Evening star., 1924-03-19

CHAPTER 10.
Through a Stone Wall to
Victory.

1.-THE first open championship
following the war was held at
= the Brae Burn Golf Club at
Boston, and naturally aroused con-
siderable interest. All the star pro-
fessionals were eager to try their
hands again at medal play, and there
were a number of amateurs who ap-
peared worthy of consideration.
Francis Ouimet, 1 remember, was
quite a favorite, as the tournament
was played only a short distance
from the Brookline links. the scene
of his great triumph over Vardon
and Ray, the English pros, in 1918.
Ouimet is we'll liked in Boston and
large galleries turned out to see him
play. They were hoping he would
repeat his victory of 1918 and many
backed his chances.
During the winter and spring of
this eventful year l had played some
very good golf and felt that I had
right to be confident of my own
most of the important courses and
of purses. This made me believe
that I had an excellent chance to
win at Brae Burn and, as l had been
waiting five years in all-including
the two seasons of the war. 1917-1S-
for a chance to annex another open
title 1 felt my time was due.
Before relating the story of this
championship l want to impress on
is half the battle and, unless one
can feel that he has a good chance
of winning an important golf event,
he is greatly handicapped from the
So
a tournament with the conviction
that this player or that one is likely
to beat them. When a fellow gets
such a thought imbedded in his
Uranium he is really looking for a
soft place to fall. The golfer who
tion to stick to the bitter end, win
or lose. will often reap a surprising
reward.
It's Worth While Saying So.
Amy one who heard me remark,
down at Belleair that winter that /
was going to win the open, might
have thought ] was indulging in a
little personal conceit, and maybe /
did overdo 1T a bit, but l wanted to
try the experiment of believing in
success for the simple purpose of sue
ceeding. / have seen many a dub
turn his mediocrity into a good imita-
tion of genius simply through a per-
own ability. At any rate, 1 found all
my confidence was needed.
The Brae Burn course is one of the
most difficult in this. country, and
only careful play will help a golfer
to score. When / had finished the
third round with one more lap to go,
my chances for victory looked any
thing but rosy. Mike Brady, a popu-
lar pro from the Boston district. had
played gyeat golf in three rounds and
was leading me by five shots. which
was pretty stiff handicap. Mike had
been knocking at the door for a long
time, and it looked as if he was about
to come in.
1t happened that Brady played very
early and had started his fourth round
before / came in with my third.
knew at luncheon that he had me by
five strokes, but somehow it did not
make me lose heart. 1 kept thinking
to myself that Mike might have one
bad round before he was through and
it was likely to come this next time.
While 1 was standing at the first tee,
ready to start, scouts came running
back to the clubhouse with the news
that Brady had been going badly and
had completed his first nine in Al
strokes, which left nice opening for
me if l could take advantage of it.
When 1 arrived at the ninth green
Mike had finished, and 1 knew then