Evening star., 1926-03-27

Vardon had won the British cham
pionship no less than four times, and
also had come over and won the
American title back in 1900. Ray had
held the British championship the pre-
ceding year, and had been runner-up
to J. H. Taylor in the Spring Of that
year Vardon was one of Great
Britain's great triumvirate, the two
others being ]. II. Taylor and James
Braid, and by many was and still is
considered the greatest golfer that
ever lived. Ray, while not SO
brilliant as Vardon, still was an idol
of no mean degree.
Besides this illustrious pair, there
had come along Louis Teller, brilliant
little French player, and Wilfrid Reid,
prominent English professional.
Both of the latter, as things turned
out, located in America, so that they
later became familiar tournament
figures.
Having gotten my early start in
golf in England, 1t may be rather
surprise to some to learn that 1t was at
Brookline first saw Vardon and Ray.
l had seen Taylor and Braid in action
on the other side in an exhibition
match, but never Harry and Ted. OF
course, had had practically no ex-
the other side. My efforts had been
purely local In the vicinity of Lelant,
where 1 learned the fundamentals of
the game. 1t was only after coming
to this country that l developed my
game.
Stars Differ in Methods.
First impressions of the two dis
! tinguished visitors still remain with
me. In watching Vardon one was
| struck by the smooth, easy, machine
like precision with which he swung
his clubs. 1t seemed that every
stroke was exactly like every other,
and each played utterly without APP
/ parent effort.
Ray was differfnt. Big and hefty
and little clumsy looking, his style
was not nearly so nice to watch, but
he appeared to get results just the
same. He wasn't as steady, and he
wandered off the line more than Var
don, but he generally seemed capable
OF retrieving any mistakes he made,
and In one respect he had a decided
advantage over his famous partner.
| Whereas Vardon was rather an
erratic putter, Ray was then and still
is one of the finest putters in the
| game. Big and powerful as he is, he
has one OF the most delicate putting
| touches ever seen.
Having made the friendly acquaint-
ance of several we'll known players
! during the course of the preliminary
| practice rounds, | had the opportunity
| to discuss loes of things with them.
! On one occasion quite a bunch of us
were sitting around the locker room,
| Vardon and Ray included. Eventual
| ly conversation drifted around to the
| point where the two of them were
commenting on the distance they had
travelled for the championship, and
| they both were quite surprised to
learn that 1 had Travelled farther than
| they had. Neither Harry nor Ted had
| a very accurate idea of the geography
| of this country.
Ouimet's Remarkable Feat.
The results of this championship
made history for golf. In a thrilling
| finish Francis Ouimet pulled into
| tie with Vardon and Ray, when 1t ap-
| peared certain that they were going
| TO have the championship between
| them. Then in the play-off Francis
won by margin of five strokes from
! Nardon and six from Ray, playing a
marvellous round of 72. Considering
! that less than three weeks before he
had failed to qualify in the amateur
championship. his performance-first
of tying and then of beating his two
famous competitors in the play-off---
| stands out as one of the most star
, tling achievements in ali the history
: of geG. --