But for a brief moment late in his career, it was a problem Hogan seemed to have solved.

In 1953, Hogan accomplished something truly astonishing. He won all three majors he played, set a scoring record at that year’s Masters, and became the first player since Gene Sarazen to complete the career Grand Slam.

Though Hogan continued to contend in majors after that run — he finished second four times, sixth and eighth in the four majors he played from 1954 to 1956 — Hogan would never claim another major. His legs had grown weak from his near-fatal car accident years earlier, and injuries to his left eye as part of that crash hindered his putting performance.

But then, in 1957, Hogan seemed to stumble upon something of a breakthrough.

Hogan with a baseball grip?

According to a retrospective article on Hogan’s career in Golf Digest at the start of that year, Hogan began experimenting with a radical new putting grip.

Whereas in his entire career previously he adopted a conventional reverse-overlap putting grip, Hogan began experimenting with a 10-finger, split-handed, baseball grip. We’ve become desensitised to unique putting grips these days, but at the time, it was very unusual.

But it worked!

In his preparation for that year’s 1957 Masters, Hogan shot a series of practice rounds under 65 with his friend, Cary Middlecoff as witness who said Hogan intended to put the new grip into play at Augusta. But, to Middlecoff’s surprise, Hogan abandoned the grip at the last moment. He was, quite simply, too embarrassed to use it.

Whereas Sam Snead would try anything to get the ball in the hole putting croquet fashion at first, and later side-saddle, Hogan stubbornly resisted any untraditional innovation that would help him. In truth, he did try putting with a split grip once, his hands placed 10 inches apart on the handle of the putter. He adopted the odd-looking grip in practice prior to one Masters in the 1950s, and he putted beautifully that way, never shooting higher than 65 at Lost Tree in Florida, a difficult course where he often played just before travel ing on to Augusta. But Middlecoff, Hogan’s friend and a great player himself, says he was stunned to see Hogan resorting to his old method on the very first hole of their first practice at Augusta. “I said: ‘Ben, what the hell are you doing, man?’ And he said: ‘Doc, I just can’t putt that way in front of all those people!’”

With his conventional putting grip, Hogan missed the cut — his only Masters missed cut in 25 starts. That failure was enough to convince Hogan to put the grip into play a month later, at the 1957 Palm Beach Round Robin Tournament, where this picture was snapped.

New York Times

Once again, it worked.

Hogan shot a four-under 67 to lead in his first round and continued to lead after the second round, too. The New York Times, on-site at the event, reported on Hogan’s putting grip change…

Grasping the putter in his left hand he places his left thumb on top of the shaft.

“I’ve tried everything but putting cross-handed,” said Hogan after completing his round. “Certainly, I’m satisfied with my new grip. You know I usually three-putt, but I didn’t out there. Altogether, I had eight one-putt greens. That’s pretty good for me.”

Hogan went on to finish third. Sam Snead won the event.

As for what happened next? Well, we’re not sure. Perhaps Hogan’s sense of embarrassment of the technique reared its head again. Perhaps his previous putting troubles returned. All we know is that the new grip didn’t stick for Hogan. The reasons why — at least for now — are lost to history.

The post The unknown story of the putting grip Ben Hogan was too embarrassed to use appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

When Cox was seven years old, he witnessed Ben Hogan win the 1953 Open Championship at Carnoustie, one of the most iconic victories in golf history (story starts around the :58 second mark).

Brian Cox talks about playing golf with @serenawilliams and what it was like growing up near St. Andrews Golf Club. #FallonTonight pic.twitter.com/p8QueTlYDF

— The Tonight Show (@FallonTonight) March 23, 2023

Hogan’s win at the 1953 Open is legendary for countless reasons. Despite nine major victories, it was the only Claret Jug he ever lifted. It followed a nearly fatal 1949 car crash, after which Hogan curtailed his playing schedule, focusing primarily on the Masters and US Open (sound familiar, Tiger fans?) After winning both in 1953, Hogan decided to make the trek to Scotland. Battling the flu, Hogan posted a final-round 68, besting Peter Thomson by four strokes as a pint-sized Brian Cox watched on. It was Hogan’s last major championship victory.

So when you fire up ‘Succession’ this weekend for the premiere of its fourth and final season, remember that Cox, no matter how despicable in his role as patriarch Logan Roy, witnessed golf history 70 years ago. That’s almost better than an Emmy in our book.

The post Succession’s Brian Cox tells incredible story about witnessing Ben Hogan’s iconic 1953 Open victory in Scotland appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Golf faces a peculiar challenge in this regard. It’s not just that the fields have got stronger generally, but the equipment has changed, too. And the courses along with it. Ben Hogan and Sam Snead are undoubtedly two of the best golfers of all time whose names often — and rightfully — arrive in this conversation. But how can we truly estimate how good those players would fare against, say, Tiger Woods, when without a firm grasp of how far they drove the ball with the tools they did have?

Stumbled across this amazing old footage of Hogan the other day.

Pour some coffee and play it on repeat. No better way to start the day ? pic.twitter.com/p8v5p0P9UX

— LKD (@LukeKerrDineen) May 5, 2022

Sadly, stat-tracking capabilities weren’t much of a thing back in their primes. Various golf historians have done a good job piecing together anecdotes and slivers of data from the time to help paint a picture, but you’d be hard-pressed to find a better snapshot than a Golf Digest-USGA study from the May 1953 edition, which I stumbled across while perusing the Golf Digest archive last week.

