Browning chief. [volume] (Browning, Mont.) 1941-1953, 1941-01-03
SPEAKING OF
SPORTS
BY ROBERT MesHANe
asass.s1 sy w.a.m p.,-,,o.,, No.,

sssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss8
w HAT promises to be one of the
most interesting winter golf
campaigns ever known is well un.
der way with most of last wears pro-
fessional favorites still ensconsed in
tne golden seat, managing to hold
their own against all corners.
With approximately $50, 900 in
prize money to shoot at, the pros
have numbered their biggest guns.
The quest for gold and glory started
in Miami recently, and continues
some 10000 miles up and down the
West coast, then to Arizona and
Texas, then to New Orleans, and
finally, back to Florida.
First successful searcher was
Lord Byron Nelson, he of the
poetic golf swing, who headed west
ward with 81 500 Miami Open money
IN his pocket. Nelson, conceded by
many fellow professionals to be the
worlds greatest golfer, won the az
fair with a 27l, nine strokes under
par for the u holes. He won by a
single stroke from Clayton Heather
of Linville. N. C.
Money Winner
Little Ben Hogan of White Plains,
N. Y, the years leading money
winner, finished with a 275 total
and third place. Sam Snead of Hot
Springs, and Willie Goggin of Mi
ami, tied for fourth with PIT.
No one was particularly surprised
to see Nelson walk of with top hon.
ors in the initial tournament Of the
winter circuit. Not even his closest
competitor begrudged him the
$500, for Lord Byron was on his
game-and that means golf near
perfection. By the same token, how
ever, no one would have been sur
prised il the victory had gone to
Hogan, Snead, Demaret, Smith or
any one Of a dozen other l939-40
favorites.
II is only natural that a lot of
questions remain unanswered as
yet. The winter campaign is too
young to be used as the basis for
any representations.
For instance, can Slammin' SAM
my Snead finally hit his true stride
and start winning tournaments with
that beautiful swing? Remember
that he finished the fall meets in
good shape. And he opened the
winter wars with good showing.
Dub golfers don't place fourth
against competition like the Miami
Open offered. For a while things
we're looking dark for the West Vir-
ginian. He had blown the National
Opens of Philadelphia and Cleve-
land in 1889 and 1910. He lost his
poise in the pinches and his men,
tai attitude went haywire when the
chips were down. Later on Sammy
regained his courage. He won three
of his last four big tournaments and
gave Nelson a real battle for the
professional golfers crown.
A Man to Watch
Snead is one Of the country's best
golfers. Almost any pro golfer will
insist that Sammy's is the finest
swing in the game-that he can't
be beat from drive to pitch. His
big weakness has been his mental
attitude, which has let him down
all too often. Once he gains full
control Of himself, he will win con-
siderably more than his share Of
tournaments.
Ralph Guldahl is another player
to watch. He hasn't been playing
the kind of golf that he's capable of
playing. Guldahl plays as cool a
game as any man in the pro ranks.
His failure to win more tournaments
battles even the experts. He is the
kind of a player one would expect to
be consistent. He plays as though
his veins were filled with ice water.
This may be his year. He used to
wreck the field, and may start in all
over again.
You may remember that Jimmy
Demaret was a regular ball Of fire
along the winter circuit last year.
He grabbed all the headlines in Cal
ifornia, Texas and Florida. He didn't
open with a bang this year-win-
ming exactly S3l.25 in Miami-bpt
he may come bac!. to surprise the
galleryites.
Ben Hogan is likely to pick up
where he left off last year. The
s., 900 he won in Florida ran his
total earnings for the year to 0,655.
This gave him possession of the
Vardon trophy, awarded annually by
the Professional Golfers association
to its most consistent member. Mel
son, winner of last years Vardon
trophy, was second with total OF
50, 653, and Snead was third with
$9,206.
Hogan, who weighs in the neigh
borhood of 1872 pounds, continues to
astound his contemporaries with his
L.