The Washington times., 1928-06-25
h(lI6!|
BY 4. b. Thomas

That was a $4,000 puts
Johnny Farrell rammed homo
on the final hole At Olympia
Fields. But to Jones, the
amateur, ii would have brought
nothing more than hashed-Cver
glory.
just how long was this note.
worthy putt appears to be ques-
ton. Dave Walsh, sports editor Of
the International News Service. SAYS
1T was 4 seven-footer. Alan Gould.
Of the Associated Press. guessed Il
at eight feet. Warren Brown, dis
Stinguished golf writer Of the Chi
cago Herald, reports It l5.footer.
Grant Rice, whose place among
NgoIf writer's Is comparable to Johnny
Farrell's among golf players. cor
roborates Walsi's seventeen conJec-
.ture.
But whatever the distance, All
are agreed that III was b power
fnI mite OF stroke, made 10 by
the tensely dramatic conditions
surrounding II.
The situation that Farrell mas
tered was sufficient to freeze an
ordinary mortal. Others may scott
at this but not your earnest golfer.
Folk who have never played the
game are ever prone to ridicuIe the
seriousness OF those who do.
Its all game they argue, 30
why be 50 bloody serious about It. !"
The putt Is comparatively sim.
pie golf stroke mechanically With
an hour Oh SO 0f practice any
normal human being can do very
well with It'll But with the human
equation thrown in 1t becomes quite
another matter.
The cup ~ Az inches wide.
Only slight inaccuracy n
sufficient 10 miss and the golfer
with something at stake can and
frequently does Imagine
myriad III little things that
would make him miss. Imagi-
nation has ruined more puts
probably than any other cause.
@---
1t is a curious fact that q golfer
can THINK a ball into q slice or
hook. In thinking Of ways to
avoid an error OF form the error
itself becomes so firmly fixed in
the mind as to convey It on to the
muscles.
Hence the Importance Of concern
tratfon in golf-concentration on
the proper thing Most shots are
good or bad (and every star golfer
will back UP thisD according to the
state OF mind
Either lippermost. or lurking
somewhere in the background. 0r
mixed up with and tainting every
other thought in the skull OF
golfer about to make an important
putt is the specter OF a MISS and
the old bean is prone to so right On
and sum UP the miserable conse.
quences.
Close to utter concentration Ii
quite necessary to put down ali
thoughts but the right ones IL the
putt is to drop. barring luck.
So when Farrell faced that
short shot that meant d fortune
In money, wealth OF fame. the
keenest sort or personal salts
faction (Ile had striyen seven
years for the American open
crown, and a few other things
that 90 with 3 great golf vic
tory, one can imagine easily
that all was not tranquil in the
young mans dome.
Reporters say that the situation
was so tense that the gallery held
its breath. Such state is due not
alone to caution against creating 4
disturbing noise. 1t Is sort of re-
flex tightening OF the diaphragm
muscles caused by excited nerve re-
action.
1t is the opposite condition that
the golfer must obtain to meet the
big test on the green. And the
answer to 1t all is will power, the
daddy of courage.
There must have been q situation
primarily similar to that faced by
Farrell that Kipling had in mind
when he scrubbed that immortal
poem IT,
For Johnny Farrell was every
inch and every thought a man when
he sank the putt that whipped
Bobby Jones for the American open
championship. And it matters not
that the test was part OF a game.
Men of his ilk conduct themselves
as Farrell did in crises when the
stake is life itself
After ALL, iron In mans makeup
is simply that and no matter how
Won slice hoIoonnv itta ~44I1 H,rxI~e.,,nx,