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i j Expect New Qualifying Record As PGA Stats Tee Off Today ! c I 5 1 t s J . I • l ; i » | 1 ; ; | i • L I j j t , ; . ; . • I 1 I ; ; . Snead, Last Years Winner, Forced to Pass Up Early Rounds Because of Injury By OSCAR FRALEY United Press Sports Writer LOUISVILLE, Ky., June 17.— The 34th i PGA golf championship was regarded as "wide open" tonight with defending cham-l pion Sam Snead nursing a side injury and 1 130 hopefuls burning up the short Big r Springs "birdie" course in final practice I rounds. A new qualifying record appeared in the making as phenomenally low scores were J carded in tune-up rounds preceding 18 -hole qualifying rounds tomorrow and Thursday. The low 64 then will go into match play which winds up with the final next Tues-; day. Sneads injury, the ease with which the course played and the surprise admission of E National Open champion Julius Boros, a i non-PGA member, were the chief topics of f conversation during the final day of prac- tice. Snead, winner of the championship in t 1942, 1949 and 1951, strained a ligament in , his side while playing an exhibition match , just before last weeks National Open. He .started diathermy treatments yesterday and I said he will skip the two qualifying rounds to give his side a chance to heal. The stylist from White Sulphur Spring, W. V., qualifies automatically for match play as 5 the defending champion. But with the zip gone out of the big fel-5 low, the rest of the field took new heart as it came up to the toughest test in golf — a marathon in which the winner faces 218 holes of golf in seven days. And the outsiders were indicating that ; the two-round qualifying record of 134 — held jointly by Jim Ferrier and Skip Alex-, • ander — probably would go by the boards. Scores in Low 60s Expected For Big Springs is only 6,620 yards long and there was unanimous agreement that scores in the low 60s could be common -- . place. Chick Harbert of Northville, Mich., the • 1947 runner-up, shot a seven under par 65 , and, when he was told that the course record was a 64 by home pro Jack Ryan, he 1 replied: "That records gotta go." Dr. Cary Middlecoff , the Memphis dentist who is playing his first PGA after serving j j a five-year apprenticeship, carded five i straight birdies on the back nine and said . the qualifying medalist might shoot 133 — or better. Meanwhile, there was heated discussion over the action of the PGA executive com- mittee in extending an invitation to Julius Boros of Mid Pines, N. C, winner of last weeks National Open. Boros has been a pro only three years and PGA by-laws insist that a player be a professional five years before becoming eligible. Because of those rules, a number of young professionals are not playing. These include such new tournament stars as1 . Doug Ford, Ted Kroll, Tommy Bolt, Skee Riegel, Fred Hawkins and Earl Stewart. Middlecoff held no resentment although he was not invited to play after winning the open in 1949. "I do think, though, that the five-year requirement should be shortened, because the life of a tournament pro isnt too long," he said. But there were many others who felt that the five-year rule should be abolished and that, if an exception had been made for Boros, the other younger tournament stars should have been invited, too. The PGA obviously sought Boros as a "name" attraction, with such stars as Ben Hogan, Jimmy Demaret and Bobby Locke sitting this one out because of its gruelling marathon demands. And PGA officials said that despite this precedent there was no assurance the same action would be taken I in the future. Some official decision was expected to be made at the annual meeting in November. It was going to be "rough" for whoever won it. Because after 18-hole qualifying rounds tomorrow and Thursday, the 64 survivors play two 18-hole matches Friday as the field is reduced to 16. Saturday the field is halved in 36 -hole matches with the same distance for Sundays quarterfinals, Mondays semi-finals and Tuesdays finals. And with the thermometer at 96, and expected to stay there, it was a long road to golfing glory.