The year 1953, for some context, represented one of the best years of Ben Hogan’s career: He won all three majors he played. Snead won three total events that year, and eight official PGA Tour victories in all between 1952 and 1954 — including two Green Jackets. He was still very much one of the game’s best players.

THE STUDY

The study, conducted by Robert Trent Jones, measures every player’s drive on the 18th hole during the third round of the 1953 US Open at Oakmont Country Club.

“I tried to select a hole which would be most feasible for the purpose and which would bring out the true character of the normal hitting of the country’s finest golfers,” Trent Jones writes.

He admits the hole was “not ideal”, because the tee box is elevated slightly and the wind, which was blowing straight downwind, ranged from “3.4 miles per hour to as high as 14mph” which helped golfers gain approximately “five to eight yards”.

Nevertheless, Trent Jones settled on the 18th because of its wide landing area, and length forcing every pro to hit driver.

THE RESULTS

You can see the full results below, but the driving distance average for the 59 players was 240 yards of carry, and 261 yards in total. (11 players failed to hit the fairway.)

• 300+ yards: 1 drive
• 300-290 yards: 2 drives
• 270-260 yards: 19 drives
• 260-250 yards: 16 drives
• <250 yards: 10 drives

The drives for Hogan and Snead specifically are below. Both ended above the field average, and Snead hit one of the longest drives of the day (though had slightly more wind helping him than most)

• Ben Hogan: 258 yards (carry) 266 yards (total)
• Sam Snead 270 yards (carry) 290 yards (total)

Great quote from Sam Snead:

"There never was a golfer worth his spikes who didn't pulverize the ball. When the time comes, you gotta mash it."pic.twitter.com/CABVPiFAxh

— LKD (@LukeKerrDineen) October 28, 2022

The PGA Tour average driving distance last season was just over 299 yards. Taking the almost 40-yard distance difference, some (very) unscientific estimates would suggest that Snead, in the modern era, would be one of the very longest players on tour. Something akin to the Rory McIlroy, Cam Champ 320-yard range.

Hogan probably would be an elite ball striker with slightly-above-average distance, similar to perhaps Corey Connors or Matt Fitzpatrick in terms of distance. There is other evidence that Hogan would be an even longer driver than that, though. Again, not scientific, just a quick estimation based on these specific findings.

As for how they’d both fare against the current greats of the game? We’ll leave that up for debate.

The post How far did Ben Hogan and Sam Snead drive the ball? Unearthed study reveals the facts appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Ryan Herrington
What might have been? That’s what Mito Pereira will be thinking for a while in the wake of the 104th PGA Championship. With 71 holes down, and one to play at Southern Hills, the 27-year-old from Chile needed a par on the home hole to close out a one-stroke win and become the first golfer from his homeland to win a major championship.

Instead, his drive found the creek right of the hole, and he could do no better than double bogey. Rather than of joining a list of rookies to win in their first PGA Championship appearance, he joins an ignominious group of golfers who have seen a major slip from their hands on the 72nd hole.

And, oh, what a group it is. Here are some of the most memorable 72nd-hole men’s major collapses:

Sam Snead, 1939 US Open
It was the one that got away for Snead after making a triple-bogey on the 18th hole at Philadelphia Country Club, falling two strokes back of a playoff between Byron Nelson, Craig Wood and Denny Shute. Snead never won a US Open, keeping him from being another member of the career Grand Slam club.

Ben Hogan, 1946 Masters
Herman Keiser’s three-putt on the 18th gave Hogan a birdie chance for the title. But then Hogan three-putted himself from from 12 feet for bogey that allowed Keiser to claim his lone major championship title. Hogan would get redemption with Masters wins in 1951 and 1953.

Gary Player. Bettman

Arnold Palmer, 1961 Masters
Palmer looked like he would be the first repeat winner at Augusta National, needing just a par on the 18th hole. After hitting the fairway, Palmer pushed his approach into a greenside bunker. He hit his third off the green, failed to get his fourth anywhere near the hole. An eventual double bogey allowed Gary Player to win and become the first international player to slip on a green jacket.

Doug Sanders, 1970 Open Championship
A short miss for par on the 18th at the Old Course cost Sanders the Claret Jug, dropping him into a playoff with Jack Nicklaus that he would lose the next day. Standing over the par putt, Sanders picked at a piece of brown grass, but then never restarted his putting routine, burning the right edge with his putt for victory.

Ed Sneed, 1979 Masters
Three shots in front with three holes left, Sneed proceeded to bogey 16, 17 and 18. It dropped him into a playoff with Fuzzy Zoeller and Tom Watson, the first of the sudden-death variety rather than a full 18 holes. Zoeller’s birdie on the second extra hole made him the second Masters rookie (and most recent) to win the green jacket.

Jean van de Velde. Getty Images

Jean Van de Velde, 1999 Open Championship
The Frenchman had a three-shot cushion stepping on to the 18th at Carnoustie, then proceeded to make all sorts of mistakes, starting with driver off the tee and then a third shot into the Barry Burn, en route to a triple-bogey 7. He could have made amends in a playoff, but eventually fell to Paul Lawrie.

Phil Mickelson.

Phil Mickelson, 2006 US Open
The most painful of Mickelson’s six runner-up finishes in the US Open came at Winged Foot, where Lefty needed a par to win, but hit a wayward drive, hit a tree with his second shot and tripped up with a double bogey to miss a playoff.

Tom Watson, 2009 Open Championship
A sixth Claret Jug and the honour of being the oldest winner of a major championship was there for the 59-year-old at Turnberry if he was able to make par on the 18th. But his approach just went long and he couldn’t get up-and-down from back of the green. He then fell to Stewart Cink in a four-hole aggregate playoff.

