Evening star., 1939-01-25
Rate Carnoustie Scot
Tops, Despite Dearth
Of Biggest Titles
Lack Of Finishing Punch, ,
Poor Putting Luck His
Bone in Title PIoy
BY WALTER McCALLUM.

ny WALlEh MCOALLUM.
Nary a major championship has
come his way, but Macdonald
Smith, the Carnoustie Scot, has
contrived to pile up a lot OF cham
pionship respect regarding his golf
ability in the minds of his brother
pros. For years Fred Mcleod at
Columbia has held up Mac Smith
as the finest golfer and the finest
swinger in the land. So it comes as
no particular surprise to find Witty
Cox, Congressional mentor, stepping
on the Smith band-wagon.
who is the best golfer you ever
saw?" Cox was asked.
That's tough one" said Witty.
you're covering a lot of territory.
But haven't any hesitancy in say
ing I think Mac Smith is the best
golfer ever saw. And that includes
them all. Mac had more ways of
playing shot than ever have seen.
I guess he still has them, but he
doesn't play lot of tournament golf
any more. You know, he never would
play in the P. G. A. He always liked
medal play. and hated match play"
Mac Smith is around 48 years OF
age. The nephew of Alex Smith,
twice national open champ, Mac
came to this country in 1910, tied
with his uncle and Johnny McDer-
mott for the big title, and lost to
Alex in the play-off. That probably
is the closest he ever will come to
winning, although he has been up
there many times. Two years later
he won the Western Open for the
first time, and he has won the
Canadian crown a time or two. But
the big titles-the United States and
British open championships-alWays
have remained just outside his grasp.
Nosed Out in British Open.
At Carnoustie in 1881, over the
lengthy course where he learned the
game, Mac went into the champion
ship red-hot favorite. He per-
formed true to form right up to the
last round. leading the pack by a
trio of shots. Then, with a bowling
gallery of $4,000 native Scots on his
heels. he slumped back to 78. Tommy
Armour slid in with the winning 296.
| They said at that time that the
British gamblers killed Macs chance
OF winning by doing funny things
to his ball. They don't have much
gallery supervision in Britain and
| they don't charge admission fees. A
big open tournament becomes a Ro-
man holiday. But Cox has a differ
ent idea.
Mac Smith has been the unluck-
lest golfer in the pro game" he says.
Time after time he has come into
that last round or the third round
in spot where good golf would win
a championship for him. He always
has seemed-in the big ones-to lack
that finishing punch that Sarazen
has. He may get nervous and try too
hard. wouldn't know. But he has
had hard luck.
Back in 1880, you'll remember,
Mac was in up there at Interlachen,
in Minneapolis, with 289. He looked
to be the winner. Bobby Jones,
then in his big year, stuck his second
Shot on the 18th green As feet from
the hole. Bob might have three
putted with all that pressure, but
he holed that big putt to win by two
shots. That's the way it always
has been with Mac Smith. And I
guess he is little old now to win,
even though he never will lose that
fine swing.
I've played good deal of golf
with Mac and I never can forget the
way he feathers that ball up there.
He looks as if he wasn't trying to
hit that apple, but it gets up there.
Some of those little pitch shots and
the cut iron shots he makes are
things of real artistry.
Never Lucky as a Putter.
L don't know another golfer who
can make the shots I've seen him
make. But he never has been what
Id call a lucky putter. You know
how he stops that putter on the
backswing and brings it right down
through the line? Well, to win in
the big leagues you have to hole a
few of the big puts. Mac hasn't
had his share of those 30-footers.
But for my dough with a tough shot
to make under bad conditions, such
as a quartering wind or into gale,
l wouldn't want finer golfer than
Mac Smith in there pitching. He
just feathers 'em up there. and you
wonder how he does tit looks so
easy"
So with two such masters of the
game as Fred Mcleod and Witty
Cox in complete agreement on the
man, you have to concede that Mac
Smith has something. They've seen
them all and they don't hem and
haw about Smith.
Mac last appeared in Washington
back in 1890, playing with Fred
Mcleod against Bobby Jones and
Roland Mackenzie at Columbia. He
finished with a on the 18th hole
for a SO, the best score of the quar-
tet, and Smith and Mcleod lost the
match by that buzzard when both
Jones and Mackenzie got Is on the
18th. 1t was just an exhibition
match, but it drew out a flock of
people to see the Carnoustie man
put on one of his finest exhibitions.
It's always been that Wav with