Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1949-04-09
Co-Leaders Manerum,
Keiser Alone Cut Par
At Hallway Mark
BY MerrelI WhittIesey
stsr s.eff cerr..ponaen.

AUGUSTA. Ga. April 9.-Most
of the worlds greatest golfers are
here for the 18th Masters tourna-
ment. but going into today's third
round they all were playing second
fiddle to a golf course-the Au-
gusta National.
Only co-leaders Lloyd Mangrum
and Herman Keiser. two OF the
great putters in the game. had
bettered regulation figures at the
halfway mark with their LAB
totals. Mangrum had a SO and "a
and Keiser, the 1916 champion. an
opening rs and a great So yester-
day, a round that included only
81 puts. That's nine less than
two per green.
But the proud members of this
supposedly perfect layout are
taking false credit for the beating
the golfing greats are taking at
the hands of $500 yards of close
cut turf. The course is tough. but
the committee made it artif1cially
so by placing the pins behind traps
and behind humps on the slickeSt
parts of cement-like greens. Some
of the holes were just about i'm
possible to par.
Wind Harnesses Players.
For instance. the seventh hole is
a drive-and-wedge par 4 Of 370
yards. The wind was behind the
players on this one and everybody
was driving within a short pitch of
the green. But I stood behind the
green for one hour when the cream
of the field was passing and one
Harmon, was on in
2. The others would hit on the
narrow strip Of a green and bound
into a bordering trap. Or. scared
to death of the hard putting sur
face, they would fiub 1t short. 1t
took Sam Snead and Lew Wor-
sham 4 to get on and If it were a
fair hole they could have been on
with a drive and a kick.
But the course is not solely re-
sponsible for the middle and high
70s, scores six and eight strokes
higher than fancy averages posted
on pitch-and-putt layouts on the
winter tour. Both days here the
wind has been terrific. Jimmy
Demaret said when he finished his
it's the only time I've ever
figured the wind on puts" Beach
umbrellas were blown over, the
press tent threatened. scoreboards
downed and all the players were
the ball. trying to keep
it low and under the treachorous
currents.
Mangrum Man to Beat.
Mangrum still Is the man to
beat. He was far of his game yes
terday, scrambling for pars and
bogeys, and made only two brides.
He needed a birdie 3 on the exact
ing 18th and made 1t. rolling IN a
42-foot putt. His response to the
tremendous roar from the thous-
ands that circled the green was
puff on iS.cigarette and a polite
touch of his cap. You never can
tell by Mangrum's expression
whether he's taking 2 or 10.
Keiser is a tough man here. He
won in '46 after leading by five
strokes at the end Of three rounds.
Johnny Palmer, who was Man
grum's partner yesterday and
passed him at the end of nine
holes with 80 to Mangrum's 38.
is third with even par of la for
the So holes. A lot of the boys
like Palmer. who is a good putter.
rs per cent Of the game on this
layout.
Five are deadlocked at las. two
shots back of the co-leaders. By
ron Nelson. who eagled the easy
second hole with a 15-footer re-
tanned his 2-under-par standing
the rest of the way for 10 and
145, although it was a struggle
against the wind. Fred Haas also
had 10 for las.
Heafner Roars to "a.
Clayton Heafner went to "a for
his 145 and Jim Turnesa and Joe
Kirkwood jr.. had par scores for
their lass. Chick Harbert went
over par on the past two holes and
was alone at 146.
There's dozen or more players
who might win the Masters. but
among those who will not is the
Stool favorite, Cary Middlecoff.
It was almost pitiful the way Mid
dlecoff, the years second leading
money winner, struggled to add
n to his opening rs for 1853. And.
although they are only five strokes
back, you can just about write
Bobby Locke and Sam Snead out
of contention. They played to-
gether yesterday and f1ubbed
around to "a and IS, respectively.
for 36-hole totals Of l48. It's I'M
likely that Snead can make up the
difference because a good putter
is going to win This tournament.
and he isn't one. Although Locke
is a good putter. he doesn't play
particularly well here.
Worsham Gets in Trouble.
WorSham, mad at himself after
his opening rs, was full of con-
fidence as he started yesterday.
I'm going to make a lot of
brides" he said. and he did. but
he made a lot of bogeys. too. He
raped in five birdie puts. but
went over par on four holes and
2 over on two others for a rs and
ISL total.
Bob Hamilton. representing
Prince Georges of Landover, Md,
on the tour. eagled the par Sec
ond and eighth holes. but for the
rest Of the route he was IL over
par for a 70 and l56, far out of
the running. Capt. Fred Moseley.
the Army champion who played at
Prince Georges last year. had rs
for l52, as did Otto Greiner of
Baltimore, who said he has played
good golf both rounds. but still Is
a Ia -