Dustin Johnson. Getty Images

Dustin Johnson, 2010 PGA Championship
DJ birdied the 16th and 17th at Whistling Straits for a one-shot lead, but pushed his drive on the 18th into a waste area. Surrounded by fans, he hit his approach to the green, and scrambled for bogey to seemingly get into a playoff with Martin Kaymer and Bubba Watson. But rules officials alerted him behind the 18th green he actually grounded his club in the sand, which was a breach of Rule 13.4 and added two more strokes to his score.

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The post The most infamous 72nd-hole collapses in men’s major championship history appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Alex Myers
In the first of a four-part series revisiting the inaugural two seasons of Local Knowledge, we look at some of the unique characters highlighted in our episodes.

From trailblazers to folk heroes to singular personalities, these figures have made for some of our favourite subjects. Whether they racked up major championships or controversial headlines—and in some cases, both—all of them were compelling stories.

We start with Babe Didrikson Zaharias, arguably the most dominant athlete—not just golfer—the world has ever seen. Then we move to Jan Stephenson (At the 5:50 mark in the episode), who followed in the Babe’s footsteps on the LPGA Tour, but took a much different path.

Parts of our Moe Norman episode follow (10:15) before stories about Lee Trevino, Ben Hogan and Phil Mickelson from Golf Digest’s Guy Yocom (14:20). And we finish with current three-time defending world long drive champ Kyle Berkshire (19:50), who is leading a power charge that could be coming to the PGA Tour soon. Please have a listen:

The post Our latest podcast examines some of golf’s most compelling characters appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Ryan Herrington
A win is a win is a win. And when it’s a major, it doesn’t matter if you finish bogey-bogey to take the title, the key is to take the title.

But Jon Rahm went birdie-birdie on the 71st and 72nd hole of the U.S. Open on Sunday to cap a closing 67 at Torrey Pines and grab his first career major. And finishing birdie-birdie to win the U.S. Open isn’t just a spectacular accomplishment, but a rare one.

Correction, a VERY rare accomplishment. Only three times in the 120 previous playings of the championship has the winner finished with a pair of red circles to close things out.

To become the fourth then is a pretty big deal for the 26-year-old Spaniard. And it’s even more impressive when you actually realise who the other three are.

Turns out the first U.S. Open champion to win with back-to-back birdies was a man who became synonymous with the championship, Ben Hogan. He did it at Oakmont in 1953.

The next golfer to accomplish the feat? How about Jack Nicklaus, who did it when he won his fourth career U.S. Open title in 1980 at Baltusrol.

And the third golfer? Another all-time great in Tom Watson, who did it 39 years ago to the day at Pebble Beach.

Hogan, Nicklaus and Watson … pretty solid company to be keeping.

The post How Jon Rahm is now forever linked with Ben Hogan, Jack Nicklaus and Tom Watson appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Dave Shedloski
When Tiger Woods returned to the Masters in 2018 after a two-year absence because of chronic back problems, expectations for him still were remarkably high to the point that he had to interject in his pre-tournament interview, “I have four rounds to play, so let’s just slow down a bit.”

He was responding to a question that began, “Some people are saying that if you were to go on and win here this week, it would rank as the greatest sporting comeback of all time.”

Tiger wasn’t biting. He could smell the hyperbole from the podium. Plus, he knows his golf history. So his response was definitive and dutifully respectful to a man who returned from a near-fatal automobile accident to win six of his nine career major championships, including the triple crown in 1953. He knows the story of Ben Hogan.

“I think that one of the greatest comebacks in all of sport is the gentleman who won here, Mr. Hogan,” Woods said. “I mean, he got hit by a bus and came back and won major championships. The pain he had to endure, the things he had to do just to play, the wrapping of the legs, all the hot tubs and just … how hard it was for him to walk period. … That’s one of the greatest comebacks there is, and it happens to be in our sport.”

Woods understood that he hadn’t walked in Hogan’s shoes. But now, sadly, scarily, he faces a comeback equally daunting—or perhaps even more so—after suffering severe leg injuries in a one-car accident Tuesday in California. That Woods survived the horrific crash is something of a miracle, but then, the same could be said for Hogan.

It happened in the early morning hours of Feb. 2, 1949, Groundhog Day. On a fog-shrouded, ice-covered road 37 miles west of Van Horn, Texas, a Greyhound bus collided head-on with a recently purchased black Cadillac sedan carrying the sinewy Texan and his wife, Valerie. The couple was returning home to Fort Worth from Phoenix, where Hogan had lost a playoff to fellow Texan Jimmy Demaret. Indisputably, he was the top player in the game, having already won twice in January after a 10-win season in 1948 that included the money title and Vardon Trophy. In all, he had collected 37 titles since the end of World War II.

Because he had just begun to cross a small bridge on Highway 80, Hogan had no room to avert the oncoming 20,000-pound bus, which had just passed a truck and still was occupying the eastbound lane. Driving an estimated 25 mph because of the fog and ice, Hogan jerked the car as far to the right as he could and then dove across the body of his wife as the bus barreled down on them at close to 50 mph. That gesture of gallantry turned out to be a life-saving move for both of them.

Valerie, who was protected by her husband from being ejected through the front windshield, sustained minor injuries. But Ben, the reigning U.S. Open and PGA champion, was hurt severely. He suffered a broken left ankle, contusions to his left leg, a broken collarbone, a cracked rib, a double fracture of the pelvis, a head abrasion and internal injuries. Even so, he escaped certain death, as the engine of his car had pushed into the steering column, which in turn was propelled through the driver’s seat.

