Evening star., 1925-07-26

IhlS year, according 10 Won Elm S
friends, it's going to be quite different.
George has heightened his drive, i'm
proved his putting and generally
strengthened his game until the Bobby
Jones of the East is not the superior
of the George Won Elm of the West.
All this Won Elm's friends assert. To
| back up their theory they point to
Won Elm's recent stunt of shooting a
64 on the Rancho course near Los
Angeles, a par 72 layout, breaking
the previous course record by two
shots. And where, in years past, Won
| Elm and Willie Hunter had nip and
tuck battles, now Won Elm has gone
ahead of his professional preceptor In
skill until he stands head and Shout
| ders above the rest Of Pacific coast
| golfers.
Ranks at Top of Amateurs.
Possessed of probably the finest cut
iron shot among the amateur con
tingent OF the United States, with a.
| tee shot nearly equal in length to that
| of Jones, Won Elm should be paired
! with the present champion and Jess
| Sweetser at the very crest Of the anna
| teur golfers of the Nation. That he
| didn't win last year was only because
| he met Jones on a day when his own
game was a little off color, and Jones
was very much on his game.
Reason does not permit challenging
| the statement that, given his very
| best game through a championship,
| Jones cannot be beaten by any golfer
| in the world, for there never has been
a player. professional or amateur,
| who stuck so close to par. The &C.
| hole matches in the amateur cham
| pionship favor Jones also, for even
| though he may go against an unbeat-
able 1S-hole round by any golfer, his
| adherence to par usually will win out
! III the end.
Won Elm plays very much the same
type of match play golf. He will get
| more brides than Jones perhaps, but
| Jones average will be better than his
over any route beyond SO holes. For
that reason Jones will beat Won Elm
or any other golfer over an extended
! route. Yet the statements of Won
| Elms friends, who also know the
Jones game, cannot be discounted.
They say unqualifedly that Won Elm
| will come very close to beating Jones,
/ if he does not win.
Won Elm first qualified in the anna
teur championship at Flossmoor in
| 1928, succumbing in the third round to
/ the steady brand of golf shot by Fran
| els Ouimet. Last year he came down
| to Merton, and after a close shave at
I Ine laIOS Oh fOlanQ mackenzie, who
carried him TO the thirty seventh hole
went through to the final, defeating
Max Marston, the playing-through
title holder, on the way. All through
the championship Won Elm showed
| the type of game that is bound to
win. his only slip coming in the Mac
Kenzie match, where he valued Ro-
land too eighty, after having the
youngster down at the end of the
| first Is holes.
| Lucky to Beat Roland
Won Elm actually was lucky to win
that match, and had not Roland tried
too hard for a birdie 8 at the extra
hole he might have won from the
Pacific coast star. But he missed a
short putt for half and by that mar
| gin Won Elm went into the second
| round.
Won Elm, his friends say, has re-
duced that wonderful cut-iron shot TO
| a positive science, going far beyond
the skill of Willie Hunter, his teacher.
and standing out today as the most
brilliant exponent of the cut iron in
this country. This shot should stand
| him in good stead on the heavily
trapped course at Oakmont, near Pitts
| burgh, where the title chase will start
| at the end of August