Evening star., 1941-04-07
Supremacy on Two
Tough Holes Gain
His Advantage
Picks Up Nine Strokes
On Nelson, Runnerup,
On 18th and 10Th
BY BILL BONI,

AUGUSTA, Ga, April TT this
Is in a slightly celebrant mood
ladies and gentlemen, we simply
must beg your indulgence Ever
since roughly o'clock yesterday
evening we have been helping to
celebrate a gol1ng victory which
deserved celebration as much as
any single triumph we can recall.
Reference is, of course. to Craig
Woods triumph in the eighth an
nual Augusta Masters tournament.
Wood won by three shots, he fin
ished with an even-par 70 for a To-
hole score of $50, eight under par,
he beat P. G. A. Champion Byron
Nelson by three strokes, and he had
the seasoning and the golf shots to
clinch the victory with 2-under-
par finish for the last nine holes.
Thus Wood, at 80, attained a peak
which most professional golfers hit
10 years earlier. Though he won
the Metropolitan Open less than
year ago with new champion
ship record score Of 264, this was
the first time in his career that
he has been able to take down one
of the pro games four top prizes
the United States and British Opens,
the P. G. A. and the Masters.
Twice before he had come close
at Augusta, in 1884, and again in
IS.
Persistence Finally Pays OFF.
But this time he left no doubt
about the issue. He shot 6-under-
par &C the first Gay to lead by five
strokes; followed up with a II to
retain a 3-shot margin; added an
other II to preserve that advantage,
and then followed up yesterday by
killing off, P. G.. A. Champion BY
ron Nelson after the Toledo (Ohio)
pro had drawn even with nine
holes to play.
To Wood this is not so remarkable
accomplishment as it may appear
in black and white. He may be 80,
and thus be giving away 10 years
and more to lads like Nelson and
Ben Hogan But Craig believes that
those 10 years have been spent
learning Just the type of thing that
helped him win yesterday before a
gallery that set a new Masters at
tendance record.
when I started playing golf" he
said between glances at congratu-
latory kilograms, "I was a natural
hooker. To overcome that, had to
learn fades, had to learn how to
pancake second shots, I had to learn
eut shots, things some of the present.
day crop don't bother about because
they have more natural ability.
That's why I won today. The
Augusta National course is one that
pays off for man who knows how
to play all sorts of shots. The lad
who can score consistently on the
winter tours bang bang bang
courses will find this a different
proposition. And that's where I
came in"
Wood came in most notably on
the thirteenth and sixteenth holes.
The thirteenth is a dog-leg par 5
on which a winding creek guards the
slCCll hIlu dlob Will CdOCll SdIIlDlIlS
drive that hasn't quite enough carry
The sixteenth is a 150-yard par 3
with a creek guarding the right side
and the pin always placed close to
the creek.
On the thirteenth, Wood, twice
with No. 4 woods and twice with
gambling irons, got four birdie As.
Nelson, whose 283 won second place,
got 4, and two IS, difference
OF five shots. On the sixteenth,
Wood had one par and two deuces.
Nelson used up four more strokes.
Craig, therefore, had a nine-stroke
advantage on two holes where shot
making paid off. And at 80 he is
playing well enough so that next
June. at Fort Worth, he should be
a tough man in the National Open.