top of his swing, bends
it "A trifle more to the front ana JUST
enough to brace himself and to de-
velop perfect poise.
In other words, Vardon seems to play
each stroke the easiest and the simplest
way, which is the answer 70 per1ect
form. He takes the short cut. The game
Is hard enough" he says, without
making it any harder.
But wherein, you may ask, is Eardon
greater than Braid or Taylor. who are
only one championship behind him?
Vardon is longer than Taylor from the
tee and a trife steadier than Braid,
but | should say the one feature in
which Vardon excelled all others was
III laying his full shots close to the pin.
There are a number of golfers who
from 140 to $50 yards away are likely
to lay a mashie shot or a half midiron
close. But in the full shots Vardon
alone is likely to keep on putting his
second shot within eight or ten feet.
Two hundred and twenty yards from
the green the rest are content merely
to get on the green with brasSie
smash. But Vardon is always shooting
for the cup. and with cleek or brassie
you will find him on hole after hole up
there close enough for a putt-the sole
part of the game where he must bow
not only to Braid and Taylor, but also
to many others
be no shot in golf beyond Vardons
magic. / will explain. with one striking
example. just what I mean.
In one of his championship battles he
tie, with enc of his rivals for the top,
His drive here travelled a trife farther
than he had calculated, and found Il
deep rut in "A road crossing The course.
His opponent, playing first, was nicely
on the green in 2 for a sure 4. 1t
seemed that Eardon was beaten to
certainty. His ball was six inches below
the top OF the ground, in a deep, mar
row rut. and the green was 40 yards
away. Vardon took out heavy niblick,
and in place of playing to one side to
be sure and get out. took his stance in
the direction of the pin and brought
the club down with terrific force. To
the wonder of the big gallery the ball
rose almost straight in the air, and
then. with the forward spin impaired
sailed on to within ten feet of the cup
Inc OtHer man got MS IOuT, Dut var
The other man got his 4. but Vardon
got his 3, winning match that had
been practically lost.
With nashie Vardon can not only
put on a back spin that will hold the
ball where 1t lands. but he has shown
that he can impart such big cut that
1t will hit and bound backward.
Leader in Three Details
There are three details that have put
Vardon in the front rank-the leader of
them all. will enumerate them in or
der:
/. He has the easiest, surest form of
any golfer alive, the result Of being
born into a perfect swing.
.. He has a wonderful temperament
for the game, an even, steady poise
that is never ruffled or upset, no mat
ter how badly the break goes against
him. He has learned the rare art Of
tkirg the game just as it comes, with
never a complaint
3. He has had the advantage of keen
competition over the most wonderful
coursec in the world adya ntaRe no