Evening star., 1950-06-27
Virginian Favorite;;
Is 26 Under Par for
Mateh-PIay Rounds
By MerreIl Whittlesey
Stor Sfcff correspendent

COLUMBUS, Ohio, June 81
Chandler Harper, 26 under par
for five match-play rounds and
victor over two of pro golf's
greatest on successive days. today
meets Henry Williams. jr., an op-
portunist in a weaker bracket. for
the National PGA championship
at the Scioto Country Club.
Never in the history of the Pro-
fessional Golfers Association have
there been two more surprising
dark horses in the finals.
Over the 36-hole route, and with
$500 going to the winner and
500 to the loser, Harper and
Williams are to wage their battle
in mid-afternoon and at twilight
for a title that will mean con-
siderably more than the fiat cash
value to either. While neither is
the colorful type, there are
honorariums that go with the
PGA crown. for any champion.
For instance, the manufacturers
they represent supposedly will
match the winners purse.
No Household Names.
Only in Virginia where Harper
was born and raised-and where
but for Sam Snead he would be
the States most famous golf1ng
son-and in PennSylvania-where
Williams was born and has
skipped from club to club since
turning pro at 15-are the two
f1nalists anything like household
names.
But Harper and Williams have
been around long enough-Harper
at 36 and Williams at 33-to gain
the respect of their fellow pros.
If Harper had stuck to the tour
nament grind, he'd probably have
ranked in the top 10 for years,
but the slender, quiet, partially
bald pro from Portsmouth has
been 60 per cent club pro cat
GlenShellah in Portsmouth, and
40 per cent tournament pro for
years. He wins a little on the
tour, usually cleans up around
home. in Maryland and the Dis
trict of Columbia. Several times
he has finished high on the lead
ing money list.
On this 7.032-yard Scioto course
Harper is playing the greatest
golf of his life, although he is one
of pro COLTS shortest hitters off
the tee. He simply has found the
combination of accurate tee shots,
beautifully consistent iron shots
and superb putting, and is putting
them all together.
Never Trailed in Match.
In beating Jimmy Demaret, 2
and l yesterday, Harper broke the
Masters champions heart and
back by making comparatively few
mistakes and knocking those 10,
II and 2Q-footers into the cup
when they meant the most. He
was never down to Demaret, as
for the third time Jimmy found
his PGA hopes dashed in the semi
finals. The other two times he
lost to Ben Hogan.
Williams, 180-pound, 5-foot-9
combination home and tourna-
ment pro from Secave, Pa, won
his way to the finals in a much
different fashion. Henry Picard,
champion II years ago and play
ing here for sentimental reasons,
was 6 up with only to play
against Williams, but lost, / up
in 38 holes.
Suddenly Picard started to slip,
and once you start losing a big
lead, the holes get away ever so
fast. Williams won two straight,
with a par and birdie, and they
halved the next. Then Williams
won four straight with three pars
and birdie and they were even
with one to play. Williams scram-
bled for birdie and a halve on
the 36th, and on the 38th Picard
three-putted from so feet. miss
ing a two-footer short of the cup,
and Williams was the winner.
Picard was a graceful loser. II
enjoyed every minute, and went
further than I expected" the 43-
year-old exchampion said. 81
started playing badly and he play
ed good. and when I played good
at the end. he played better. He's
a strong and good young player.
Surprise Follows Surprise.
Harper was in, dressed and en-
route to radio program before
Williams had finished. At that,
Chandler was much more prompt
in leaving the club than he had
been in arriving. He double
checked with the club and news
paper as to his starting time and
was misinformed both times. Thus,
when he arrived at the club, De-
maret already was on the tee. But
Jimmy retired under the shade
while Chandler hit warmup shots
for Is minutes.
When the pairings were made
Thursday night. the wall was that
Snead, Demaret and Mangrum
all were in the same bracket and
only one of the three could get
to the finals. Eddie Burke saw
to it that Snead didn't get there,
and Harper took care of both
Mangrum and Demaret.
Harper figured to get by Fred
Annon in the first round and
c fSee c0TF baoe A.19b