It took an hour to extricate Hogan from the wreckage and 90 minutes before an ambulance arrived. In the confusion, no one had immediately called for assistance. “Ben couldn’t understand why no one was coming to help us,” Valerie said later. He complained most about the pain in his mangled left leg.

Initially, doctors weren’t certain Hogan would survive, and if he did, they couldn’t be sure he’d ever walk again. Returning to top-tier competitive golf seemed like an impossibility for the 1948 “Golfer of the Year,” the first man since Gene Sarazen in 1922 to win the national open and PGA Championship in the same year.

Ben Hogan spent 59 days in an El Paso hospital after the accident before returning to his home, surviving a scare a month into his recovery when a blood clot travelled to his lung.
(Photo: Bettmann)

He spent 59 days in an El Paso hospital, but a month into his stay, Hogan took a turn for the worse when blood clots began to form in his left leg and one broke off and invaded his right lung. Despite his doctors’ best efforts, more clots formed, and Hogan’s condition became grave.

A specialist from Tulane University in New Orleans, Dr. Alton Ochsner, was brought in, and he didn’t waste time. During a two-hour procedure, the vascular surgeon tied off the vena cava, the main vein that delivers blood from the lower extremities to the heart. Because of that, Hogan would endure severe pain and circulatory problems in his legs the rest of his life. He wrapped them in ace bandages every day, and he soaked them in hot water and Epsom salt after every round. Just as Tiger had said.

Though he didn’t have the benefit of the medical advances available today to Woods, Hogan was only 36 years old at the time, physically fit and without a history of injuries. Woods is 45, only months removed from his fifth back surgery and has undergone numerous surgeries on his right knee, the leg most severely damaged in the rollover crash.

Hogan arrived home on April 1, and as ambulance attendants carried him to the front door of his home, Valerie said, “I want you to see the redbuds in the yard. See them?”

“I see them. They’re wonderful,” he replied, smiling. “It’s great to be back.”

In May, Hogan was back on a golf course, but only as a spectator at Dallas Athletic Club, where he watched Byron Nelson and other friends in the Texas PGA. He told reporters he was able to walk about three holes and feared that of all the injuries, his broken collarbone was the most worrisome. “It wasn’t broken in a place where it can grow back easily,” he said. “I wonder if it will ever permit me to swing a golf club right again.”

He improved well enough in the succeeding months to fulfill his duties as U.S. Ryder Cup captain at Ganton Golf Club in England in September and caused a minor kerfuffle by his decision to ensure his team was sufficiently fed by bringing with them nearly a ton of beef, ham and bacon. The Americans rallied in singles for a 7-5 victory.

Bettmann
Hogan was well enough to fulfill his duties as 1949 U.S. Ryder Cup captain, leading his team to victory at Ganton Golf Club in England.

It wasn’t until Saturday, Dec. 10 that Hogan was able to play his first 18 holes, touring Colonial Country Club with head pro Raymond Gafford. He did not reveal a score, but said only, “I didn’t hit them very well.”

Which made the events one month later truly astonishing. Returning to competitive golf at the Los Angeles Open at friendly Riviera Country Club, where he had won the U.S. Open (and where, coincidentally, Woods now hosts a PGA Tour event that ended two day before his accident), Hogan somehow played well enough to take the lead thanks to a final-round 69. But Sam Snead birdied his final two holes for a five-under 66 to tie Hogan at four-under 280.

His legs aching and weak, Hogan rued the thought of an 18-hole playoff, but he got a reprieve when heavy rains, which already had pushed the tournament into Tuesday, forced further postponement of the playoff by a week, to the following Wednesday. It didn’t matter. Snead emerged with the victory, shooting 72 to Hogan’s 76 and ruining a fairytale ending. But Hogan would go on to author a more incredible story a few months later by defeating Lloyd Mangrum and George Fazio in an 18-hole playoff to win the U.S. Open at Merion.

Bettmann
Sixteen months after the accident, Hogan held off Lloyd Mangrum and George Fazio in a three-way 18-hole playoff to win the U.S. Open, the first of six more majors he’d claim during the remainder of his career.

The “mechanical man,” as he was known in the press, was just 16 months removed from the accident, and he would add five more majors: two Masters, two more U.S. Open titles and the 1953 British Open at Carnoustie that completed his triple-crown season. He arrived home to a ticker-tape parade.

Because of his chronic leg problems, Hogan competed only sporadically after the accident. Thus, only 11 of his 64 career titles came after 1949, the last, fittingly, at the 1959 Colonial National Invitation in Fort Worth. Though still a phenomenal player, Hogan lamented that his game, “was not as good as before. I was better in 1948 and 1949 than I ever was.”

A postscript: The driver of the greyhound bus that struck the Hogan car was a man named Alvin H. Logan, who stood trial in Van Horn for aggravated assault for his role in the accident. Logan, 27, insisted that Hogan had crossed the median and was skidding sideways towards the bus preceding the collision. Investigators, however, determined that the bus was almost fully on the left side of the road at the moment of head-on impact. At the time of the trial, in mid-June, Logan already had left the Greyhound Bus Company following his involvement in another accident that resulted in one fatality. Logan was found guilty of the aggravated assault charge. He paid a fine of $25.

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Just as with the previous posts, I’ve relied on the knowledge of an able historian to help me navigate this difficult question. My guru on this journey was Laurie Rae, Senior Curator at the R&A. Mr. Rae gave generously of his time to help winnow 148 Opens down to the “best” 15. The wisdom is all his, the perceived errors in ranking all mine. Let’s begin!

