The Washington times., 1923-07-12

When l say this l am thinking
of all those who played in the
British open meeting at Troon, as
well as the golfers here at Inwood.
Gene hits q tremendous ball off
the tees. I think he is longer and
straighter off the tee than any
other player in the game today.
Inwood needs long driving and
Gene demonstrated in his qualifying
rounds, when he did 148, that he
can play this course.
Hagen appeared to be having
somewhat Of time to qualify, but
people should not judge his quail
flying form as any criterion of what
he will do when the championship
proper starts. He just managed to
get in at Troon, yet he finished
second in the championship. Hagen
will set his lower jaw when the
real test starts Friday and can be
depended upon to put up a game
fight all the way.
He started badly in his qualify
ing rounds and after taking az 70
go out, played the last nine OF his
first round in IS actual strokes,
although q twO-shOt penalty gave
him a 81. But then he went out
in So in the afternoon, which is as
low as any player has been able
to negotiate the first nine. The
So put Hagen i'm a perfectly safe
position to qualify and he began
to experiment with shots coming
In.
Hagen very seldom puts his head
down to the task and keeps 1t
there unless he really needs to. All
golf galleries love best to watch
him work when he is coming from
behind. He wants to win this title
and can be depended upon to fight.
Hagen appeared to be laboring in
his qualifying round. He was OBJ
viously worried, but when they
start counting him out of this cham.
pionship because of his play here
Wednesday they forget that in his
| twelve last starts in open compe.
tition he has finished first in five
second in five, fourth in one and
tied for third in the other. l be.
lieve this one Of the finest records
ever established by a professional
golfer in a years time.
California players did well Wed
nesday. Macdonald Smith, of San
Francisco finished first and HUT
| Martin, Of Los Angeles, Qualifying.
Mac" Smith is a big favorite just
as he was at Troon He certainly
played great golf in leading his
section Of the field, He hardly
holed long putt all day. 1t was
his deadly accurate drives and long
shots and his fine approaches and
chips that earned him the low total.
With a bit Of luck in the mat
ter OF holding long puts, Smith
would have been many strokes
lower. 1 thought when he got
out I'm SO IN the morning that he
would do 20 or better.
weird round in the afternoon. He
was one of the leaders in the
morning with a "a. In the after
noon he took Al to go out, but he
showed that he has a punch LEFT
when he came back in even fours.
refusing to be robbed of a qualify
ing position.
Laurie Ayton. of Chicago, one Of
the prominent Scottish profess
SIGNALS who came to America three
years ago, failed to qualify by a
single shot. He took three skies
on his last nine holes. I was sorry.
for Laurie is a strong player and
should have been in there Friday
and Saturday. His totals were
II and SO.
Today should prove interesting.
with many good amateurs in the
field. Bobby Jones, of Atlanta,
plays today and we will have an OBJ
portunity of observing how this
great amateur is hitting the ball.
He is favorite here, and while
l have the greatest respect for his
game, do not see how a PLAYER
who had no opportunity to play
from November until springtime
can stay four hard rounds with
few of the best professionals who
have hpen Qf fo,. &1r,o1,,a