Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1939-06-09
T|hreeFrom D, T.,
Rate 10 Land
In Final SO
Houehton, WoIper,
Cox Sparkle; BrowneII,
Cunningham Slip
BY WALTER McCALLUM.
Star Staff Correspondent.

PHILADELPHIA, Pa, June g.
Estimates of the club house dope
sters as to what will win the national
open championship angled sharply
downward today as the second round
over what was billed as the only
course on which par won't be
touched by the sharpshooters of the
game got little tougher toward
the end of the 1899 championship.
These estimates earlier had ranged
from 285 to 288, but today even the
pros who had gotten themselves on
the limb with those big figures pulled
in their chins and said it will take
282 to win. That still is way over
par, but the true par for this course
isn't the card par, which says 50.
The true par is II, which is horse
of different breed.
Snead Yearns for Farm
And it begins to seem as if Sammy
Snead whom the boys are billing
enormously as the West Virginia
hill-billy, is about ready to cash
in on two ambitions. First of these
lunches for the athletic guy from
Hot Springs, Va, is the national
open championship. Second is re-
tlrement to his pappys ranch near
Hot Springs. L sure would like to
go down there and live to hunt and
fish," said Sam as he walked off the
18th green yesterday, the only man
to break par so far in this champion
ship. Il reckon pappy and I could
get along right we'll with few dol
lars in the bank" If Sammy wins
this one, with the pickups that come
the way of champion, he should
be able to retire the plaster, if any.
on the old homestead. Land doesn't
come high down there in them
mountains.
Three Of the five Washington
quallflers have better than an even
chance to land in the select group
who will play on the final day of
the championship tomorrow. AL
Houghton of Bethesda, Md. with
10 behind him, and Witty Cox and
Leo Walper, both with 74s, should
get into the last day, under the
quaint system the United States
Golf Association uses of pairing only
the last 60 and ties for the final
two rounds.
The Pace Is Fast.
But the pace is fast-much faster
than the boys thought it could be
before the championship started.
The usual bullish stories came out
about how tough the course is. but
when the tournament got started
they didn't believe it. Take Sam
Snead as an example. Sam was two
over par playing the 18th hole.
where he started on his birdie spree.
He holed bunker shot for bird at
the 18th and was off. He finished in
blaze of brides for a 68. the only
man to officially break par on this
course, billed as the unbeatable lay
out. Today he started three shots
ahead of Ralph Guldahl, the de-
Tending champ. Now three shots
may not mean much and maybe
they don't in this case But they
still are three shots that Guldahl |
has to make up.
In between are lot of good !
golfers, Lawson Little and Matt |
Kowall at 50 bracketed with Bud
Ward, the Pacific Coast amateur
who is probably the longest hitter
among the Simon pures; five others
at 10, including Tommy Armour and
Denny Shute and DIN Dutra, lot |
of championship class there. But |
you have to like Snead for his ability I
to turn on the heat when he needs |
it. A 70 today and he'll be out there
IN front going away The D. c. lads |
have little chance to win. Houghton, |
the leader, is down around 22nd !
place, while Cox and Walper have
80 men ahead of them. They all |
aren't going to crack, and the |
chances are some of the TBS of the |
first round, men like Byron Nelson
and Henry Picard. will slip in with
a par round and get their noses up
front.
But it seems to be Sam Sneads
turn. If he can get by that bad
round which has cost him other
championships he'll win this one.
No round over 70 and he'll take over
Guldahls spot
Washington should land three
(See GOLF, Page DID