Evening star., 1939-04-05
Best Judge Of Speed
And Roll Of Ball,
Says Fellow Pro
"Hord Luck" Craig. Here
For Visit, Tells How
Jones Hos SIumped
By WALTER McCALLUM.

looking blond man from New York
has the bulge on every golfer l
know in his uncanny ability to size
up putt. He can judge speed
and roll and borrow better than
any man playing first-class golf
today"
The good looking man was Craig
Wood. who happens to be quite a
golfer in his own right. Hard Luck
Craig" some call him. although ne
is the first to laugh at the implica-
ton that Madam Fortune has given
him raw deal. Il just WASH :
good enough" he laughs. Maybe SO,
but any fellow who ties for the
British open championship and loses
on the playoff. and a couple Of
years later gets into tie for the
Masters tourney title because
another gent whacked full spoon
shot into the cup for double eagle
seems to me to be a candidate for
some tough luck conversation.
Yes. Craig did all that. He tied
for the British title with Denny
Shute back in 1888, and lost on the
playoff And Gene SaraZen whacked
a spoon shot into the cup on the
18th hole at the Augusta National
course for the famed double eagle
that enabled him to tie Craig at 282
three years ago Gene won the
playoff. so you can see that Craig
hasn't exactly had his share OF
favorable mods from the lady who
rolls the dice. But you'd never
know it talking to the good looking
blond who today takes up his new
pro job at the Winged Foot Club OF
Mamaroneck, N. Y, the job that
veteran Mike Brady held for many
years.
Cox Calls Him Great Finisher.
Yes. that fellow Guldahl has
something that I don't think any
other golfer has In such measure" )"
said Craig, as he moved in on one
Of Ma Congressional Country Clubs
best luncheons. Don't you think
he is the best analyzer of putting
green's you ever saw, Wiffy?' The
Cox man. who happened to be
Craigs host, said: And further
more he is one of the truly great
f1nishers of the game" Craig
stopped off for a few hours in
Washington to see Cox. They've
known each other for many years.
AS friend and tournament rival. and
there's plenty of admiration on
each side
Ralph Guldahl isn't fast golfer, ="
Wood said. You notice he takes
plenty Of time. particularly around
the cup. That's what 1 mean.
When he fools around looking over
the line of putt and studying the
roll he's figuring out just the right
speed and borrow. He can do it
better than any man playing top
notch golf today. Maybe that's why
he's winning. But of course he has
lot more than that. You know
how important putting is, how a iel-
low can hit 18 greens in perfect
figures and yet if he can't putt he
won't score. I figure that where
Ralph has the edge is in his ability
to judge the speed and roll Of
putting green. And that's where
tournaments and championships are
Won.'
284-and Sixth.
Craig laughed at his own show
ing the recent Augusta tournament.
It's getting awfully tough" he said
Il shot 2S4, which would have won
by a shot last year, and I finished
sixth. think it was. There were
five fellows ahead of me. And l got
going pretty good and finished with
68. Before the last round 1 was
seventh. Well. 1 figured that a 68
In that last round should put me
third or fourth, at worst, for Sam
Snead was in ahead of me with 28O
and I knew I couldn't win. But I
picked up exactly one place with
that 68. Byron Nelson had a bad
round-a 75-and I passed him. The
others all held their positions. It's
getting pretty tough when a 68
gains you only one position
Wood played with Bob Jones on
the final day of the tournament.
and you can take it from the fellow
they used to call the Blond Bomber
From jersey" that the one-time
world emperor of golf isn't the man
he used to be. Sure, Bob hit some
fine looking Shots" said Craig. "On
some of them he looked like the
old-time Bobby whom I used to
admire so much. Still do. But he
isn't putting the ball out there as
far as he used to thump 'em, and
he isn't hitting it the way he used
to hit it. And his putting was
pretty bad. Why, it got so bad l
gave him putting lesson.
Gave Jones Putting Lesson.
mo, it wasn't conceit, for know
that I couldn't even have come close
to the putting that Bob Jones used
to do when he was winning every
thing in sight. 1t was so bad last
week that I gave him lesson. And
he did putt pretty we'll. He played
the last nine in 80, which isn't 50
bad"
But what would you think if YOU
played 70 holes over one of the
worlds toughest and finest golf
courses in 284 strokes and found five
other guys ahead of you? That's an
average of II. or was my "math"
teacher wacky? Maybe there IS
something to that hard luck stuff
where likable Craig Wood is con-
cerned.
DR.. Paul M. Stewart, golf chair
man at Columbia, announced TODAY