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. i, f ;;l iff] . idip* 1 Start Play in U. S. Open Golf Today Ben Hogan Favored Over Field of 162 - Texan Gunning for Fourth Title; Snead, Burke,Mangrum Rated Toughest Opponents By OSCAR FRALEY United Press Sports Writer DALLAS, Tex., June 11. — Bantam Ben Hogan, the little man with the big game, was favored tonight on the eve of the 52d TJ. S. Open golf championship to score his fourth triumph in Americas greatest golfing classic despite a "now or never" bid by red-hot Sam Snead. A select field of 162 of the nations finest shotmakers start the nerve-shattering three-day trek over the rolling, sun-blistered acres of North wood club tomorrow. But regarded as the man to beat in single rounds Thursday and Friday and the closing two rounds among the low 50 Saturday, was Hogan. For Bantam Ben has proved in the last four years that in this one, with all its pulse -pounding pressure, he has the shots and the savoir faire of the golfing immortals. He won it in 1948 and was fighting for his life, after a near-fatal accident, the next year. But Hogan limped back to take it again in 1950 and retained it once more last year. Won Colonial Invitation In semi-retirement, the gallant little Texan showed he was ready recently when he won the Colonial Invitation at nearby Fort Worth. Since then, he has been driving here every other day from his Fort Worth home to sharpen his game over Northwoods 6,782-yard par 70 layout. And he is a picture of determination as he goes out in an attempt to match the four-time open total of Bobby Jones and ancient Willie Anderson. Snead, the long-belting hill-billy from the Blue Ridge mountains of Virginia, was just as determined to finally win the big one which always has eluded him. He showed that he was ready for his "now or never" bid yesterday when he matched the course record with a blazing 64 — which easily could have been a 62 — compared with Hogans best practice round of 71. But the psychological edge was against the Slammer. Four times he has had this greatest prize of the fairways within his grasp. Four times he has blown it. In 1937 he was second; In 1939 he had it won, needing only a par five on the final hole, when he blew to his infamous eight; In 1947 Sam lost a playoff to Lew Worsham by flubbing a 30-inch putt on the final hole, and in 1949 he needed two pars for a tie — and wallowed home with a bogey five on the final hole. Came Back Strong After Vacation Winning it has become an obsession with the picture -swinger. And at 38 he knows time is getting short. So last- winter he took a long vacation from the game and since his . return has been near invincible. He won the Seminole and Aiken events and then, in the coveted Masters, scored a heartening victory after being tied with ice-water Hogan as they started the final round. "This is my year," Sam commented grimly after his final practice round under a sizzling sun which baked greens lightning fast and promised 90-degree heat for the entire tournament. "Ahm gonna win this thing." It provided a strange atmosphere, almost as if this was a two-man tournament, but underlying the Hogan-Snead duel was the fact that almost any one of some 30 tournament-toughened professionals was capable of winning. This list included Jackie Burke of Houston, leading money-winner of the tournament circuit; Lloyd Mangrum, the 1946 champion from Chicago; Cary Middlecoff, the Memphis dentist who won in 1949; Standbys like Jim Ferrier and Bobby Locke, or such newcomers to the big-name class as Doug Ford of Harrison, N. Y.; Tommy Bolt of Durham, N. C; Ted Kroll oi New Hartford, «N. Y., and Al Besselink I of Chicago. | The field included 36 amateurs, headed by National Amateur king Billy Maxwell of Odessa, Tex.; British Amateur runner-up Frank Stranahan of Toledo, O., and Walker cuppers Bill Campbell of Huntington, W. Va.; Jimmy McHale of Mamaroneck, N. Y., and Sam Urzetta of Rochester, N. Y. But although the Open has been won eight times by amateurs, none has been i able to cop the title since Johnny Goodman scored in 1933 — and they were given Jittle chance against the pressureized professionals. J BEN HOGAN— The sharp -shooting I Texan will be aiming for his fourth U.S. j Open Golf Championship when play gets under way at Dallas, Texas, today.
