Evening star., 1961-04-02

AUGUSTA, Ga, April l (AP) F.,
About 95 golfers, each Of
whom has carved himself a |
niche in COLTS Hall of Fame,
will start out next Thursday
in quest of the greater glory !
and the pile of cash that goes
with winning the Masters
tournament.
The Masters, a unique tour
)nament that has been copied
-put never equaled by the Or
9ganizers of other golf events,
has come to occupy a unique
place on the years schedule.
. It always is played on an early
April week end and thus marks
the end of the winter tour. 1t
.also marked the end of playing
on wide open "cowpasture"
courses and the beginning of
serious competition for big
money among the touring pros.
Augusta National, a course
ythat exists principally for this
,one tournament, is a terrific
eteSt. of golf ability. 1t can be
stretched out to $3.50 yards
with a par of 36-36-72. 1t has
almost no rough and few traps,
but no one can score well there
unless he can belt out long
drives, place them accurately
and approach and putt like a
demon. 1t isn't enough Just to
hit the green's in par. They're
so big its almost braSSie shot
from one side to the other.
Hogan Holds TecOrd
The tournament record is
274, made by BeE Hogan in
1858, but a 284 &c ore has ben
good enough to win two of the
past three years. Arnold Pal
.mer won with 282 last year,
but he had to birdie the last
two holes to do it.
e That finish was in keeping
with the tradition that the
Masters always generates some
high excitement at the end.
There hasn't been an easy vic
tory since Cary Middlecoff
came in seven strokes ahead
in 1855.
- For one thing, not every
golfer can play in the Mas
tiers. Each player invited must
nave earned his place by some
glorious deed in the past or
by outstanding featS within
the past year. Invitations were
extended to 81 American play
erS and 81 foreign stars this
year. OF these about SO are
expected to be on hand but
about five won't even start. A
few other oldsters likely will
drop out after round or two.
After the first two rounds,
the field will be cut to the
low 40 and ties (or Al if there
are no ties for 40th place.
for the last two rounds, which
will be televised nationally
@(WTOP-9 in Washington.
H.
Champions Galore
The permanent invitation
list includes Is Masters cham
pions, "a National Open cham
.pions. IA PGA champions and
-13 National Amateur cham
is,pions. The others earned their
places because Of their play
within the past year.
Trying to pick a winner out
of this group is an almost i'm
possible task, but the names
that first come to mind are
Palmer and Gary Player.
Palmer, a big, strong and
highly skilled young man. will
be going for an unprecedented
second straight Masters title
and his third in four years
Only two players ever have
Won the Masters three times
Sam Snead and Jimmy Dema-
ret. Two-time winners include
Horton Smith, Byron Nelson
Hogan and Palmer.
Palmer dominated profes-
sional golf last year, when he
won the Masters, the National
Open and six lesser tourna-
mentS and set a money win
ming record Of $75,262. He at
tackled the 1861 season as il
be intended to capture what
ever major titles eluded hin
in 1850. He plays the type o.
game that is ideally suited tt
the big, broad Augusta Ma
tional course.
But Player, the stocky Soutf
African, has outdistancec