Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-09-27
ONLY SLIM CHANCE
CONCEDED ROMANS
BespectacIed Youth Makes
Great Fight to Gain
Final at Merton.

Ways today toward his fourth major
championship of 1880. opposed to him
In the final round was tall bespec-
tacled. spidery-legged youth from Engle-
wood. N. j., Eugene Romans, the 20
year-old lad who looks like a college,
professor, and, as the cold statistics
show, is the best man in the tourna-
,oent so far. with the exception of the
incompatible Jones.
Bobbv Jones has been moving over
Merton like an unleashed cyclone not
with the tiger-like ferocity of the Jones
of Minikhada and Brae Burn, out Win
the resistless pace of Carrlbean nurrl-
cane Not one of his four opponents
has gone past the fourteenth green,
even in the abbreviated 18-hole matches
where Jones was supposed to be READY
for the AK of any entrant VINO cIuns
close tn mar. He won them ali without
visiting the far end of the course, Where
that sloping fifteenth green cost young
charlie Seayer his match with Romans
yesterday. nor that rugged sixteenth,
There the rocks stick their ugly noses
out of the abandoned quarry.
Romans Needs Miracle.
- Romans wins it will be nothing
~
short of a Biblical miracle only to pc
connnared in sport with the deteat OF
Man-of-War by platter or Bill III
den by some kid from the sticks.
Bobby administered the anesthetlc 10
less Sweetser in so conclusive fasnion
Yesterday that it left little DOUBT IN Inc
minds of those who saw MN perform
that Romans will be sWampeo py aiHlost
az large a margin as the ana SOCK
1oy,1 less. AnQ ne
@asn't playing particularly well 10 90 IT,
saw him 80 feet short and 20 feet
wide of the pin on 50-yard pltcn,
end when Bobby does that ne isn't
bearing down, But he must nave
changed his mind after that, and reany
taken jess seriously. for he blroleo tnree
of the next six holes to convince tne
fighting Sweetser that scnooi MaS ouo
and the SweetSer victory at Brookllne
finally was wiped on the record ny oAl
even better seeking.
bobby won by 9 and 8, but 1t might
"a well have been IL and 10. In the
doing of It he showed the best golf ne
has nlaved since the qualifying round,
hut even at that he wasn't SO not.
Bobby three-putted two greens IN tne
morning and was around in Y, ana
when he wiped Jess out on the twenty
eighth hole he was exactly par Tor the
distance. You can take it or leave 1t
at that. For right at the spot where
he shook hands with jess on the ele-
vated tenth green overlooking Ardmore
avenue, he would have been up on
Romans. The score shows 1t. and that
should be the tip-of on today's match.
They're Both Fighters.
ron,ans Is a scrapper, though: he
never quits, and in his quiet, pfoles-
eorial way he is almost as good scrap
per as Jones' but in an entirely differ-
ent way. He was 5 down to young
Eeayer Yesterday at the end Of the first
round. And then, one by one, slowly
and surely, Romans wiped out that
colossal margin. winning hole mere
and there and finally squaring the
match on the thirty-fifth green ana
then going on to win the tnirty-slXt q
and the golf match and chance at
Bobby Jones' Romans and Jones tied
for the qualifying medal last year at
Pebble Beach. where Bobby, with the
gallant gesture that always mas mace
him a model of golfers, refused to play
off and gave the medal to Romans.
And here they were in the final today.
IF It settles only the one thing, 1t WILL
be worth taking look at. But 1t Will
settle more than that.
His brief visit to the finals today Is
He has qualified before and has won
plenty Of minor championships. He
won the metropolitan amateur and the
North and South and the intercol-
legiate, but this is his first essay at
the main chance. And 1t Is his hard
luck that he should meet Jones. He
might beat him when Bobby is limping
around on a crltch, but not today.
However, II Romans plays the same
fighting brand of golf he showed yes
terday to knock out Seaver, the pic
tlresoue lad from California, he may
give Bobby some anxious moments
For Romans was around in fat 40
Yesterday afternoon to nip the young
Hercules from California at the wire
when the youngster. playing in his Sec
ond championship, hooked his iron sec
ond and then topped his chip shot
across bunker to lose the match to
par 4.
Wakes Up the Town.
That match stung even the placid
Philadelphians out of their lethargy anc
set the blase newspaper boys on Their
collective ears. For Romans was
down at noon, apparently a badly
beaten man, practically sunk by the
blonde giant from Stanford, who is am.
bilious to become plunging fullback
Gene sprung back like toy doll, show
ing all the fight of the Hagen of II
years back chung like leech when thu
kid was good, took advantage of all thu
breaks, and finally closed him out or
the thirty-sixth green.
Romans nibhled away at Saver
lead over that third nine holes, winning
the ninth to be 3 down, winning tn
eleventh to be 2 down, halving tn
Twelfth by a lucky break after missint
his third shot and finally went to tn
NTH four m nj Z
And there, on that sloping green, Sea
yer. whose putter had not failed hin
before, took three puts from IS fee
TO lose to a par 4, when he had
grand chance to win the hole. The
11alved the sixteenth in As ant
Romans was ! down and two 10 play
He stuck a spoon shot so close TO tn
about to make an ace. But the bal
trickIed by six feet and Saver hookei
his iron shot Gene won the hole wit
q par 3. negotiating part stymie Z
do it. And Gene finally stood on tn
Ahirty- sixth tee all square for the frs
time since the second hole OF tn
match And he socked one far dow
khe middle to the top of the hill Will
Eeaver who had outdriven him by 4
yards on almost every hole, knocke
his ball SO wards in front But tn
Saaver bows ball trickled into the edg
of the rough. And Gene. playing wit
che meticulous care that characterize
his game. took a spoon out of his ba
and stuck that ball on the green 2
feet from the hole.
Where II Was Decided.
Seaver had to knock the ball on tn
green TO stay in the tournament. II
had a bad lie, and he took iron
but he hooked the ball badly and
bounced over a bunker and lay on tn
LII LIZ a.te.s- AEaaaaneal