Evening star., 1942-06-20
& Hit by Hogan,
100ff Par, Tops
Silly Scoring
Ben Still 3 Strokes
Back of 13l TotoIed
By Mike Turneso
BY GAYLE TALBOT,
Assoc IA ted preaa eportS Write

CHICAGO, June 20. - United
States Coli Association ofhcials.
having seen one contestant round
Ridgemoor in 81 and q dozen others
turn In equally silly scores, are con-
graduating themselves for not rec
ognizing the Hale America benefit
tournament as the National Open.
The last two days have been ex-
citing In a way and the brides and
eagles undoubtedly will continue
through tomorrow. but the players
themselves have been the first to
insist it isn't related even family
to championship golf. The United
States Golf Association would have
been mighty embarrassed II it' had
yielded to urging and run up its
Official flag.
Ridgemoor has proved far too
easy for the top stars. Even Mike
Turnesa, most phenomenal member
Of the golfing family at present,
thought it funny when he scored a
second round 66-6 under par-to
60 with his IS OF the previous day.
tits little tough on Ben Hogan"
he laughed. He shoots a par "a and
then a 81 and I'm still leading him
three strokes"
Hogan Calls 81 = Mistake.
Hogan's 81 yesterday made
Ridgemoor resemble a pitch-and-
putt layout. Ben himself, conceded
it wasn't his greatest golf. 1t was
just question of having IL one
putt greens. he said.
"As a matter of fact, that 81 was
all q mistake" Hogan chuckled. II
thought they were tgoing to halve
the field after So holes and I was
giving it everything for fear
wouldn't even qualify for the last
two rounds. Now I find everybody
is going to play the full 70 holes.
Somebody ought to tell me these
things"
As they started the third lS-hole
round today, Mike Turnesa had
three big strokes on Hogan and
stood q good chance Of hauling
down first prize of $1,100. But he
couldn't afford to slip anywhere near
par golf because the field still was
close.
Tied with 36-hole totals OF 135-
a stroke behind Hogan-were two
dangerous competitors, Horton
Smith and Lawson Little. Smith.
the games greatest putter. might
take lot of beating on Ridgemoor,
where putting is everything.
Winner May Break 270.
At 1876 were Jimmy Demaret and
Herman Barron; at 1877 Denny
Shute, Otey Crisman and Mike
Sipula; 1873, Harold jug" Nc
Spaden, Dick Metz, Johnny Daw-
son, Bill Dear and Wilford Wehrle.
the last two amateurs. and at 139
were Byron Nelson. Ky Laffoon,
Lloyd Mangrum and Buck White.
eight strokes off the dizzy pace.
Guesses as to the eventual win
ming score were being revised down.
ward steadily 1t might be under
270 unless weather slows the pace.
The record for an open champion
ship is 281 by Ralph Guldahl at
Detroit in 1887.
The professionals seem to gain
little satisfaction from taking an
easy course apart. They prefer one
that fights back now and then.
The Turnesas appear to be TAX
ing turns gaining inspiration this
spring. Up to the time the Hale
America started, Mike was about as
undistinguished as his younger
brother. Jim. was before he sud-
denly threw the PGA into a tur-
moil a few weeks ago in Atlantic
City.
And for the last two days Mike
has played the same brilliant, steady
golf that Sergt. Jim did. He scored
his 66 yesterday, despite two holes
over par.
Many Stars Disappointing.
Sammy Byrd, still burning because
they found his iron clubs illegal on
the first day, was going very well
with assorted borrowed sets. With
his second strange bag yesterday he
managed a 68 and was tied with
seven others at 140
Much to the disappointment OF
the gallery, Capt. Bobby Jones could
do no better than rs on his second
round and as result was clear out
of the running with a total of 145.
The former great amateur was LII
when he entered the event.
Other prominent stars who had
found the pace too fast and retained
only casual interest in the tourna-
ment included Craig Wood, the
National Open champion. 143, and
Ed Dudley, Jimmy Thomson, and ,
Gene Sarazen, each 142. All were
under par for two rounds. but all
that gets man at Ridgemoor 10
"too bad, pal, better luck next time"