Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1916-10-21
No Amateur Won Omen
When Philadelphia
Was at His Best-Suc.
cessors Have Failed

HoME-BRED professionals IN
II golf are just beginning to r..,,..
the passing or the fading Of Joh. .'
Dermott means. The Atlantic Ga. -
member Of the famous j. J. fsmn,
sport, including John J. McGraw. Ios.
Evers, j. j. Corbett, J. ] Tey.,.sonn sonn
few others. was the sole barr,.. ana
enemies. 'Vo outzHs
First-The amateurs
Second-The foreign-born
McDermott was the first OF o..
oreos 70 eheck foreign or foreirn.sa'~-
And when McDermott ruled No 49,.
ever reached the top. ~ amsnu
Since His Departure
But since McDermott's departu,.
three amateurs have fought 49,. ssen
through the open and In the b,rrs., w
tessional tournament of the ,s.- w
Siwanoy' the two survivors wers ~ -
lishman and a Scot. =" ht
When MoDermott ruled ne dId .o,..,..--
more than Keep the foreign borns al 49, "
finishing beyond such stars as Az ~ .y.y "
Gil Nichols. Freddie Mcleod. osor~s s'1'A
gent and others eeV'te nah
AT shawnee In 1913. pitted agaln., ~.
don and Ray. he left the two great Ts..,,.l Vt
men so far behind that neither ca,,,d ssn' AIe
see his dust That first day, drawn - s,sa s,sa
with Vardon. the American star Ia ~ ~
great English player In almost everv AZ
partment OF the game. He finally &C.,, W
thirteen strokes TO the good. msr.,n ..',ar w.
admits Of no debate regarding luck -
His Successor
But when McDermott began 10 la. "A.
grip upon destiny and depart from j NJ
| ture ne left no successor who could oi,,l
carry on the war. Walter Hagen. Tc,n M.
Namara, Mike Brady and Kerrlgan. a,nos.
others. have fought their best 10 wa,d y
the amateurs and the foreign born. but ,I,s
| no great success. -
Since McDermott dropped out Hax4,, .,s
Mcnamara have been the only nome -hrsS.
to achieve any distinct success
Hagen ruled the range in 1914. w,.,s,.
proved himself to be the best golfer N -
land. McNamara led all the pros IN isis
| falling only before Jerome D. Tra,vrs :,
Baltusrol But outside of this one 4, sh.-,
from an amateur 1915 was strlctly a Ncys.
| mara year.
For 1915 Hagen again returned a. n.
pest OF the home-breds, and next 10 Barnss
the most consistent professional =, ~
year -
Hagen has a good bit of McDermotrs
confidence and nerve, but whe a srest
golfer, the Rochester star isn't yet no.
Dermott
To our off-sIde way of thinking, John 1.
was the greatest golfer America has ever
produced, amateur or professional when 4
came to combination OF nerve. coolness
and all around skill from the tee to the cup
McDermott had no weakness in any pan
OF his game and. what is more TO the point
he was pretty sure to be at his best und>,
the heaviest fire. That is he was alnnor,
sure to play better golf against vardon q
Ray or GIL Nichols than against othel
lower In the scale.
A Sample
Considering the success Of Americas
amateurs in open championships since No
Dermotts day. here is the way McDermot
felt about the amateur problem:
In the spring of 1918 Jerry Travers VA
regarded as the finest amateur match plays
In the land. He had Just beaten Evans.
and 8, the fall before and was regarded q
invincible at this game.
Some one suggested to McDermotf fha
while he could beat Jerry at medal play IN
amateur would prove to be his master oya
the match-play route. J
"All right" said McDermott; maybe N
is. I've only got $1,000 handy. but IN ID
all that at even money, or two to one. d
whatever you can get, that I'll beat him q
least and S-Travers or any other ana
teur you can find"
But the gentleman who made the su<
gestion let II go at that Il don't care
he said later, about betting against an
one as confident and as sure Of the resdi
as this fellow is''
by GRANTLAND RICE.