Golf_Digest_USA_-_May_2019

round of 32

BEN HOGAN

vs. BROOKS KOEPKA

seminole g.c.

juno beach, fla.

▶ to the surprise of no

one, Hogan’s first act upon

arriving at the tee was to

fix his withering glare upon

Koepka, hoping—expecting—

Koepka to slink away, intimi-

dated. But Koepka offered a

handshake and the words,

“If you wouldn’t mind keep-

ing your cigarette smoke

downwind, I’d appreciate it.”

Hogan, indignant, bogeyed

two of the first five holes,

giving Koepka a 2-up lead.

But Hogan being Hogan,

and Seminole being his

favorite course in the world,

the Hawk rallied. At the

par-5 ninth, playing into

a strong wind coming off

the Atlantic Ocean, Hogan

played his best shot of the

day, a 3-wood second to 15

feet that drew oohs from the

Palm Beach cognoscenti. He

holed the eagle putt, and as

he fetched the ball out of the

cup, Koepka leaned close and

whispered, “Mr. Hogan, a

guy who hits it that good can

smoke anywhere he wants.”

BILLY CASPER

vs. ARNOLD PALMER

the olympic club (lake)

san francisco

▶ palmer’s irritability

before the match—he’d bristled

when a reporter asked if it

would be a repeat of the 1966

U.S. Open at Olympic, in which

Casper made up seven strokes

on Palmer with only nine holes

to play in regulation, then beat

him in an 18-hole playoff—sub-

sided when they teed off.

Casper holed putts of 15, 12

and 25 feet to begin the back

nine for a 1-up lead. When Billy

holed a downhill, left-to-right

curler from 10 feet for par and

a halve at the 15th, Arnold was

overheard muttering to his cad-

die, Creamy Carolan, “I’ve had

about enough of Bill making

every putt he looks at.” Palmer’s

manager and friend, IMG legend

Mark McCormack, overheard

the remark. “Hey, Arnold,” he

said, “did they pass a law in

San Francisco saying you can’t

hole a couple yourself ?” Palmer

glared, then responded.

He hammered his drive at

the par-5 17th and bombed a

3-wood onto the green, 20 feet

away. Casper holed for birdie

from 25 feet, but Arnold, as-

suming his pigeon-toed putt-

ing stance, drilled the eagle

putt to square the match.

At the short, uphill, par-4

18th, Palmer slammed in a

20-footer for birdie, and sudden

death appeared imminent. But

then fate—and perhaps provi-

dence—intervened. Casper’s

four-foot putt for a halve start-

ed on line and true, but the ball

slid by the edge. Palmer fell to

his knees in relief, redemption

earned by a 1-up margin.

MICKEY WRIGHT

vs. BOBBY LOCKE

sea island g.c.

st. simons island ga.

▶ when the participation

of a female golfer was an-

nounced, one old-timer in the

field huffed, “A woman has no

place here.” Ben Hogan gave

the man a bemused look and

said, “Really? She hits it better

than you ever did.”

Wright had insisted on play-

ing the same tees as Locke, and

on a blustery day, she hit the

first 12 greens in regulation for

a 1-up lead.

From the 13th hole on, it was

putting that perversely did in

Locke, the jowly legend from

South Africa nicknamed Muffin

Face. A par for Wright at the 17th

gave her a 2-and-1 victory.

Before repairing to the bar,

Locke took Wright by the hand,

bowed deeply and said, “Miss

Wright, if you decided to play

with we men full-time, I would

leave the profession and seek

an easier way to make a living.”

JIMMY DEMARET

vs. PHIL MICKELSON

champions g.c. houston

▶ the two three-time Masters

champions elicited a large turn-

out, and the fans not surpris-

ingly shaded toward Demaret,

their hometown hero. One of

the few Mickelson supporters

was host pro Jackie Burke, a

Hall of Famer who recalled

that Demaret had baby-sat him

when he was a toddler.

Demaret grabbed a 2-up

lead after seven holes. Mick-

elson had three-putted twice,

then blew a three-footer for

birdie at the par-3 eighth and

laughed about it. Burke trot-

ted onto the green and swatted

Mickelson upside the head.

“I want you to feel pain when

you miss a putt,” he said.

A thunderstorm interrupted

play on the 17th tee after Mick-

elson had taken a 2-up lead,

and the two legends repaired

to the locker room, Mickelson

performing card tricks while

Demaret crooned 1940s ballads.

When play resumed, a Mickel-

son drive led to a bogey, but a

mammoth tee shot at the 18th,

followed by a 9-iron to four feet,

gave him a 2-up victory.

WALTER HAGEN

vs. CARY MIDDLECOFF

oak hill c.c. rochester, n.y.

▶ when reminded that Hagen

had won 45 PGA Tour events,

including 11 majors, Dr. Cary

Middlecoff replied drolly,

“Beating Sir Walter is going to

Koepka rallied to even the

match, but Hogan carved a

5-iron stiff for birdie at the

par-4 16th, then followed with

another 5-iron to six feet at the

par-3 17th. When Hogan’s birdie

putt fell for a 2-and-1 victory,

he removed his hat and offered

his hand to Koepka. “To heck

with that,” said Koepka, and he

wrapped Hogan in a bro hug for

the ages.

BERNHARD LANGER

vs. BYRON NELSON

inverness club toledo, ohio

▶ wise bettors noted that

this was a home game for Nel-

son: He’d served as head pro at

Inverness from 1940-’44. De-

spite being 5 down through 12,

Langer made three consecutive

birdies with his long putter to

get to 2 down. On the tee of

the 16th, a reporter overheard

Nelson murmur to his caddie,

“I’m glad Bernhard likes

putting with that thing, but I’d

sooner sell my whole coop of

chickens than use something

like that.” In the end, Nelson

prevailed, 3 and 1. His Inverness

supporters were ecstatic—and

so were Toledo bettors, who

made their biggest killing since

Jack Dempsey whipped Jess

Willard in their heavyweight

fight near Maumee Bay in 1919.

Photo illustrations by John Ritter

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hogan: The Life

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Tinued on page 106)

editor’s note

▶ in the april issue, Dan Jenkins introduced Golf Digest’s Greatest of All Time

Invitational—The GOAT—with the top 32 in the mythical event advancing from

stroke-play qualifying at Augusta National to match play at venues around the world.

In this month’s issue (and expanded online daily from March 20 through April 3), Guy

Yocom documents the 30 match-play results leading to the final at Pebble Beach. The

winner will be revealed online April 4 and in the June issue. Screenwriter Mark Frost,

whose books have included The Greatest Game Ever Played and The Match: The Day

the Game of Golf Changed Forever, will write two versions of the final with different

winners. For more details and to follow the event, go to golfdigest.com/go/goat.