Evening star., 1933-04-01
WIN AT P|NEHURST
PROVES HIS CLASS
Abandonment of Trick Stuff
Reveals AbiIity-Great
Iron Shot Recalled.
TOE KIRKWOOD'S fine victory
in the North and South open
- at Pinehurst is the most i'm

in the North and South open
~ at Pinehurst is the most i'm
sportant championship he
has won in the course of his
merry and dexterous career.
Joe received a lot of encourage
ment when he captured the
Southeastern open at Augusta last
Spring and now has come further
sanction of his genuine ability as
a legitimate SHOEMAKER.
No wonder he expresses satisfaction
in having abandoned his trick shooting
speciality. He has not given any Of his
bizarre exhibitions in two months and
very probably will continue with his ex-
pertinent at least throughout the Sum-
mer.
With the added confidence of his
North and South victory and deeper
seriousness in his play, there is no tell
ing what Joe may do in the big Journeys.
He really is splendid golfer. Tommy
Armour, who played with the Australian
| VI. n.
dence two or three years ago, Is sup
posed to be a past master with the
irons. But
Talk about iron Shots" said Tommy
recently, Joe showed me shots that day
that no one ever saw. And all Of them
were legitimate"
IONE shot he made that day Is worth
~ recalling If only because it shows
1 q RI Pkcfo
dip into his bag and produce something
immensely practical. His drive went
| askew on two-shot hole and landed in
a sand trap Now, right between the ball
and the hole was the father of all local
oak trees beautiful tree with a trunk
| 40 inches in diameter and spreading
branches that seemed to cover an acre
| of ground
Joe could have played out into the
falrway and taken three shots to the
green. But no. Instead he took an iron
| and played a deliberate hook 40 degrees
to the right Of the green. And that
ball, as though endowed with sentence,
curled around the leafy barrier and
came to rest within few feet of the
hole. Tommy Mcnamara, one of our
Oldest and greatest, said that never in
all his career had he seen such an
| amazing shot. Yet Tommy Armour
| AAoNaS VIC SOu1o DC III lGWeI StEOk6S
than Kirkwood did that day.
You all may recall the time Joe was
playing in the British open at Troon
10 Or IL years ago and was leading the
field by a goodly margin righG up to
the finish. only to fall to pieces on the
last three holes. Joe has been likely
to do that. And undoubtedly his trick
shooting was in some part at-least re-
sponsible.
IOF course, any good pro, II he had
~ time and inclination. could acquire
some of Joe's proficiency in trick
shooting. He and Walter Hagen
used to tour together and Walter Just
for fun picked up lot Of his COM
rade's stuff. But he dropped it, chiefly
because he found he was stealing Kirk
woods fire.
Just the same, no one ever saw
Hagen stand in a sand trap with his
back to the hole and land ball on the
green, the shot going over his back;
just as Kirkwood Is the only man who
can hit two balls at the same time.
slicing one and hooking the other: or
who can take full swing with niblick
and have the ball pop into the air to
catch it in his hand
| But that is not winning big tourna-
mentS and 1t will be interesting to OBJ
serve what happens as a result of Joe's
further essays in utter seriousness.