15. 1954, Peter Thomson, Royal Birkdale

If there are two historical golfers who merit more attention than they get, they are Peter Thomson and Bobby Locke. Rae didn’t want to use the word “forgotten,” but I will. At least in America, Thomson and Locke don’t get the credit they deserve, possibly because neither took home an American major and possibly because they missed the early peak of televised golf. But for a period in the 1950s, they were dominant at the Open, winning eight of 10 claret jugs between 1949 and 1958. The ’54 Open saw Thomson claim the first of his five, and become the first Australian to capture the championship. He and Locke were among those who fought it out in the final round at Royal Birkdale, and though I couldn’t find footage of Thomson’s sand recovery on 16, I did find this delightful newsreel showing the action of the final holes:

14. 1937, Henry Cotton, Carnoustie

Cotton’s triumph in 1934 was critical because it broke a streak of eight straight American wins, but his victory in ’37 was even more important in that he defeated the entirety of the U.S. Ryder Cup team, all of whom had stuck around to play at Carnoustie after their 8-4 win in late June. Cotton’s brilliant final-round 71 came in torrential conditions, and he later said that it was one of the finest rounds of his career. With that result, he overcame a three-shot 54-hole deficit to defeat among others Byron Nelson. According to Rae, the Englishman’s win “maintained British interest in the championship itself.”

13. 1992, Nick Faldo, Muirfield

Photo by Getty Images

As Rae noted, Faldo was in the prime of his prime, going for his fifth major in six years. He had won the Irish Open, and at the start of this Open, he looked fundamentally unstoppable. He set a 36-hole record, beat his own 54-hole record and came into the final round leading by four shots. It looked like a coronation, but it was not—a miserable stretch from 11 to 14 saw him lose three shots, American John Cook catching him and taking the lead on 16. For Faldo, this “dominant” Open now became about resilience. Pulling himself together, he birdied two of the final four holes and squeaked out a one-shot win—a testament to perseverance and even acceptance in the face of what must have been massive disappointment, and the greatest of his three Opens.

12. 1927, Bobby Jones, Old Course at St. Andrews

Photo by Topical Press Agency

In 1921, a younger, more impetuous Bobby Jones became so angry at his play in the third round at St. Andrews that he tore up his scorecard and withdrew after 11 holes. He then insulted the Old Course, and the St. Andrews press fired back, writing “Master Bobby is just a boy, and an ordinary boy at that.” This, then, was a kind of comeback story, because in the interval, Jones had come to love both the course and the town. And as fate would have it, they loved him back. When he won by six shots, he was carried off the green by a jubilant crowd, and even asked that his trophy be kept in Scotland with the R&A. By 1958, Jones had become just the second American “Freeman of the City” in St. Andrews, an honor he shared with none other than Ben Franklin. At that ceremony, Jones said of the Old Course that, “the more you study it, the more you love it, and the more you love it, the more you study it.”

11. 1953, Ben Hogan, Carnoustie

What do you call it when the greatest golfer of his generation comes over for the first and only time in his life, had just a week to prepare for the links style, improved in every round and won by four strokes? You call it Ben Hogan being Ben Hogan. The win capped an incredible year in major championships that also saw him capture the Masters and U.S. Open. He remains the only golfer to ever win those three events in the same year.

10. 1984, Seve Ballesteros, Old Course at St. Andrews

I’ll be honest: I’m in this one for the little dance Seve did when he sunk his putt on the 72nd hole. But historically, it merits top-10 status for the incredible drama at the end. Tom Watson, heading into the final round tied for the lead, had one of his greatest chances to win what would have been his record-tying sixth Open. With two holes to play, Watson and Seve were tied. Seve had a putt to take the lead on 18, while Watson was struggling to make his par on the road hole. The drama can best be seen starting at the 44:30 mark here:

Seve’s putt instigated a two-shot swing, perhaps one of the most famous in major championship golf, and added his name to the list of legendary winners at the Home of Golf.

9. 1896, Harry Vardon, Muirfield

This was the first of Vardon’s record six Open Championship wins, and though Rae said that every one of them was noteworthy enough to merit inclusion on the list, this one stood out because of how Vardon out-duelled his great rival J.H. Taylor over a 36-hole playoff. While the tournament’s final round came on a Thursday, the playoff wasn’t played until Saturday, since both Vardon and Taylor had to play a different 36-hole tournament on the Friday. Taylor won that one, but Vardon beat him at Muirfield. Taylor would win again, though, and in fact there was a 21-year period where Vardon, Taylor and James Braid won 16 championships between them. “They were the superstars of the Open,” Rae said.

8. 1868, Tom Morris Jr., Prestwick

At the time, Tom Morris Jr. (if you’re wondering, yes, I was slightly disappointed that Rae didn’t call him “Young Tom Morris”) was the youngest player in Open Championship history at 17. Prestwick was a 12-hole course, and the three rounds of the championship were all held on a single day. Morris Jr. set a record when he shot 51 on his first round, which was then bested by his father, who shot a 50 in the second round to take a one-shot lead. In the final round, though, Morris Jr. struck back, carding a 49 to beat his dad by three shots and win his first Open (which came with a massive £6 prize). This was the first of four straight Opens victories for Young Tom. As Rae pointed out, his story is all the more poignant because of his untimely death—Morris Jr. died on Christmas Day 1875 at age 24 from a pulmonary haemorrhage. “There were often very few competitors at this time,” Rae said, “but the golf was no less impressive and the champions no less dominant than they are today.” Morris Jr. remains the youngest Open winner in history, and his father is still the oldest.

