Evening star., 1953-06-12
Delayed Start
May yForceB Ben.
Play in Rain
Boros Begins Well,
Then Shoots Par u;
Dick Metz Gets 70
By MerreII WhittIesey
Star Sfoff correspondeuf

/. OAKMONT, Pa, June H.
George Fazio was making a seri-
Gus bid to give Ben Hogan COM
petition for the SD National
Open Golf championship as he
played the first IA holes of the
second round in three-under par
today at Oakmont.
Fazio had a f1rst-round two
under-par 70 while Hogan was
the leader by three strokes with
a Ct.
Hogan was scheduled to start
at 1928 today but it will be
later because of slow play.
A cool, cloudy day greeted
the field and there was a pros
pect that Hogan would get
caught in an afternoon rain.
Showers and thunderstorms were
predicted and the nearby hills
barely were visible because of
the haze.
Misses Putt for Eagle.
Fazio, an early starter on the
second round, went over par on
the third but birdied five and
eight to go one under. He
reached the green in. two on the
par ninth but with a putt for
an eagle 8, he 3-putted the slip
perry surface for a par 5 to go
out in SO.
The 4O-year-old Fazio then
birdied II and 13 on the back
nine and Hogan needs par golf
for IA holes to be even at that
point.
Julius Boros. defending cham
pion, was three under par for
the first five holes but he lost
all of those strokes back and
finished with a par II for 147
for 36 holes. If Hogan shoots
a 10, Boros will be 10 strokes
back. He was tied at lat with
Jerry Barber. 72-75, and Freddie
Haas, 1874.
Mangrum Shoots "a.
Lloyd Mangrum was three un-
der par at nine with a "a and
Sam Snead was one under after
five.
Dick Metz shot a fine round
Of 34-36-70: He had a rs yes
terday.
If Hogan won the National
Open championship with his
flrst-round 81 yesterday-which
SO many people say he did-he
certainly had an assist from the
seven players who were supposed
to give him trouble.
Hogan's 5-under-par round
was three strokes better than
anybody else's, but what is more
conclusive, it was five shots bet
ter than Snead's; six better than
Mangrum's; eight lower than
Boros'; nine below Cary Middle
coff's; II under Bobby Locke's
and Lew Worsham's, and an
even dozen under Pork divers.
Not since the National PGA
championship of 1947, when
Hogan, Locke, Snead and Jimmy
Demaret lost on the first day,
have there been so many big
name casualties so early in the
tournament.
Hogan at His Best.
The way Hogan played yester-
day. his shotmaking, thinking,
putting, his analysis of every
shot and reading of the greens,
gave the impression that he
would shoot 81 every round.
But this is Ben's first cham
pionship at Oakmont and some
body was saying he doesn't yet
know where the trouble is and
how much of it there can be.
Two of the big-name- pros,
both slightly jealous of Hogan,
said Ben had all the best of it
yesterday. HE played at 10
o'clock and for him the green's
were perfect" they complained.
by the time the afternoon
starters hit the course the green's
were so spike-marked it was
tough to make a 3-foot putt"
"The course was at least three
strokes tougher in the after
noon," one of them said. The
other added, I'D say it was five
shots tougher"
But Hogan wasn't the only
early starter and nobody else
shot 81. In fact, nobody else
shot 68 or 50.
many AWed by HOgan'S 81.
Somebody else added that
Hogan's ST did more to boost
the first-day scores than the
course. That 81 beat most OF
the guys before they started ~
a pro said.
Hogan starts his round at
1:18 today and by that time
there will be spike marks on
the green and the cups will seem