Evening star., 1942-07-26
FAM S Coat and Freak
FairWay Lie Cost
Him "a Crown
Spectotor FIicks Pellet
Out Of Bounds When 1t
Finds His Gurment
By WALTER McCALLUM.

who showed lot OF younger fellow:
around with a burst of subpar golt
to win the Maryland open cham
pionship and chalk up his first Sec
tional win since he came to Wash
ington seven years ago, has given ur
bigtime tournament play, but he
wishes he could have won the Ma
tional Open before he quit.
II the end of the war permits
holding the National Open before
Witty becomes a wheel-chair candi-
date he may give 1t another try
but at present he doesn't care for
the frenzy OF championships Of ma
tional rank.
Why is one of those hard-luck
guys, a "might-have-been" national
champ. In his days as a potent fig
ure on the tournament circuit he
definitely was a national champion
ship factor, yet his closest bid was
his third place in the open of 1884
the one at Merton, Pa, where hulk
ing Olin Dutra, gulping pills, won
with 293.
"I really had that one all locked
up," said Cox. And, furthermore, /
stood to make a nice chunk OF dough
if won" The story is one OF those
hard luck jobs that come to all golf
ers at one time or other.
witty Makes Money Talk.
Before the tournament started
I bought q 500 ticket on myself at
30 to l." said Witty. They had a
rolf pool that year. Probably I
would have been paid OF, too. The
boys who ran it were honest. I
came to the 18th hole at Merton
leading Dutra and Sarazen, who nm
ished one-two. On that 18th my
second shot rolled over the green
and onto the coat of a spectator
sitting on the bank of the green.
This guy got up quickly and f1icked
my ball of his coat. The USGA
ruled 1t rolled out of bounds. I
played another ball, and got good
6 on the hole. That was number one
on the hard-luck list.
"At the 14th saw some gamblers.
What price are you laying against
me?' I asked. Sixty to one,' they
said. took so bucks of that, and
went on. My putt for a deuce at
the 18th rolled around the cup and
came to the last hole needing q
3 to tie. The final hole at Merton
isn't too tough, and I really pounded
that tee shot. It was away out
there, and when I came up to the
ball 1t lay in one Of those thick
patches of grass in fairway de-
preston which the mower didn't
touch. I had an easy shot to the
green normally, but from that lie it
was tough"
Cox Is No Squawker.
The record shows that Witty
didn't get the tieing birdie. He got
q S, and finished at 295, shot back
Of Sarazen and two shots back Of
Dutra. Cox is no squawker. You
never hear him yelling about the
breaks in a game where champion
ships often are decided by them.
But III always wonder" continued
witty, what would have happened
II that spectator hadn't fiicked my
ball of his coat out of bounds on
the 18th. and II I had drawn a
normal lie on the 18TH" he said.
"And don't think I wasn't trying for
that six grand. That would buy a
lot of potatoes now or any other
time"
Witty is q club pro nowadays, CIV
Ing lessons, and taking care of his
membership and his course at Con-
gressional. The warhorse has In
his nostrils the smell of the fire,
but he isn't as keen for the fray
as he once was. He realizes that
to win the big one, which is the
National Open, you have to be tour
nament tough. He doesn't expect
to play the big tournament schedule
again. But he won't be any push
over in any tourney in which he
plays. His swing is so soundly
grooved that he can't 60 far wrong
Around Congressional now they're
calling him Automatic" Cox. He
doesn't seem to get out of that es
groove.