Ben Hogan Greatest of All Time. For those who were around from 1940-1960 got to see some of the greatest golf ever played. Ben Hogan was his name. He was born William Ben Hogan in Stephenville, Texas on August 13, 1912. Ben Hogan, as he would be called by his peers, became one of the greatest golfers of in the history of golf. The amazing thing about Ben Hogan is that he didn’t reach his greatest accomplishment until 1953.
Ben Hogan Tour Professional
Ben Hogan didn’t start playing professional golf until 1930 and he had dropped out of school his senior to pursue a career in following the sun on tour. He was at the tender age of 18. Ben Hogan’s first professional event was the Texas Open in San Antonio, in late January 1930. Hogan’s early years on tour were very hard on him. He went broke more than once. He did not win his first tournament until March 1940. Hogan won three consecutive tournaments in North Carolina. The North and South Open, Greater Greensboro Open, Asheville Land of the Sky Open, Goodall Palm Beach Round Robin.
Although it took a decade for Hogan to secure his first victory, Hogan’s wife Valerie believed in him. This helped see him through the tough years when he battled a hook that he later cured. Ben Hogan came to know his wife Valerie when they were attending Sunday school in Fort Worth, Texas in the mid-1920s. They didn’t get reacquainted until 1932 when he became a pro at a club in Cleburne, Texas. Valerie’s family had moved to Cleburne. They married in April 1935 at her parents’ home. Despite all of Ben Hogan’s tough times on tour his wife Valerie never left his side. She was, in my opinion, the rock of Gibraltar for him. Ben and Valerie were deeply in love with each other and even though they didn’t have children their love never wavered.
Ben Hogan Early Life on Tour
Hogan had to take an assistant pro job at Century Country Club in Purchase, New York. He did this despite finishing 13th on the money list in 1938. He worked at Century as an assistant and then as the head pro until 1941, when he took the head pro job at Hershey Country Club in Hershey, Pennsylvania. It was there at Hershey Country Club that Ben worked on his swing. he would later go back on tour and put his new swing and method under the pressure to see if it would hold up.
Ben Hogan Begins Tour with New Swing
When Hogan started the Tour in 1941 with his new swing he won 5 tournaments and none were major championships. This is something that bothered Hogan because he would measure his success by how many majors he could win. Hogan believed that he should win every tournament that he entered. In the next year (1942) Ben would win 6 times and that was playing in 20 tournaments he entered. In every 3 tournaments, he entered he would win.
Hogan is a Force on the Tour
Ben Hogan would not win another tournament or play in one until 1945. He would serve in the military in 1943. When he came back to the Tour he had an issue his putting. He only played in 2 events in 1944 and finished 2 in one and 3rd in the other. Then from 1945 to 1948, Hogan would play in 95 tournaments and win 35 times and finish 2nd 14 times and 3rd 12 times. To put it in a perspective that is out of the 95 tournaments Hogan played he finished in the money 61 times. That is a remarkable feat in and of itself when compared to the PGA Tour Players today. When you break this down even further, Hogan carried a 64% ratio of making money in all the tournaments he played.
Hogan From 1950-1953
Ben Hogan, in my opinion, should be considered the Greatest of All Time for what he did in this 3-year span. In 1950 a year after his near-fatal car accident that almost took his life, he won the US Open. No one expected Ben to come back to play golf at the level was playing due to the accident. Now, this is where I prove my point as to him being the G.O.A.T. Hogan only played in 6 tournaments and finished 1st, 2nd, and 3rd. The one that is most significant is the US Open at Merion Country Club. In 1951-1952 he played 7 tournaments and won 4 times.
Then in 1953 is where Ben Hogan made history. Hogan only played in 5 events, 4 were PGA Tour events and the 5th was the Open Championship in Carnoustie, Scotland. Every time Hogan teed up his ball in those tournaments he won. He won the Masters, US Open and Open Championship all in the same calendar year. Something that no other professional golfer has done, even today. That is why he is the Greatest of All Time!!
Response Magic