Evening star., 1953-04-27
besseIink Gets 25to1 |
On $500 He Put Up
On Las Vegas Victory
By the Associosed Press

LAS VEGAS, New, April 27.-
Happy-go-lucky AL Besselink
proving he can be as steady al
they come with thousands oi
dollars riding on a six-foot putt
is the first champion of the
Tournament Of Champions.
He picked up 10000 silver dol
| lars. delivered by wheelbarrow
by shootinfi an eight-under-pal
280 to whip cool, methedical
Chandler Harper of Portsmouth
Va, by one stroke yesterday in
the $4,000 event.
Until yesterday, Besselink, 20,
had won only $1.545.83 in II
tournaments this year. With a
disposition which earned him
the title "the Dizzy Dean of
golf" he did even better at the
bank by being confident in him
self.
He bet $500 on his chances, at
25-to-1 and was a factor every
minute of the four days of play
over the 7,102-yard par 36-36-72
Desert Inn Country Club layout.
Stays With Par for 80 Holes.
At one stage he went 80 holes
without going over par on a sim
gle one. He moved into the final
day three strokes up on his near
est rivals-Harper. Cary Middle
coff, Lew Worsham, Ted Kroll
and Earl Stewart, jr. Kroll and
Stewart blew themselves out of
the picture before the first nine
ended. Harper held on down to
the wire. Middlecof and Wor-
sham almost as far.
Despite the pressure, Besselink
set out to play at least par golf
and did. finishing with 72-68-68-
72-280 to Harper's 70-70-71-
70-28l. Harper. getting brides
with dangerous regularity,
caught him on the back nine.
So did Middlecoff. But Harper
went into a lake four holes from
home, Middlecoff picked up a
pair of IS in a high wind, and as
Besselink teed off for the last
hole he needed only a par 4 to
take first money.
He was short 20 feet on the
4O7-yard hole with his second
shot. He pitched, but still was
6 feet away A crowd of 5000
hardly took breath as he sur
veyed the break to the pin, then
let out a great roar as the ball
rolled in.
Four Tie for Third.
Lloyd Mangrum and JOHNNY
Palmer, with last rounds of SO
and 72. moved up to tie Middle
coft and Worsham in third place
with 285s. Tommy Bolt at 286,
made the seventh player in the
field of 20 to break par 288.
The 20 qualified by virtue of
winning at least one major tour
nament in the past year. Only
Ben Hogan among the eligibles
passed it up.
A professional only four years,
Besselink qualified to play here
by carding a red hot 266 to win
the Sioux City Gowa) Open last
summer. He said he is donating
half of his purse to the Damon
Runyon Cancer Fund. That gave
the fund a total of $4,000 or
more.
Besselink's win paid off at
better than II to l in the $685.
$50 Calcutta pool, a pre-tourney
auction in which the chances of
the players were sold to the
highest bidder.
BesSelink's chances went for
$4,000 to Morrie Bernet, Cleve-
land railroad executive, and for
the investment he picked up
first money of $33,75O.
Also Wins With Worsham.
Bernet picked up some more
money on Worsham, getting back
$7,343.43 on his bid of $4,000
when Lew tied for third. Lloyd
Mangrum, whose auction price
in the non-lottery Calcutta was
second high of $4,000, also re-
turned $7.343.43, as did Middle
coff. whose chances went for
$500.
Harpers chances went for
$4,000 and he returned $16,785
for Morris Kleinman, one Of the
owners of the Desert Inn.
Middlecoff's form a n
helped salvage something for Ira