Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1958-07-18
WIN, LOSE or
DRAW ), FRANCE, .1.uu

AZ YOU NAY DID, aware, the 90

AS YOU MAY BE aware, the Goth PoA tournament
now being played at anerch Country Club In suburban
Philadelphia medal not match play and your guess
to whether the PoA will regain much Of its old prestige
because Of the formal good anybody elsea
The pros are divided in sentiment The older clique
bemoans the Punishment of the classic match headto
head style, which had existed for 40 years The
PGA, they thinking, is Just another 72-hole
tournament no different from dozen more others
q scale below the National Open and the Masters.
Among the younger pros. some feeling Of optimism
has been detected They like medal play and predict
the PcA again win rival the Open. There never was
much unanimity among pro golfers, anyway. They are
quarresome breed, far more educational to watch than
TO hear. @st
For that matter the PdA bosses are no collection of
solomons They have allowed the pros tournament
to deteriorate to its present level which about
par with the Akron or Greensboro Opens.
IN THE PAsT-and even this week-PGA brass has
permitted the tournament to be played some courses
that quite cut from championship ayouts. Put
up the money wen play course" has been the gist
Of the hat-in-the -hand dickering.
Llanerch Country Club charitably described is snug
Roughly that means 1t is tightly crowded into 1S5 acres
and that 1t hasn't real classic hole the layout It's
Just another golf course reasonably easy for the top
Fighter But the PGA has been played lesser
There never has been big pot Of gold awaiting the
winner The PGA used to advertise the tournament as
quite accurate About $4,000 of the money spent
PGA delegates from AN parts of the country and the
other half split into prize money.
Under match-play STYLE started back in 1915 when
Long Jim Barnes 1t possible for golfer To col
lect money not qualifying than If he had qualified
and lost in the nrst round.
X THE MUNICIPALITIES. OF course, would have to come
from distance say from California to Pennsylvania
The PGA would give him roundtrip transportation The
eualiner who lost his nrstround match got 500 for
playing but no transportation.
In the days Of Barnes and Walter Hagen and Jock
Hutchinson and Gene sarazen the PoA prestige
event. But selling the event 70 courses that needed
publicity cheapened 1t. The tournament wasn't the
PGAs own TO
Hagen probably was the best of all match-pay
golfers believe the PGA records Five times the Haig
prevailed l-24-25-2s-T. sarazen and Sam snead
have three PGAs but at medal play 1t unlikely
that Hagens record will be broken Snead may come
close Oddly Sans chances Of winning this PGA seem
better because 1t Is medal play
There subscriptions to such reasoning because
Snead, Al, might not be well geared these days to
long grind of match play True, the formal Of the
PGA calls for u holes just like the Open which Snead
never has but is spread four esurey rounds
Of ID holes each.
PURIsTs ARE LIKELY to downgrade the PGA on the
ground that the Open is three-day affair, with the
final day at So holes The winner 1t Is argued, is like
horse winning the classic Belmont Stakes-over grueng
distance.
II the current PGA doesn't stir up some excitement
maybe the older prosthose who argue that it's Just
another tournament without the grace of being match
pay-are right 1t Just about took the case Of Tommy
Bolt the terrible tempered Open champion who was
threatened with dsbarment to get the PGA the front
sports pages.
And that despite field OF more than $50 pros field
rated the strongest since the Journeys inception back
the days when the wood was ceek and the iron
a spade maShie.