The Washington herald., 1920-08-12

JoCs ndO a 90 on hOhudgs Sh7
Tuesday in the final preliminary
test he not only had a So. breaking
the course record by strokes. but
II a number of fairly respectable
puts from to 10 feet that jszzed
around the hole had only dropped,
he would have turned in a So
In this second round he reduced
| the complications OF golf TO this
\ simple little problem: Drive 275
yards every time straight down the
J middle, flip a mashie shot to with
| in 6 or 10 feet of the cup and then
take either a 3 or 4. That's about
all there was to his game.
| Other Stars Struggle.
II he had been putting on Tues
day as he was on Monday, he would
have been out in rs and back in
81 for a very creditabIe 81. verify.
And all this time Ray. Hagen and
other stars were struggling to quail
| ify at 1855. II strokes higher than
the Iikeable. hard-hitting inspired
Jock.
Jock won the Western champion
ship last week He has led the field
in the big qualifying test this week,
5 strokes better than the next man
II he can only hold this elusive
phantom of inspiration within his
bubbling soul for two more days
he will be the next open champion
of the United States. Can he hold
] II that long? who knows? One is
haunted by this golden phantom Of
super golf today and tomorrow the
dread ghost of failure sometimes
| takes its place.
In Hutchinson's case the inspira-
tion might easily last, for he is now
playing every shot sUperbly from
the tee to the cup, slashing mighty
drives down the middle Of the fair
way and then sticking that back
spin mashie shot of his with a slight
hook up to within a few yards or
few feet of the cup, and IL will
take inspired golf to win from this
! field. certainly. the finest that ever
/ qualified for the open championship
! of America and one OF the finest
that ever qualified anywhere else.
One hundred and fifty nine was
sufficient to slip safely into
the British open, but it wasn't near
| " good enough to get in here
where youngsters and veterans were
fighting for each stroke as IL their
immortal souls depen nded upon the
outcome Of a putt.
Ray Fights Hard.
There was Ted Ray. one Of the
worlds greatest. Ted had an so on
Monday. On Tuesday he had a IS.
Yet when he finished he was a
mighty figure of woe. He was sure
that he hadn't qualified. And he
was fighting so hard just 10 get in
that on the fourth and tenth holes
~ l. l.. -
brace OF drives that Travelled over
ais yards each before they finally
came to rest within brief poking
distance of the cup.
The fourth hole is 43O yards long
with an uphill finish, yet Ray was
home on his second with a niblick.
| Hagen, the American champion, fin
ished in a tie with Ray. with no
great margin to spare. He had
ten-foot putt for at the first
hole, trimmed the cup. went twelve
inches past and then missed com
ing back. At the second he was
trapped on his approach. forty feet
past the pin on his third with an
uphill incline and a dip to take a
hard putt to get dead, but this time
il fluttered into. the cup. Such is
golf. When an open champion can
miss a foot on one green and
| hole a forty putt on the next you
can figure out its mystery.
Most of the stars are safely in.
Leo Deigel took a days rest with a
! IS after his first Il. I'll start
| again when the bell rings" was his
! only comment Gene Ssrazen. a
I Fort Wayne youngster.- finished at
| l4T. one stroke back Of Jack Burke
at l46. But after all these qualify
/ ing scores are Of no great value for
any final summing up In the big
| test it is still a matter Of who will
beat out Hagen. Barnes, Ray and
Vsrdon, who are now about set to
unfurl the best they have and who
are always at their best when the
/ showdown comes and long expert
, ence, plus skill, tells the story.
yardon Drifts In.
Vardon. playing with Bobby Jones,
merely drifted in. Jones. playing
| well, Qualifed among the elect. one
/ stroke above Chick Evans. who. at
! $50, is coming upon his best game.
Make no mistake about overlook
! ing Chick in this championship. The
narrow, well trapped Inverness fair
ways put a big premium upon
| straight hitting, and Chick as a rule
| is as straight as the shortest dis
tance between two points. He had
a bad three-hoIe start in his second
I round. but after that settled down to
a brilliant stride. The greens here
are soft and in no sense tricky,