The Washington times., 1933-12-09

and the long home hole awaited
the spin of Armour's wheel Of
fortune.
No grander setting for a finish
ing hole exists than this eight
zenith at Oakmont. The tee stands
on a high rise and you look down
on a vista that tries the souls of
the braveSt. You literally see the
bottoms of all those numberlesS
sand traps. Far, far in the dis
tance, just by the magnificent
clubhouse, the flag flutterS on a
perfect green.
Banked around that carpet Of
green were massed breathless
thousands. The air was electric,
the crack of Old Glory from the
flagpole was the only sound that
broke the stiffness. A red sun was
gently dropping behind the smoke
screen Of Pittsburgh.
Needs Three" They Whisper
Crack! Winging its way 270
yards the ball came to rest ITO
yards from the green. The news
Of Tommy'S chance to win had
spread. "He needs a three" ran
the whisper from tongue to
tongue. A glance at the distant
flag to see the angle of the wind
and out came the truSty mon
grel iron and. gripped by famed
fingers Of steel, Tommy fired his
final shot at fame. Twelve feet
away it bit the fescued turf and
came to rest, waiting for another
stroke from it's master.
There was time when Tommy
Solemnly dropped seven putters-
seven, no less-from the Firth of
Forth at Edinburgh to the waters
$50 feet below, because he had
tried item all and was convinced
he was the worlds worst putter.
He was. But that was before golf
became mis- bread and butter.
Standing before that silent multi
tude at Oakmont, Tommy knew
that his number was up. He
could have holed that putt if a
shell from Flanders Field had
burst at his feet. He did--and
he and Light Horse Harry were
tied at 3O1.
Spoon Shot Gives Edge
The next day they played out
the string at 18 holes, and they
came at last to the sixteenth dead
locked and even. Handsome
Harry feared no man alive that
day and throughout the long
grind had matched Tommy hole
after hole. Armour had the honor
there and, with left-quarter fol-
lowing wind, he played a spoon
shot, taught him by that greatest
of all spoon players, the immortal
George Duncan, and he was lead
ing Cooper as they teed ~ at
the seventeenth.
This hole calls for a placement
drive that leaves niblick pitch.
A missed shot and anything might
happen. cooper, playing the odd,
shot the works on his pitch, and
when his ball stopped from the
cup it was only one inch away. A
yell went up from 10000 throatS
at that final stand of Cooper's.
It put the issue squarely up to
Tommy.
Decisive Niblick Shot
There's an old adage that says
no Scotsman was ever beaten by
an Englishman, but, be that as it
may, Tommy Armour, known as
the greatest money player in the
profession, neither faltered nor
fell when the test came. His
niblick shot rose and cleared the
corner of the green and ran gen.
tly forward to the waiting cup
closer, closer it crept-
TITS in! It's in" the multi
tude cried in excitement. It
wasn't, but so far as Cooper was
concerned the effect was the same.
The ball stopped inside Harry'S
great shot, 10 inches from the cup.
Birdie IS were easy then-and
Tommy was champion, 7S to 70.
Three shots, when his destiny
hung in the balance-a mongrel
mashie, a full spoon and niblick
pitch-and Tommy Armour had
played his way into the place re-
served for the champion of the
national sports in his native land.