Evening star., 1941-07-13
Title Defender
Tops Battling
|Sarazen, II
Byron's Short Game
Decisive; Mongrum
Is 1-Down Victim
By RUSS NEWLAND.
Associate Press Sports Writer

DENVER, July 12.-Broad-shoul-
dered Byron Nelson, master OF the
iron shot, clamped a stronger hold
on his Professional Golfers Asso-
citation championship today by
bowling over doughty little Gene
Sarazen. 2 and l, in a par-bllster-
ing 36-hole semifinal match.
AS a result the big fellow from
Toledo, Ohio who won the crown
last year at Hershey. Pa, will de-
fend it tomorrow against Vic Chez
ri. Deal. N. j.. who outlasted slim
LLOYD Mangrum, Monterey Park.
Calf, to win. l up, after being 4
up at the oath.
Nelson had no snap in conquer
ing 39-year-old Sara1en, veteran
of the tournament and possessor OF
the most illustrious career Of the
lot. The squire from Connecticut
went down fighting. and the ap-
plause of several thousand fans was
not less for him than for the man
he congratulated with a hearty
handclasp on the 35th green.
Missed 4-Footer Stops Gene.
The defending titleholder shat
tered par and the hopes OF oldster
Sarazen with brilliant assortment
of shots, mainly to the green's.
He's the "Deadeye Dick Of the
game in this respect.
When he finished he was strokes
under par for the Cherry Hills
course. He had to be to win. Sar-
azen, who donned the robes of a
P. G. A. kingpin in 1922 for the frst
of three times-about the time Mel
son was a 10-year -old boy-ended up
3 under par for the match.
That's golf in any league. Three
puts on the 18th green cost Sara
zen q chance to fight it out on the
last hole. The number Of the most
colorful performer in the field, old
Plus Fours Sarazen, didn't come up
this time He missed a 4-foot putt,
easy enough for any dub to kick in.
While the Sarazen-Nelson duel
provided the dramatic touches OF
age VS.. youth, the Ghezzi-Mangrum
encounter furnished its thrills In a
rousing comeback by the Califor-
nian.
Mangrum's Comeback Fails.
Playing in his first P. G. A. cham
pionship, Mangrum's usually nerve
less game fell to pieces for the
morning round. Wild shooting
forced him to accept three penalty
strokes. He was 3 down at the 18th,
4 down at the oath and 3 behind at
the 30th.
He appeared hopelessly outclassed,
vet stuck to it doggedly to win the
32nd, 34th and 35th holes with As,
the last birdie.
With the match deadlocked and
the crowd for him after the plucky
comeback, Mangrum belted his drive
some 275 yards. 1t was too far.
The ball rolled to the edge Of the
lake that bites into the last fair
way. He couldn't take stance
except by wading into water and
had to waste a shot chipping back,
so he reached the green in 3.
Ghezzi. meanwhile, hit his second to
the left of the green and Clipped
up dead for his par 4.
Too much muscle put Mangrum
out of the running. Had the drive
been 18 inches less he might have
turned up as a finalist in his fresh
man year.
Ghezzi f1oundered on five Of the
last nine holes to card a 40. He
completed the 50 holes in 68-74-
142, even par, against Mangrum's
73+71-144.
Nelson Favored Over GhezIi.
The real golf of the day flowed
from the clubs of Nelson and Sara
zen. Despite a drenching from a
thundershower lasting half the
afternoon, Nelson banged out 80,
3 under par for the first nine.
Sarazen had respectable "a.
For 18 holes, Sarazen was in fine
fettle. His 32-37-69 against par
35-36-71, gave him 1-up lead
on Nelson as they went to lunch.
At the twenty the lead had
C1ldIlScu INClSOil WhS L uP.
Sarazen evened it again on the
thirtieth, then lost the thirty first
to birdie 8.
OF past performances. Nelson will
tee off as the favorite to whip
Ghezzi. The defending champion,
in five P. G. A. tournaments. has
won % out of Is matches. Ghezzi,
who has competed in nine of these
title events, never before had passed
the third round. His most i'm
portant tournament victory was in
the Los Angeles 72-hole medal play
Open in 1885. He was runnerup
to Paul Runyan In the Goodall tour
nament this year and in 1899 won
the North-South event at Pine
hurst, N. C.
Ghezzi, like Nelson, is % years
old.