Evening star., 1927-10-14
.slckRooM~ GOLF MADE FARRELL A WINNER

tournaments. 1t wasn't enough just
to play high-clas golf; fellow had
to play winning golf.
II tuned myself up to fighting
pitch. and I scored a few victories,
but did nothing to boast about. /
closed the 1926 Summer season just
about the same as previous ones l
had closed. had gotten start to-
ward my present form, but | hadn't
learned what it is that gives a win
ming edge.
me TO California. Again l got no.
where. Then I got sick and had to
return to New York. l was laid up
two months. what tough luck" 1
said to myself. as / looked out of the
window and saw the ground covered
with snow. All the rest of the boys
were down in the Sunny South, hav-
ing grand time and there was !,
aBut the fact is. I was lucky.
got to thinking about my game.
remembered how often l had been
nosed out of tournaments and I Won
dered why this had happened.
He Heard Too Much.
Suddenly I thought OF something
that had happened to me more than
once. Coming UP one fairway toward
the finish OF a tournament I would
hear the gallery applauding some
PLAYER in the adjoining fairway with
whom I was having a close struggle.
Naturally. I would say to myself,
well, heE making a birdie, while
TIM missing bne" The result would
be that ia get to pressing ana soon
sSThere was the secret, 7 concluded.
I hadn't been playing my own game.
but some other fellows. That's why
I had tossed away tournament after
t.Weil. I played a lot of mental golf
while NV sick spell sickroom
golf YOU might call 1t. The result
was that when I started my next
tournament 1 ceased worrying about
the other fellow. It was the South
ern Open, which Bob Jones won. How
ever, tied for second place with
John Golden. which, so far as the
professionals were concerned, was
first place. Golden won the play-oh,
but I got $1,000 prize money, and
knew I had arrived.
own game
Turn Back II Necessary.
Now, nearly every golfer between
Portland, Me-, and Portland, Greg,
suffers from inability to play his own
game. But it doesn't appear reason.
able to the inexpert player that the
expert players should do this sort of
thing.
They do, though, Bobby Jones ad-
mits, In his life story by o. B. Keeler,
that he didn't begin to grab off cham
pionships until he learned to erase
his opponents from his mind. Do like
Jones and Farrell, Mr.. Tyro, and get
a bit more happiness 'out of your
game.
You might even go so far as to fol-
low the example of Mongo Park, who
won the British Open away back in
1874. Park was a small man, who
got only moderate distance on all
shots.
The men against whom he played,
and whom he often conquered, all hit
the bali far past any mark that he
could attain. But he remained undis-
turbed, kept command of himself and
never pressed.
How did he do this? Well, Mungo
Park never saw his opponents play.
He turned his back resolutely on all
their shots-and when one says
turned his back" one doesn't mean
turned his shoulder
1t takes dogged perseverance to
stick to a formula like that. But
Mungo Park did it and it brought him
o British Open championship.
Trying for Brides Hurts.
After watching Leo Diegel over a
dong period, it is apparent that he
has not yet learned to forget his op-
ponent. Here is player who in the
Winter of 1925.26 was rated the great
est in the country. Everybody
thought he was reasonably on the way
to an open championship. But he
hasn't fulfilled expectations.
1t seems to me that Leo, who is a
terrific driver, also is little too much
inclined toward trying for brides.
Let me illustrate: For the first time
An his life. Leo failed to qualify for
the Professional Golfers Association
championship this year, at Salisbury.
This was because he persisted in play
ing the thirteenth hole for 3, instead
of 4.
The thirteenth measures 3tO yards
Leo SAYS, You ought TO drive the
green easily" Proceeding on this
theory, Leo tried to reach the green
from the tee. He missed. Playing
his second from sand, he got a in