New-York tribune., 1922-09-17
Tales of q Wayside Tee
By GRANTLAND RICE
1929. Nc,o York Tribune inc

A year ago at st. Louis, when Jesse
Guilford trod his conquering way
through George Won Elm, Chick"
Evans and Robert A. Gardner on his
way to the championship, it seemed as
if no one could have faced harder
draw. He had q champion and an ex-
champion in his way at the finish and
he beat them both decisiveiy.
Yet not even Guilford at St. Louis
had any such opposition to face as
Sweetser had at Brookline.
We recall a discussion of Sweetser's
chances after the first day.
Il know he is a fine golfer" some
student of form remarked, "but don't
think he has a chance"
Just why?" he was asked,
because the luck of the draw has a
big part to play in any championship.
If the dope runs true to form Sweet
ser, to win, must beat Hunter, Gull
the title. | don't believe there is any
living golfer who can do this, including
Hagen and SaraZen."
The Barrier
Certainly no one would be willing to
bet anything like even money that
Hagen or Sarazen could beat these
four golfers in four successive matches.
1t seemed to be too much to ask Of
human goling flesh and Of any golf
ing soul.
For it must be remembered at that
point Sweetser was the youngest player
left the least experienced OF the tour
in tournament play
Yet he not only plowed his way
through the four stars, but at the fin
ish was no less than twenty two holes
up on the bunch
In four-day test he had won twen-
ty-two more holes from Hunter, Gull
ford, Jones end Evans than these four
stars had won from him.
Surely no one could ask for greater
proof of any golfers heart and skill,
One Great Aid
In every amateur championship the
mental strain and the physical grind
are so heavy, at times SO crushing, that
stamina must play a big part Sweet
ser, track athlete, is not only young
and strong, bat in addition he has
one great aid that will always make
him formidable. This is his complete
lack of effort, the astonishing ease
with which he plays every stroke.
You hear often of the crispness OF
the pro. You hear of the compact,
hard-hitting style of the leaders.
The new champion has this. But it
doesn't show Your first impression is
that he has a rather lazy swing that
will not get very far.
After his approaches we heard eX-
Carnations repeatedly: THAT will be
way short But it wasn't. The ball
got up in the air and stayed there
until it was time to drop.
"Sweetser has long, powerful arms, -
remarked Donald Ross, who was OBJ
serving closely at the time. These
arms have great strength and they are
not dependent on the body for power.
And they are so free they can work
alone without the body getting in the
way. There is no restriction, no tight
ening, no contraction that effort usual
" brings. 1t is all unrestricted, easy,
natural and free. Distance comes with
out effort. So long as he plays golf
this way he will be a hard man to beat,
for he will be fresher than his oppo-
nent and will be under less strain"
No one can say that Sweetser's game
is dependent upon any one or two
strokes. He is a long, far-carrying hit
ter where there is rarely either slice
or pull to the balls flight.
The trajectory is higher than nor
NAL to every stroke and this might
bring greater trouble in a keen wind.
His long iron play is good and he has
the faculty of playing spade or q
deep-faced mashie niblick for longer
distances than the average man can
face without cverswinging, with hit
ting too hard. There was time last
year when his main weakness was the
chip shot just of the green. That
weakness. apparently, has been cured.
He has had no trouble in controlling
this stroke all summer He is also a
arst-class putter. His style on the
green is not as orthodox az that Of