Evening star., 1925-01-08

spread the news among the
"The fellow that wins this char
way he's playing" he said. THURSDAY
prepared to get under way.
l hoped he had the right dope,
claims. All | knew was that | wa:
72-hole grind to start.
II never felt more like playing golf
in my life" told Walter Hagen as
we were waiting for our turns to
drive off
He kidded me. You'll have to beat
me to win," he joked.
Naturally, on my practice form, 1
was conceded an outside chance to
win, but Hagen and Bobby Jones, the
1928 champion, were the favorites
was quoted at Is to l in the betting.
The odds on Hagen and Jones. if re-
member correctly, were, respectively.
6 to l and to l.
Is Paired With Hunter. -.
Willie Hunter of the Onwentsia
Club, Chicago, and l were paired to-
gether and we got off at most favor
able time, 10 o'clock.
Now, a fellow usually is a bit
nervous at the start of a big tourna-
ment The first hole is important. If
you get past it we'll you will settle
down and be your normal self. I've
always been highly strung and par
ticularly anxious as to how my putter
will act in the initial stages.
/ got a nice drive on the first hole
and a second that put me on the
green II feet from the cup. This was
propitious, but my first putt seemed
ominous. l was only IL feet from
the hole, but l ran my ball five feet
past it.
To have taken two more puts GER
tainly would have started me off in
a bad humor and probably have af-
fected my game for the rest of the
day 1 studied the play very carefully
and the minute / hit the ball knew
it was going down. 1 gained imme-
diate confidence.
Forget the Breaks.
! needed this feeling on the very
next hole, 465 yards long, par ); for
after my second shot had run clear to
the green the ball kicked off into a
sand trap, spelling a chance for a
birdie four. Then, to make matters
worse, after exploding the ball onto
the green, I took three puts to hole
out.
There's a break" I told myself,
but then and there I made up my
mind that l would take all breaks,
play without worrying.
/ made the third, fourth and fifth
holes in par and then at the sixth
came a bit of luck in my favor. A
birdie three man me par to that
point and put me in very good humor.
Par golf followed at the seventh,
eighth and ninth and was out in Sc.
1 was on my game. My irons were
working in great shape.
Goes One Over Par.
The second nine holes at Oakland
Hills offer more chances to go wrong
than the first nine. Par is 81. took
exactly what I had obtained in the
Spring competition at the Rockaway
Hunt Club. Bobby Jones had done a
IA and Walter Hagen IS. Bill Mehl-
horn led the field with 72.
I was pleased with my position.
was well up among the leaders, but
not confronted with setting the pace,
always nerve-racking proposition.
opened the afternoon round less
nervously, played more confidently
and as a result went out in 35, one
under par.
Two birdies-a three on the rather
difficult sixth and a three on the sew
enth-contributed to this result. In
the former instance 1 sank a six
foot putt and in the latter 12-foot
one. But mainly this good run was
due to my short irons. My wood and
long iron shots were very satisfac-
tory, but a spade mashie and my
mashie niblick were giving me won
derful service. Had I not done the
ninth in one over par 1 would have
had "a. Ny plan of playing short Of
the flag so as to avoid downhill puts
over slippery surfaces was proving
extremely effective.
Test for VIII Power.
Going out In 35 was fortunate for
me, because did not come in in such
fine shape The last nine holes of
the day gave me a lot of trouble.
That 1 escaped without disaster was
due to the fact that / held inf1exibly
to a determination had made before
the start of the tournament. 1 had
resolved that I would play a safe. sane
game throughout and never allow
myself to press.
soon had opportunity to test my
will power. On the 400-yard tenth
hole l pushed my drive into a bad
rough at the right. 1 was $50 yards
from the flag, but the shot, due to a
high wind, was equal to a 200-yard
one. The temptation was to try for
long ball, but 1 suppressed the de-
sire. Taking my mashie, played to
safe position in the fairway. and,
although / was still $50 yards off the
green, 1 now got on it with shie
and was down in two puts for a
five. 1 had lost ground, but not ma
terially. Above all, had kept my
self under control.
Takes Three Puts.
I dropped another stroke on the
eleventh by taking three puts for a
five and followed this up by taking
three puts on the long twelfth for
a six. / was adhering to my system,
but my putting touch was temporarily
gone. Sometimes my approach puts
were too long, sometimes too short.
Although exasperated, I kept my
head. On the thirteenth, one-shot
hole of 140 yards. got beautiful tee
shot seven feet from the cup and
with a bit of luck would have made a
birdie two, but had to take par. On
the 47Q-yard fourteenth ! was re-