The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-09-20
ny .OIIN O..

the past three years as to warrant his
being acclaimed the chief among his
fellows. This may have been an ex-
cellent thing for the pros as individuals,
but perhaps not for their profession as
a class. No body OF men cares to drift
along without sterling leaders who are
recognized as such, and for this reason
alone the professional feels the loss OF
prestige to his group when an amateur
wins the open championship. as has hap
pened in two of the last three years.
1t detracts from the position of awe
in which tho professional group was
once held and until We can get a body
year out. show decided superiority there
will be this disinclination to bow down
either to professional style or profess
sional results.
In Scotland and England IL you ask
a fair professional golfer of the merits
of Braid, Taylor and Vardon he will
never sound n Jealous note In his an
swer and moreover will tell you what
they can do; here in America one hears
only of what such and such a profess
sional has done. There seems to be no
certainty as to what he will do In the
future. Tho play is too uneven and nom
sustained.
There has been in this season just
passed, | think, a levelling OF the forces
and a better standard of ever play on
the part OF Ave or six of the profes-
SIGNALS than in the last half decade.
The names OF those who have finished
in the money in the biggest professional
tournaments of tho season have been
more familiar thar in other years and
a few have corralled the big portion OF
the purses. With this as a start II may
be reckoned out rather easily what play
ers deserve to get their names in the
frst three places accorded to the best
three golfers of the year from the pro-
fessional group
At numbe one I would place Tom
Mcnamara of Boston. To say that he
led tho professionals in the open cham
pionship at Baltusrol, also won the West
ern open and the Philadelphia open
are reasons enough for his position.
Added 20 these honors are a second
place IN the Winchester. Mass. open
for professionals and FIVE wins down
South at the beginning OF the year
against representative professional
fields. In other open events he has
finished In the money and In exhibition
matchcs-wh'ch. however. do not count
for anything IN such a rating-he has
done exceedingly well. other profess
sionals have won as many tournaments
II we take into account the events in
the South and other opens in the various
sections Of The country which. Ike tho
one at Winchester. were closed 10 all
save residents OF mo districts. but there
Is 10 one VINO can lay claim TO more
! voli.hal psrsnr,Na - ~. ~. N x~a~a
record as the Boston professional.
When ono comes % analyze Mona
mara's game rs ne would Vardon'e or
McDermott's he Is struck by the absence
ot evidence as to In what department
Mcnamara excc% others, thus giving
Ntm the edge, az We are wont 10 speak.
In only a single particular-and I bc-
lieve Tom would agree 10 this-is ne
the superior OF all others and that Is
his 'beeline-neSs'' from toe to green.
NJ player Is as consistently straight as
Mcnamara many are much lnrger, but
their distance Is OF little advantage
when II Is not on the lire and of grcat
disadvantage when of the desired flight.
Tom. though not brilliant. saves shots
over the Wild driver, He misses the
traps because ne doesn't have 10 play
over them II there Is an open gate from
the tee. His whole game moro than
with any other player in America Is built
from the driver 10 the putter on the
same lines.
Watch him the next time YOU get a
chance and YOU will find hat he simply
steps nearer the ball with each shot
which brings him closer 10 the hole, He
has u style founded on a gocd basic
quality which preCludcs 10 a great extent
a departure from form. True IL Is that
he has finished well down tho list on
several occasions. but this has been at
trfhuted In almost every Instance to his
putting, which III late years has not been
OF the sort which gave him at one time
the rightful title OF the best two-putt-to-
a-grecn player in the n
Only the other dayI heard a fine crtti-
cism of McNamara's anne A well
known player said that II YOU should
put him On a course which he had never
seen. together with other professionals
in a like predicament, II wNuld be dol
lars 10 doughnuts that he would return
a lower score than any other nine times
out OF ten because of the straightness of
his play. / am inclined 10 think like
wise. At any rate, II is hard TO see
how any professional player can be
rated on this point higher or as high as
Mcnamara
There Is little argument for second
place, although If there had been a more
representative field out in California
when the ParEtma-Pacifo Exposition
championship was played there might
be a different story TO tell, Walter Hagen
seems to "a been tho most consistent
winner next to Mcnamara and deserves
} second place. HIS wins down South
were not few In the wintertime his
capturing of tho coast title received
more than due prominence, I fear. simply
because the prize was i 1000, We should
not rank n man on the amount OF money
he has won so much as upon what play
ors he defeated. and the field out West
hardly was representative of the cream
OF American professionals.
In the open at Baltusrol Hagen fin
ished In the money, as he did In the Met
ropolitan and Western and several minor
club opens. such as Greenwich and SO on,
besides capturing the Massachusetts
open championship from a field which
was almost as strong as that of the ma
ti0nal open championship. His play
lacked the vigorous snap of 1914 and |
ann inclined TO look upon the year not as
indicative of a falling off In his game
SO much as q time of adjustment, when
he found II hare TO bring off tho shots
which he knew he could play, but whose
combination he lost Just at .the moment.
/ look for Hagen TO be back near the