Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-02-03
PO|SE IS ESSENTIAL
IN RYDER CUP PLAY
"WiId Bill" Too "Tempera-
mental" to Represent U. S.
Against British.
BY WALTER r. McCALLUM.

TT seems that wild Bill" MehlhoTn
has been left of the American
Ryder Cup team which will move
i across the water in April to try
conclusions with a team Of British
professionals for the international
trophy which corresponds In profess
sional golf with the Walker Cup In the
simon pure realm. 1t also appears
that various persons are all steamed up
over the fact, particularly as the an
nouncement of the personnel OF the
Ryder Cup team came just few days
before Mehlhorn happened to hit a
scoring streak that enabled him to NOV
down a few records and establish new
ones ON those easy-scoring courses of
the Southwest.
Twas right unclubby of Bill to go out
and do his stuff just after he had been
administered slap on the cheek by
Walter Hagen, who captains the cru
sading American pros for the third
time. 1t gave vent to statement by
sundry observers not Gin the know
that Wild Bill was out to show up
Hagen and that he intended to pile up
a competitive record that would force
Hagen to give Bill bid for q Ryder
Cup team berth.
nice word for such an assumption
would be ''poppycock." Other words
might be used. such as "hooey" or
bunk" For one thing, while Bill is
piling up this amazing record of his,
designed, say his supporters, to show up
Hagen, what are the rest of the pro-
fessionals who play in the Journeys
doing about it? Are they trying just as
hard, or are they pulling their punches
to help Mehlhorn look good? Or can
it be that William simply is out on a
wild scoring spree, such as every good
golfer has two or three times a year?
Earns Name wild Bill.
1t seems to us that good golfers have
been left of Ryder Cup teams before,
and off Walker Cup teams, too. We
didn't see a lot of ink spilled because
George went out in the amateur cham
Walker Cup team last year. and yet
George went out inthe amateur cham
pionShip to win the medal and go to
the semi-final. No one wept salt tears
because he wasn't one of Bobby Jones'
t-usty men at Chicago. Then why all
this fuss about good golfer, who hap
pens to be left off a professional team,
where golfing merit alone is supposed
to be the index to the job? !. ~
1t isn't any secret at all. Bill Mehl-
horn was left off the Ryder Cup team
SAAAPAJ 04AA cOACAy NCCt1uSC Ills CQk1lOIuGIl
of Wild Bill is not misplaced, He
was left of, according to those close
to Hagen, because Bills nannerisn1s
on the golf course and in the semi-pri
vacy OF the tearoom SAVIOR more OF
quaint individualism than the Amer
lean team cares to brook.
They all admit Bills golf ability. but
they do not care to countenance somr
of his actions on the golf course. 81
Perhaps the rest of the world has
forgotten that incident at San Antonio
two years ago. when Bill, perched Sc
curely up in an apple tree, safe from
a punch in the jaw, "kidded' Bobby
Cruickshank out of making the win
ming putt. But Hagen and the rest of
the professionals haven't forgotten it,
or the way Bill talks and acts when he
gets bad break on the golf course
FRANKLY, Hagen hasn't gone into the
defamation business without good cd
vice, and he left Mehlhorn off on good
advice. There are many golfers in the
United States as good IS Nen'horn.
and Hagen felt that "-,-,-'i---, - eri
craftsmanship mignA kav- = little
higher value in Britai. w. 'il,lorn
of the team than on &. - q.
Hagen feels that winning cup or a
title is not the only end of a trip
abroad. He feels land we know he be-
lieves) that more Is to be gained by
losing gracefully than by winning un-
graciously. Naturally he don't want to
lose, but If he loses. he feels he can lose
more gracefully without Mehlhorn,
On Scoring Streak.
If the American team loses by a half
point or SO, there will be self-appointed
critics who will leap into print with the
assumption that Mehlhorn might have
converted the loss into a victory. But
that Is Hagen's business, and If that
happens. he must shoulder the burden.
But the process of debunking the
sob stuff about Mehlhorn and his loss
to the American cohorts might as we'll
go on Mehlhorn isn't winning tourna-
mentS In the South to show up Hagen
or any one else. He is winning them
because he happens to be on scoring
streak, and likes the money his VIC
tories bring, just like any other pro.
Furthermore, his scoring streak Is not
anywhere near the exhibition John
Farrell put on last Winter.
The American professional golfer of
today IS gentleman. first. He may
happen to be a graduate from the cad
die ranks. as Mehlhorn is, but contact
with gentlemen has taken off the rough
edges and he is a polished individual
on the golf course.
Bill Mehlhorn grew up as many pros
did, in the social atmosphere of the
caddie house. But he has failed to out
grow some of his early teachings. And
for that reason he isn't going to be on
the Ryder Cup team this year. Bill
may be the gallery's darling-at q dis
tance-but the British, we are told
don't like his atmosphere.
That is the reason he has not been
named on the Ryder Cup team, and it
seems to us that Walter Hagen, always
wishing to show the best side of Ameri-
can golf, has displayed good judgmen,
in choosing the team.