7. 1972, Lee Trevino, Muirfield

In terms of the greatest shots in Open history, Trevino’s chip on 17 on Sunday ranks near the top. He had bungled the par 5 up to that point, and had hole out for par while Tony Jacklin, tied for the lead, had a 15-footer for birdie. It looked very much like Jacklin would head to the final hole with at least a one-shot edge. “I really felt, on the 17th, like I’d broken him,” Jacklin would later say. But in one of the great feats of match-play-within-stroke-play golf, Trevino turned the tables. Watch it play out, including Jacklin’s subsequent putts, starting at the 3:45 mark:

For Jacklin, who had watched Trevino hole out twice the day before, the loss was unbearable. Later, he said, “I was never the same again after that. I didn’t ever get my head around it—it definitely knocked the stuffing out of me somehow.” Jacklin had already won the Open in 1969, luckily, and would go on to transform the European Ryder Cup team as its captain, but what shows the emotional swings of better than that moment, which gave Trevino his second straight claret jug?

6. 1961, Arnold Palmer, Royal Troon

Photo by Bob Thomas

The impact here was more wide-ranging than any drama on the course, in which Palmer beat Dai Rees by a shot. What really mattered was that Palmer was the first American champion since Hogan in 1953, and his win did more to increase the status of the Open in America than anything before. According to Rae, a figure as beloved as Palmer, who believed so much in the history and importance of the Open as the oldest of the majors—this was his second trip over, having finished runner-up in ’60—and who wanted to win it so badly, fundamentally changed how the tournament was viewed in the eyes of American professionals. Many had stopped making the trip due to travel concerns, the low prize money and various other reasons. Palmer’s victory completely changed the perception. You can see it in the results—the long American dry spell was over, and in the 60 Opens that started with his win, Americans have won more than half. In his unique way, Palmer made it matter again.

5. 1970, Jack Nicklaus, Old Course at St. Andrews

It seems like the great ones always manage to get a win at St. Andrews, and for Nicklaus, this was the first of two. Interestingly, Doug Sanders only needed a par on the 18th hole to pull out the victory, but he missed a three-foot putt after being distracted by something in his eye line. Despite Sanders’s disappointment, he battled hard in the 18-hole playoff. It came down to the 18th hole, when Nicklaus took off his yellow sweater and hit one of the most famous shots of his career—a drive that actually flew over the green, travelling about 360 yards in total.

He chipped close from there, made his birdie putt and beat Sanders by one. At the end of this video, you can see Nicklaus, thrilled beyond self-control when his winning putt caught the right and edge and fell, actually threw his putter in the air, which nearly managed to hit Sanders as it fell.

4. 2016, Henrik Stenson, Royal Troon

“Some of the finest links golf you’d ever seen,” Rae said, and really, what more needs adding to this incredible fight between Stenson and Mickelson? It ended with Mickelson cooling off, just slightly, but Stenson never did, tying Johnny Miller’s major record (for a winner) with a final-round 63, and set a cumulative Open record with his 72-hole score in relation to par of 20 under. In many ways, it was also the best possible result—Mickelson had already won his Open in 2013, and Stenson was a player who deserved a major, but was starting to look like he might never get one. To win the Open, as a European, felt appropriate, and secured Stenson’s legacy. Plus, there was that record-setting final putt:

3. 2000, Tiger Woods, Old Course at St. Andrews

It seems like every major has its quintessential Transcendent Tiger year, in which the GOAT demolishes the field in ways that defy belief. The Masters in 1997, the U.S. Open in 2000, and maybe, at a stretch, the 2006 PGA. For the Open Championship, it was back in the greatest year of his great career, 2000. This was the “Millennium Open,” at the most famous course in the world, and 239,000 spectators watched him post a then-Open record 19 under, beating his nearest opponent by eight strokes and securing the career Grand Slam at the age of 24, the youngest to achieve the feat. Rae reminded me of an incredible facet of his performance: In 72 holes of superb course management, he didn’t find a single bunker. Remarkable anywhere, but especially at St. Andrews. And it’s also worth remembering that coming on the heels of his crushing Pebble Beach win, it legitimately seemed like Tiger might never lose again. This was a kind of dominance we’d never seen before, and haven’t since.

hoto by JONATHAN UTZ

2. 2019, Shane Lowry, Royal Portrush

Call it recency bias, and in fact I implied as much to Rae when he ranked it second on his list. I made a small note to adjust the ranking later—the privileges of a writer/dictator—but the more I thought about his argument, the more sense it made. The Open, more than any other major, is about history, and the significance of holding the first Open in Northern Ireland since 1951 is about as historical as it gets. In the interlude, that country fell into decades of religious and political conflict, and the symbolism of the R&A returning to Royal Portrush was enormous. To pull off a safe event, embraced by the people, and for an Irish golfer to win … well, it didn’t matter that the final day lacked drama. “It made your heartbeat quicker to witness it,” Rae told me, and in the end, I agree with him—the historical importance is unmatched.

1. Tom Watson, 1977, Turnberry

Students of the game knew No. 1 without having to scroll down, or else would have been enraged to find anything else in the top spot. “The Duel in the Sun” between Watson and Jack Nicklaus was simply one of the greatest golf spectacles ever, and one that, to quote Rae, “will forever be spoken about.” It was about the great rivalry between the two men, it was about the sportsmanship on display, and, of course, it was about the golf. “It went beyond natural chronology,” Rae said. “It was legendary.”

