The Washington times., 1933-06-12
! D JUNG s I { rs
TAKE LEAD
IN GOLF
BY DAVIS ]. WALSH

c H I c A G o, June 12.-ThereS
something vague and beautiful on
the records about the old guard,
which dies but never surrenders,
though I think the man, if prop
erly approached, might have
worked up a pretty good case for
the old fullback and, besides,
death is a form of surrender
If you don't think so, you
should have seen the old guard
dying out there in the hot sun OF
Saturday as the national open
golf championship came down to
its theatrical finish at the North
Shore Golf Club.
It was more than death. 1t was
a surrender to the inevitable. The
old guard is through.
Well out in front were Johnny
Goodman, %, and Ralph Guldahl,
%, finishing one-tWo for the title
at 287 and 288, respectively, Next
in line was Craig Wood at 290.
Nearest of the old guard were
Walter Hagen and Tommy Ar
mour, five strokes back. The rest
weren't near; they weren't even
adjacent. The old line in its en-
tirety simply expired, gallantly
perhaps but with certainty. And
I think it was permanent.
Hagen Ties Record
fhic M
more than a circumstantial error
and. indeed, when Hagen shot that
record tying 66 on the final
round, many we're voluble in their
regret that he hadn't done this
when he needed it. The point
probably is that he did it because
he didn't need it. In his salad
and cucumber days, it might have
been the other way around. But
that's age. 1t gives you sense and
all it takes in return is maybe
the covering on your arteries.
Youth, anyhow, is 30 per cent
of all the factors that go into the
making of four rounds of cham
pionShip golf. Shotmaking is
about SO per cent and the rest -
equal parts of experience, temper
ament and luck.
Goodman has more than an
ample share of the first four and
no less an authority than Bobby
Jones has intimated rather
broadly that he even has the
fifth. But he can win without
it. I'm not impressed with the
fact that he seemed to back into
this championship with his 76
on the fourth round. Jones him.
self did much the same at Winged
Foot in 1929, the point being that
both we're overtaken by the law
of averages. They had had their
fling. A reaction was ordained.
This didn't alter the fact, in
Goodman's case, that he had shot
a successive 66 and 70 to win
the tournament before the fourth
round even started. All he did
in that round was to keep it
won. Moreover, he didn't wait
until he was Is strokes back to
shoot his IS. He did it when
everybody had chance and his
own was no better and, in some
cases, worse than the other
fellows.
Will Keep EN- Dead
Offhand, I should say that
Goodman is one of the reasons
that will keep the old guard dead.
He may not start another amateur
dynasty like Jones', but now that
he has won his first major cham
pionship, he'll be harder than
ever to beat. And, in truth, this
always was difficult enough.
Guldahl must be a golfer to
shoot those rounds of 70 and II
and rush from nowhere to within
a single stroke of the title. He's
a tremendous hitter and, if he
missed puts at the fifteenth, six
teenth and eighteenth, who is
there who doesn't and won't?
Craig Wood was impressive at
29O and he's comparatively young.
So are the Dutras, Olin and
Mortie. Gus Moreland, the
amateur. is only a boy but no.
body looked better in the stretch
than he did with his 71-72 for
a total of 295. Johnny Revolta,
just kid, is a much better golfer
than his tie for thirteenth indi-
Gated. They say he has come
on a lot from his short. choppy
swing of other years and doubt
less he'll come further.