Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1915-08-14


on winning Sec
ond-class medal or a luckily endowed
Individual who feels that he is capa-
BE of capturing championship. 1t is
the first triumph that renders further
success easy to him For a time he may
suffer from a sense of responsibility.
born OF the fact that he has an enhance d
reputation to maintain, but sooner or
later he overcomes that little trouble
Nothing can kill in him the faith that
what he has done once ne can do again.
Temperament, certainly, has important
effects in some cases. | have known
golfers who, having achieved an ambi-
ton, have found so much satisfaction in
II as never to enjoy the incentive to rise
10 greater heights. But they are the ex-
eeptlons.
Some two years ago, / told j. Douglas
Edgar-a truly splendid golfer who had
never won a solitary event worth mem
tionlng-that victory would come to him
as surely as the rising of the sun II
only ne would hit the ball in tournaments
as naturally and easily as in private
games on his own course and not try so
hard to make every stroke better than
any he had accomplished in the past.
Edgar created the outstanding surprise
Of last season by capturing the French
open championship at lie Touquet (he put
me into second place in competition
which / particularly wanted to VIM and
directly the affair was over, the first
thing he did was to walk up to me and
say:
II owe this to you l never forgot
what you told me about not trying too
hard. have made a point of being Just
my natural self in this competition. and
It's come off"
L.. - IA
OF a self-satisied sage, but merely to
afford concrete support for the conten-
ton that naturalness is a quality that
tells heavily on the links.
My own first championship was by far
the, hardest TO win If we leave out of
the reckoning last years affair at Prest-
wick, when the circumstances were ex-
ceptional; yet on that vividly remembered
occasion at Muirheld in 1896 do not
think I ever made the mistake Of trying
to play better than in quiet game on
nv home course.
In connection with that event I de-
rived a great deal of encouragement from
victory gained a month earlier over ].
H Taylor, who had then been champion
for two years. A team of Southern anna
teurs came up to Canton, in Yorkshire,
where | was professional, to meet n
Northern side, and II happened that with
them they brought Taylor. 1t was ar
ranged that he and 1 should contest a
match and to the surprise of most peo-
pie, Including myself, I won. The moral
enect Of that small incident was con-
siderable.
In the championship itself l was we'll
In the running from beginning to end,
and when four holes remained to be
played knew exactly what 1 had to do
IN order to beat Taylor. who had lust
finished. I could not afford to make mis-
taxes fortunately, matters progressed
steadily, and when 1 arrived on the last
teeing ground I had a to tie and a to
win. The drive was a good one and then
came very ticklish problem. A perfect
pfassie shot over the bunker guarding
me green would enable me to secure n 1
and win the championships the safe game
OF playing short with an iron would re-
SUI IN and leave me TO contest tie
with Taylor.
reflected that II / were at home in
such circumstances | would not take the
FISK OF being bunkered, with the almost
certain penalty of defeat: / would play
short and make sure of a tie so as to
lVe TO go on lighting l acted on that
hne OF reasoning and II met with sue
cess When Taylor and I came into di-
rect conflict for the title we had an up
and-doWn struggle; l was leading by FIVE
strokes at the end of six holes, but at
the second hole in the afternoon we were
level From that point however, things
went my way, and when a long putt fell
vlh gratifying "bump!' into the tin