Evening star., 1941-08-26
Favorites Give Way
AS Par Is Trimmed
By Dark Horses
Alexander With Hot 81,
Burke, Ex-Hoyo, at 68,
Cross Form Sheet
BY EARL HILLIGAN,

Associated Press Sports writer.
OMAHA, Nebr., Aug. 26.-The
"anything can happen" golf tourna-
ment-the 45th national amateur
championship-followed that. sus-
pense- packed pattern into the
stretch drive for medalist honors at
the Field Club today.
Out in front as the field swung
into the final l8 holes of qualifying
play was a comparative unknown,
Steward (Skip) Alexander, jr, of
Burlington. N. c.. the pacemaker on
q brilliant 5-under-par 81.
One stroke back was John P.
Burke of Chicago, former George
town U. links ace, while far back
were such favorites as Bud Ward,
Ray Billows and Harry Todd.
And right ahead was the days
qualifying windup and Wednes-
day. -through-S Saturday match play
program which promised to hold to
the wide-open, free-for-all groove.
Alexander's own game executed a
remarkable reversal which set the
tempo for the opening day of sur
prise showings.
Alexander Shows Nerve.
The former Duke University player
scrambled badly on his final practice
rounds. but he showed his mettle
with the pressure on, coming
through with a 4-under 80 going out
and clipping par a stroke on the
home trip for IS. At No. 18 this
tall, bespectacled young man gave a
final demonstration of his nerve
ander fire, when after banging his
second over the green, a brilliant
chip saved his par and the leader
ship.
The 23-year-old Southerner who
has been classified 1-B in the draft
because of defective vision, had the
eyes of an eagle yesterday as he ran
down puts of from to 20 feet for
six brides. He bogied one hole, the
10th, where his tee shot and second
iron caught the Field Clubs crab
grass rough.
Burke, national intercollegiate
champion while at Georgetown, pre-
ceded Alexander to the showers with
a 68 which showed five brides and
one bogie. Three shots back, brack-
eted at par 70, were Otto Greiner
of Baltimore, the ex-tennis king,
Ellsworth Vines, and Ted Bishop,
the New England champion.
Ward, Goodman Hit 73s.
Ward. the Spokane star who won
the championship in 1899 and is the
general favorite, came in with 73
after bogying the 18th and 18th
holes. He was bracketed with an
other ex-champion and the home
town pride, Johnny Goodman, the
1887 amateur king. A third 73
shooter was Glenn Oatman of
Kansas City. Then at IA came De-
Tending Champion Dick Chapman,
who fell off to an lin" nine of 80;
Rodney Bliss of Omaha, Edwin Nc
Clure of Shreveport, La; Mario
Gonzales of Sac Paulo, Brazil, the
only foreign entrant, and Bob
Cochran of st. Louis.
Billows. the stocky star from
Poughkeepsie, who twice has been
a f1nalist in the past four years and
who rated a standout starter, had
rs, as did Gus Moreland of Peoria,
Ill, former Walker Cup star. and
Art Doering, the straight-shooter
from Chicago.
Another highly regarded player,
Harry Todd of Dallas, ballooned to
q AZ going out and only brilliant
"a coming back gave him rs and
protected his chances of sticking
within a qualifying limit which ap-
parently was headed for a 155 or
156 aggregate.
18th Hole Is BugabOO.
Two other ex-champions had
rough going Johnny Fischer, WIN
ner in 1886, had a 78, while the
veteran Charles Chick Evans of
Chicago, who captured the crown
in 1915 and in 1920, had an "a.
Evans was one of six players who
took Ss on the back-breaking 622-
yard 18th hole, which saw is others
register rs and gave up only two
brides all day.
That hole was the big gun in
par's decision over most of the field
of IA starters. The initial pro-
gram saw SO swingers card 80 or