Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-12-26

81 d1AAA W O14C 4CAAOW wiz ACLAAO Wiz
The Aqua Caliente open will be
played in a way that will favor
Mac Smith to win. There are no
finer shot makers in the world
than the tall Scot, but when he
has to play So holes day fatigue
overtakes him and he slips shot
here and a shot there with the
result that if he has played too
much golf he loses all keenness
for the sport.
But at Aqua Caliente the 72-hole
championship will be distributed over
four days, a single round per day. It
would almost seem that Mac Smith
made the rules for that event. He
will have plenty of time to rest between
rounds, and, since the course is not par
ticularly rough should be in his very
best form-which usually finds him
making complete wreck OF par.
A Hazardous Guess.
Smith has won the Los Angeles open
twice since that event was instituted
some five years ago. To say he viii win
its renewal in January would be bit
preposterouS, since no one can accu-
rateiy predict the performance OF any
golfer. The experts learned that again
when Bobby Jones was plunked at Peb-
bic Beach. But If any one man were to
be selected as the probable winner at
Los Angeles or Aqua Caliente, Mac
Smith would get lot Of votes.
There's sound logic in Smiths scheme
Of battle. Too many players enter the
big championships overgolfed. George
Won Elm was burned out when he de-
Tended his amateur championship at
Minneapolis two years - ago. Johnny
FARRELL oveTplayed himself after win
ming the open in 1928 and Bill Mehl-
horn once lost q good chance TO win
the national by too rigorous training.
Horton Smith and Walter Hagen can
stand as much golf as any two players
in the game, but both Of them have
approached championships a bit leg
weary and with the usual fnesse gone
from their games. Too much golf Is as
fatal as too little golf-which usually is
the buffers complaint.
Smith Family Favored.
Spreading an open championship
over four days Is one OF the best in
novations introduced into golf in some
time. It gives every player an oppor-
tlnity to play during the best part OF
the day, prevents fatigue and gives the
spectators an added opportunity to see
their favorites In astionsf The United
States Golf Association might try 1t
In the national, since it would only add
one more day to the event.. BY drop.
ping players so many strokes behind the
leaders at the end Of the second and
third rounds the field enlIId be reduced
to a real championship caliber for the
final 10 holes.
The professionals have two more
tournaments ahead before they get into
the Los Angeles and Aqua Caliente
opens. The Pasadena open ends Sun
day and on January 8, the annual Long
Beach open will be played over the
Long Beach Country Club. The coast
championships are drawing the best
fields ever had on the Pacific slope
with Farrell, Sarazen and several other
Eastern stars. who usually hibernate in
Florida in that section due to having
participated in the P. Ga A.
Horton Smith has been playing bril-
liantly in all Of the Western tourna-
ments and will be strong contender
in the major events Of January. It's
a good wager that the Smith family
will be the high hnanciers of golf this
Winter