Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-06-03
Beating Fate.


I A 8 far back as 1910 Mac Smith came
IA within ct one short putt IT, of ,1 BEING
States. Bobby Jones was then just
years old. And after 20 years of dog
ged pursuit as late as last year. it was
Mac Smith who chased Bobby Jones
to the last greens of Hoylake and In
terlachen, each time with two great
finishing rounds.
In 1925 fans followed Mac Smith over
the long, killing Lido course in qualify
ing for the open, where Re shot 35-35-
70. the first day and 35-35-70 the
second day. Then a spell of heat, which
reached 107 degrees, killed him off. 1t
has always BEEN something.
The big barrier now will be those I20
years of failure to reach the top, the
constant wondering as to what will
happen next. Mac Smith Is a great
golfer, one of the greatest that ever
lived but he has a brilliant field to
beat, and, above all, he has the haunt
ing memory of an unhappy fate, which
has followed him through two decades
and cut him down, time after time,
often just when success seemed to be
only few steps away.
Anyway, the veterans bid again for
q crown over the old home links of the
old home town will be one of the dra-
matte features of the sporting year.
The OminOus Sign.
MAC SMITHS qualifying pace of
V1 141, Toll Is an omnous eign
1t may have burned him out
Golf form Of the razor-edge variety is
hard to maintain for any length of
time. Jock Hutchinson missed more than
once chance by setting too fast a clip
in the qualifying marches. If these two
qualifying rounds counted. Mac Smith
would be sitting on top of the world.
But they don't. They at least prove he
Is hitting the ball as well as ever, but
an open is more mental battle than a
physical one.
The British have a strong invading
field to stop when the fireworks open
today. SaraZen and Armour are both
well liked. Farrell, Turnesa, Manero
and Kirkwood are playing well. So is
Horton Smith, who is not yet quite up
to his top stuff. But the two leading
are not to be overlooked. They are both
fine golfers and stout-hearted Compel
itorS who are quite capable of going
the full route. They are the two main
British hopes, with Whitcombe just be-
hind.
1t will be great fight and a close
one all along the line over a long, hard
battlefield, which will test them all at
70 holes.
The Yale Rowing Mix-Up.
A FTER all, if those trying for the
"A Yale crew did not care to pay the
penalty of training, no one forced
them to try for the crew.
And there is also the Harvard side.
The Harvard crew on this occasion was
picked to win. 1t had looked to be q
better crew all along. And it hasn't
helped the Crimson situation to any
extent by having some of Yale'S crew
men dropped, thereby leaving the ar
gument open as to what might have
happened if they all stuck to the right
training.
After all, a four-mile race is no tea
party. 1t happens to be spot where
condition counts.
The East and the Olympics.
THE idea that the East will be
L crowded out of the Olympics
hardly stands up. Such perform
ances as Record and Hallowell of Har-
ward gave will carry them long way
against any competition. Connors of
Yale at his best will be one of the
leading hammer throwers, and O'Con-
nor of Columbia has strong possibilities
in the high jump.
The East also has the call in the
longer runs from two miles up. There
is no question that Far Western ath-
letes will dominate both the qualifying
tests and the games in general. But
by 1882 they will find more competi-
ton than the recent intercollegiate
offered.
(Copyright, 1881. by North American News
paper Alliance, Inc.)