The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1933-12-15
A. u. TVEALL SET FOR OPENER
Fearless Gene Sarazen Rises From Caddy
Ranks to See Golf Dreams Come True
BY NAN O'REILLY

"Inat 1OW1ueSS - yOuuB SAnDA
tons ladder,
WheretO the climber upwards
turns his face"
So it must be written Of Gene
Sarazen, in whose veins flows the
blood Of the Caesars. This son OF
emigrant parents, born on the
wrong side of the railroad tracks
tore up the tracks. Caddying In
Westchester, doing his bit for the
Sarazen brood, toiling up and
down fairways past the corrugated
sands of a thousand traps, dream
ing his dream Of Empire, just as
his forebears did to make possible
the glory that was Rome" has
lived to see the dreams all come
true.
In the year 1882 he stood on the
pinnacle of power, acknowledged
open golf champion Of the world
Ten years before, in 1922, he was
crowned king of match-and-medal
play in the United States. He
wore both the open and profes
sional crowns that summer before
he attained his majority.
Faith In His Ability
Looking back along memory's
fairways to that day in 1922 when
he turned on the heat that
scorched the fairways of that final
round at Skokie: A SO to win his
first open, you see him, dauntless,
bold, and fearless on every fairway
of this country and Britain, con-
WINGED of his greatness and carry
ing the chip of eternal challenge
on his sturdy shoulder.
When Gene threw his blade into
the arena of the golfirg great, he
backed it with a challenge. He
dared the great and only Hagen
to meet him anywhere any time.
He beat the Haig at his own game,
after Sir Walter had him 2 down
at the halfway stage. He went
to Scotland and there said:
Bring on your winds and
rain"
The challenge was accepted
The rains fell and the winds blew
and he was beaten. But admit
defeat? Never. He went back
again and again, and just a year
ago got his reward for persever.
ance. That day, playing his final
rounds on the toughest of all
courses, called Princes at Sand.
Wich, Gene not only won but
broke the all-time record to win
his crown with a score of 283,
Game Deserts Him
The outstanding feat of Gene
Sarazen's life is that he has never
been champion Of Gene. In 1922
after he won his first open anc
had beaten Hagen in that never.
to-be-forgotten extra-hole fina,
for the P. G. A. title, his game
left him completely. The mo-
ment he tried to explain it, he
lost it. He was the worst collie,
in the game. That grooved swing
that made the famous ]. H. Tay
lor acclaim him without a peer
became an uncertain sweep.
So-he started all over. Houl
after hour, winter and summer
rain or shine, he stood on the
practice tee and toiled and shaved
Slowly and surely he beat hi
way back to the heights from
which he had fallen. The die
was cast. He had crossed the
Rubicon once more and no matter
what the odds, he would swim il
again.
He did. Today he is one of the
most colorful figures the game of
golf has ever known. Where the
golf stakes have been highest you
have found Gene these past ten
years. His final rounds have
brought him his greatest fame
and more prize money than any
other man Of his time.
Greatest Feats BY Pro
His 2S3 at Princes, and his
286 at Fresh Meadow to win the
British and American open cham
pionshipS in one year, stand out
as the greatest victories ever
credited to a professional. He
turned in an unbelievable IS at
Frensh Meadow, the lowest round
ever posted in an open to tie
Chick Evans all-time American
record, which had defied a. Jones
He reeled off this magic master
piece when he knew Cruickshank
had finished with a SO to tie
with Phil Perkins at 2S9.
HI shows "the works." as the
boys say, when the old scoring
fire begins to blaze; and not 9
soul in the $4,000 that swelterec
in his wake had any doubt a.
to the outcome. They saw the
unleashed fury of his drives Senc
the ball 800 yards down the tree
fringed fairways; they roared as
he blazed away with unerrine
irons at distant flags. They
stampeded to hear his brides
sing and his pars fall from 9
putter Stroked by a genius 81
play. They massed in their mad
ness around the final green to be
witness to his triumph.
But, if you ask Gene, his great
est thrill came, not in his Sc to