Evening star., 1954-04-12
Hogan Playing Snead
For Masters Title as
Patton S Bid Fails
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s
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and birdied eight and nine
people were deserting. Snead and
Hogan to get on the bandwagon.
When the ring Of fans would
break and he'd walk up on the
green's the folks cheered loudly.
He'd grin and chew heavily on
that stick of gum.
Snead Appears Done.
Snead had sputtered to an
out nine of 81 and by this time
Hogan had three-putted the
seventh to go one over. At their
respective positions on the course
Patton and Hogan were even.
1t looked like Snead was through,
because by now he had bogied
the 18th.
But after that seven on the
18th the Patton gallery resem-
bled funeral procession. Billy
10 had gambled and lost by
going for the green and finding
the ditch instead, then fubbed
an approach.
Patton defended his gamble
by saying: IF that shot had
been 6 feet to the left I'd have
had putt for an eagle and Mr..
Hogan would have been trying
to catch me instead of me CATCH
ing him.
II gambled the entire 72 holes"
he said in his stern manner. IT
fired for the pins every minute,
and it finally caught up with
me-"
Bold Playing Costs Strokes.
Some of the pros were saying
later that you couldn't criticize
a fellow who played it bold, but
at the same time Patton would
have been the Masters cham
pion if he had used his head on
the two par SIS where he found
the drink.
Patton replied: How did I
know Hogan was going to take
six on the 11th?" BY the same
token, Hogan said he wouldn't
have taken the six if he had
known Patton was taken seven
on the 18th at precisely the same
moment.
Hogan took his double bogey
because he. too. gambled. The
11th is a tough hole to make
par and he was cunning for a
safe position on the green when
he hooked into the water. When
Hogan realized he was on the
pond he lost his composure for
a moment. He was so shocked he
stood still and his jaw dropped.
He couldn't believe it.
Snead Finishes Strong.
While Patton and Hogan were
having water troubles, Snead
had taken a hitch in his belt
and finished two under par on
the last six for 289. Dutch Har-
rison, who had just shot 68 for
291, was standing nearby when
Snead finished.
"I guess Ole Dutch can go
now" he said in his Arkansas
twang. THE way those boys
were collapsing out there I al
most fell into this tournament"
Snead was in the locker room
when Hogan three-putted the
14th. Through Masters score
boards at all strategic points on
the course and in the clubhouse,
all players could keep in touch
with the opposition.
Snead was eating some choco-
late ice cream when Hogan went
over on IA and Sam said: Come
on. Ben" He turned to buddy
and remarked: Maybe Ben will
birdie one of those noleS to tie
me, but maybe he'll find some
more of the water, too"
HOgan's Puts Missing.
Hogan was not exactly a man
of steel nerves with all that pres
sure on. He putted like a butch
er on the 14th, birdied the easy
par-5 18th, but missed birdie
puts on 16 and II that weren't
even close.
He had about a 35-footer to
win on the 18th and it slipped
almost three feet past. Hogan
waved Jack Burke away and
putted the second shot quickly.
1t went in for the tie.
While Hogan's puts for brides
weren't good. he made three Sec
ona puts on the last four holes
that he could have missed.
Hogan's observation that he
wouldn't have taken six on the
18th if he had known Patton was
going for seven on the 18th was
mindful of a similar remark in
the National Open of 1862. which
Julius Boros won by overtaking
Hogan. In that tournament Ho-
gan sliced out of bounds just as
Boros, playing ahead. was having
a bad hole. Ben said he wouldn't
have gambled and sliced if he
had word of Boros' misfortune.