Watson, 27, and Nicklaus, 37, matched each other score for score in the first three rounds at Turnberry, hosting the Open for the first time, pulling away together where by the end, they were 10 shots better than anyone else in the field. In the closing stretch, where Watson birdied four of the final six holes for the dramatic victory, but perhaps it’s best summarized by a quote from that final-round Saturday, when Watson turned to Nicklaus and said, “this is what it’s all about isn’t it?”

“You bet it is,” Nicklaus replied.

The post The 15 best Open Championships, ranked appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Dave Shedloski
“But these are deeds which should not pass away, and names that must not wither,” Lord Byron once wrote, and we don’t mean Byron Nelson, but, rather, the poet of the late 18th and early 19th centuries.

At Augusta National Golf Club, names certainly do not wither. Analytics might be all the rage in golf, but numbers and stats are ephemeral. Names resonate. And at the Masters Tournament, they are given homage. The Hogan, Nelson and Sarazen Bridges are famous landmarks, named for three legends – Ben Hogan, Byron Nelson and Gene Sarazen. Arnold Palmer, the first man to win four green jackets, and Jack Nicklaus, who owns a record six of them, have had plaques dedicated to them on the grounds.

Tiger Woods, that transcendent figure who won his fifth Masters title last year in a comeback that on which we get to reminisce a bit longer with the 84th Masters postponed, is likely to one day join them with his own monument of sorts – and, thus, further prove that Augusta National is not Tiger-proofed.

And, of course, other celebrated names come to mind, such as Sam Snead, Seve Ballesteros, Jimmy Demaret, Ben Crenshaw and Phil Mickelson, who are among the 17 men who have multiple green jackets.

With the addition of 17 first-time participants in last year’s 83rd Masters Tournament, the total number of players – including one Player, Gary – who have competed at Augusta National Golf Club is 1,307.

Nearly a third of those players, 469 of them, have competed just once in the tournament. More interestingly, almost half of the participants, 608, haven’t once made a cut – and that’s with the cut having not been instituted until 1957.

There have been 52 different Masters winners, and 37 of those men have unique surnames in the tournament’s annals. How many players have at least one top-25 finish in their careers? Try 548. Only 315 players have ever had a top-10 finish, with six-time winner Jack Nicklaus, unsurprisingly, having the most (22) not only as an individual but against any collection of surnames.

There have been 1,086 different surnames on the all-time contestants list. We numbered them starting with No. 1 Tommy Aaron and ending with No. 1,086 Richard Zokol. And the absolute most astounding and eerie coincidence – no, not Errie, as in Ball, who played in the inaugural Augusta National Invitation Tournament in 1934 – in this entire exercise is the name that landed on 747 before we added the 17 first-timers in 2019: Palmer. And the first of the four Palmers who competed in the Masters, is, of course, Arnie, the famed golfing aviator.

The leader in the clubhouse as the most common name in Masters history is the combined surnames of Clark and Clarke, which beat the Thompson/Thomson group 8 to 7. Close behind are Smith and Wilson, with six apiece.

But for sheer domination, the patronym “Mc” or “Mac” appears a combined 35 times starting with Bob MacDonald and ending with Harold “Jug” McSpaden. Translated, Mac or Mc means “son of.” Finish that thought at your own risk.

T.S. Eliot wrote that April is the cruelest month, but only January (Don) and May (Bob), ever were invited past the august gates of Augusta National. Daly (John) and Weekley (Boo) made appearances, too.

Holmes (J.B.) would not be complete without Watson. There have been four, including two-time Masters winners Tom and Bubba. And as for those five Lewis boys, they are complemented by the Clarks.

George Burns couldn’t hold a candle to David Frost. There was a huge difference between a Little (Lawson), who played in 19 Masters, and a Lott (Lyn), who appeared in only three. David Peoples played in two Masters, but Peter Persons got there first, in 1986, when the people’s choice made his back-nine charge to an unexpected triumph. Augusta has seen the Golden Bear, the Shark, the Walrus, and, of course, Tiger. Nicknames all. Meanwhile, an authentically named Lion (Lion Kim) made a lone start in 2011.

Colour me surprised, but there has been only one Black, two Whites and three Browns. Also, one Gray (Downing, one of the game’s best first names) and a Redman (Doc). Naturally, at sylvan Augusta, Green leads the field with five (or six, if you count Charles H. Greene).

Frank Champ didn’t become one in his only start in 1953, finishing 59th. Neither did Bob Wynn in ’77-78 nor either Victor Regalado or Victor Dubuisson.

Deepest apologies, especially to the poet John Donne, for even typing this: “Perchance he for whom this Bell (Art) tolls may be so ill, as that he knows not it Tolles (Tommy) for him. …”

At the Masters, Lee (Danny), beats Grant (James A.), as it relates to best career finish. But Grant, a northerner from Connecticut, won low amateur in 1966, while Lee, a native of South Korea, missed the cut in his 2009 amateur start. Before this piece really goes South – and it will, if it hasn’t already – we can point you in the direction of a North (Andy) and a West (Martin), plus an Eastwood (Bob) and a Westwood (Lee). Edgar Updegraff counters previously mentioned Downing Gray. Names that begin with the letter “U” number three, fewest in the alphabet.

Funny that there has been a Baker, a Brewer, two Cooks, and a Butler, not to mention two Hunters (Haas and Mahan), an Archer and a Potter, plus two Barbers. Wondering if Ken Still ever crossed paths with Gordon Sherry. Who was better, Peter Senior or Lee Elder?

For those who love the film Caddyshack, there is a Wang (Jeunghun). CIA analyst Jack Ryan might be a fictional character from Tom Clancy, but there was a real-life Jack Ryan in the 1941 and ’42 Masters.

If there’s a Will (George), then there’s gotta be a Way, but not at Augusta, although there is a Tway (Bob), whose son Kevin made his debut last year, bringing the number of father-son combos to 13.

A Walrus and a Shark, aka Craig Stadler and Greg Norman. (Photo by Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)

Azaleas and dogwoods bloom annually at Augusta. So have Roses (Clarence and Justin), Vines (Ellsworth), Cherry (Don), Cotton (Henry), and even, um, Pott (Johnny).

Four of seven Turnesa brothers – Jim, Joe, Mike and William (who was an amateur) – helped secure the title of most family members represented. In the inaugural event, Joe, Mike and Willie all were present. We really thought there’d be more Johnsons than four: Dustin, Howie, Terl and Zach, the 2007 winner. There’s a punchline in there somewhere.

The Smiths (six) have no Wessons with which to pair up, but there has been a Gunn (Yang). And they have more than kept up with the Joneses (four). The latter group includes Robert T. Jones, Jr., who created Augusta National and the Masters. You stock hounds will appreciate the fact that Willie Dow played in Jones’ first Augusta National Invitation Tournament. Three Hills complement three Dales, of course.

The Masters always has had its share of nobility, rank and title. To that end, you’d be happy to know that we’ve seen one Bishop (Stanley) and three Knights. Four if you count The Black Knight, Gary Player. Dick Knight appeared once, in 1960, and faced the two-round guillotine. The others are knighted subjects of the United Kingdom: the aforementioned Sir Henry Cotton and Sir Nick Faldo, one of three men to win the Masters in consecutive years, joining Nicklaus and Woods. Of course, there has to be two Armours to go with them, both named Tommy, two Spears (Richard and Herschel) but just one Shields (Bill).

In addition, there has been a Kaiser (Bill) and a Keiser (Herman), who won the 1946 Masters, a Barron (Herman again) and, yes, thank you, a Fuhrer (Frank B.), as well as one Duke (Ken) and one King (Rufus). But when it comes to the Masters, without a doubt there is only one man called The King, and he had his own Army.

The post What’s in a name? At the Masters, more than you know, including a Lion and a Tiger appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

The coronavirus pandemic has hit a giant pause button on fans being able to watch golf on TV, and in some cases, even kept people off courses. But while we hunker down and hope for a speedy return to normalcy, we can also use this time as an opportunity to learn more about the game we love. Here’s our latest installment of “Did you know?”

By Alex Myers
“Triple Crown” is a term usually reserved for horse racing and baseball, but Ben Hogan brought it to golf during one of the great seasons in any sport’s history. And it could have been even better if not for some bizarre scheduling. Let’s explain.

Many people think Tiger Woods came the closest to pulling off the modern calendar Grand Slam (Bobby Jones pulled off the ancient one as an amateur) in golf when he won four consecutive majors, beginning with the 2000 U.S. Open and ending with the 2001 Masters. But while Woods has argued it should count since he held golf’s four biggest titles at the same time, it was actually Hogan who missed pulling off the feat by a narrower margin in 1953. That’s because he didn’t even play in the year’s fourth major. Yep, true story.

And it wasn’t because Hogan had anything against Birmingham Country Club. Although . . . Alabama in July? Who made this schedule? Instead, it was because Ben couldn’t be there because the two events overlapped. We’re not kidding. OK, seriously, who made this schedule?!

After caving into peer pressure that he should play in at least one (British) Open in his legendary career, Hogan travelled to Scotland where he had to first make it through a qualifier contested over the final two days of the ongoing PGA. We’re not sure what’s more ridiculous: that these tournaments weren’t spaced apart or that BEN HOGAN, fresh off winning the Masters and U.S. Open, had to play in a qualifier. Regardless, Hogan wound up winning the claret jug, but had to settle for a Triple Crown instead of going for the calendar Grand Slam. Bummer.

On the bright side, he still got a ticker-tape parade in New York City for his accomplishment.

Bettmann

Even Tiger never got that!

And to be fair to whoever was responsible for that ridiculous scheduling snafu, it’s unlikely Hogan would have played in the PGA Championship even if it had been held a different week. You see, following his devastating car accident in 1949, Hogan never played nearly a full schedule again. That included his decision to skip the PGA for the entire 1950s decade due to it being a particularly gruelling week of six potential matches (he played in the event three times after it switched to stroke play in 1958), four of which were 36 holes. The poor PGA Championship. Even back then it was a distant fourth in the major rankings.

Actually, Hogan’s wife, Valerie, was worried about Ben, who was also battling a fever in Scotland, completing the 36-hole final day at Carnoustie in chilly weather. And after wiping out the field by four shots, the golf legend was pretty wiped himself.

“I’m happy, but so very, very tired,” Hogan said after winning the hefty sum of £500 (Did that even cover transportation?!) for his effort.

So it would have been tough for him to muster the strength to win another major that season, especially had the PGA been played after the Open like it was for many years. But it’s also tough seeing how Hogan would have lost considering he won all five official PGA Tour events he entered in 1953. Dude was dominant.

Anyway, Ben Hogan won all three majors he entered in 1953, and some guy named Walter Burkemo won the only big one Ben skipped. You’re welcome, Walter.

The post Did you know: Why Ben Hogan had to settle for a Triple Crown instead of going for the Grand Slam in 1953 appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.