This week, the assembled field at the 113th U.S. Open will walk by a small plaque on the 18th fairway, around 200 yards from the green. This plaque is dedicated to Ben Hogan, and marks the spot from which he played a one-iron approach onto the 72nd hole of the 1950 U.S. Open, from where he made par and forced himself into an 18-hole playoff with Lloyd Mangrum and George Fazio. The following day, Hogan won the playoff to clinch one of the most incredible and inspirational victories in the history of the game, coming just 16 months after his body was shattered in a life-threatening car accident.
It was one of the greatest victories of all-time. Among the most remarkable comebacks in the history of sport, and the players at Merion in 2013 will play from the very spot from which Hogan hit that famous one-iron, in what became one of the most famous and iconic golf shots in history.
On the 2nd of February 1949, while driving on a foggy morning just outside of the small town of Van Horn, Texas, Ben Hogan and his wife Valerie were involved in a head on collision with a Greyhound bus. For Hogan, it was a near fatal accident, as he bore the brunt of the impact after instinctively throwing his body across his wife to protect her.
His injuries were so severe that doctors warned that he might never walk again.
But Hogan, who had won ten events in the previous year, including the U.S. Open and PGA Championship, was determined to defy such a devastating prognosis.
A month after the accident, from which he suffered a shattered left collarbone, a double ring fracture of the pelvis, a broken left ankle and a broken rib, in addition to life-threatening blood clots, Hogan told the Fort Worth Star Telegram: “You work for perfection all your life, and then something like this happens. But you can bet I’ll be back there swinging.”
Somehow, against all of the odds, he was back out there. Within months of the accident, Hogan was walking again, and he made his return to competitive golf at the Los Angeles Open in 1950. In order to manage the walk around Riviera Country Club, where he had won the U.S. Open in 1948, Hogan’s legs were bandaged in order to ease the excruciating pain. Incredibly, Hogan fought his way into a playoff with Sam Snead, which he subsequently lost. But it represented an astonishing return to competitive action when, just little over a year earlier, his life was in doubt.
However, Hogan’s attention was firmly on his return to the United States Open, which would be played that year at Merion Golf Club, just outside Philadelphia. Merion was already a Club with a significant history, having been the site of Bobby Jones’ victory in the 1930 U.S. Amateur, where he completed the ‘Grand Slam’ – winning all four major championships in the same year.
Ben Hogan would soon write his own chapter into the folklore of Merion.
Coming into the U.S. Open, he wasn’t strongly fancied, with Sam Snead, Jimmy Demaret and Cary Middlecoff among the favourites. Many observers questioned whether Hogan would even be able to complete the 72-holes, particularly the final 36 on Saturday. However, Sam Snead, who had defeated Hogan at Riviera, did not discount the chances of the Texan. Snead told the Associated Press in the build-up to the tournament: “Hogan is the man who might make some trouble. He’s the man I’ve got to beat.”
After the first round of the 1950 U.S. Open, an unknown named Lee Mackey led the way, after shooting an astonishing round of 64 – then the lowest in U.S. Open history. Ben Hogan, who had a collapsible chair to sit on between shots, found himself eight shots back of the unheralded Mackey after Thursday.
Mackey collapsed on Friday, with a second round of 81, as Hogan made his move on a layout thet favoured his precision style of play, shooting 69, and he found himself just two shots behind E.J. Harrison with 36-holes to play.
Back then; the final 36 holes of the U.S. Open were played in one long day on a Saturday. For Hogan, this would present the ultimate challenge, as he attempted to carry his weak body around the course twice in one day. Not to mention, at the same time attempting to win his national championship for a second occasion. It would be a monumental challenge, but one that Hogan somehow managed to overcome.
Hogan played completed the third round in 72 strokes, and found himself going into the final round that afternoon just two shots back of Lloyd Mangrum, the 1946 U.S. Open champion.
In those days, there was no re-draw of the field between rounds, and Mangrum went out over an hour ahead of Hogan. However, Mangrum faltered early on, completing his front-nine in 41, before steadying himself to shoot 76 to match the four-round total of 287, which had been set by George Fazio, who shot 70 in the afternoon.
Mangrum and Fazio were now tied in the clubhouse at 7-over, with Hogan having four holes left to play.
Hogan found the second 18 holes a struggle to walk, and while walking off the 13th, he told his caddie to take his clubs back to the clubhouse, as he wouldn’t be able to complete the remaining holes due to the agonising. The caddie, who worked at Merion Golf Club, declined and responded: "No, Mr. Hogan. I don't work for quitters. I'll see you on the next tee, sir."
For years this was believed to simply be a mythical tale, but Hogan later confirmed that it had actually occurred, and he decided to follow his caddie’s lead onto the 14th tee.
And it’s fortunate that he did.
Standing on the 15th tee, Hogan held a two shot lead. However, he would go on to make a three-putt bogey, before dropping another shot on the 17th, after failing to get up-and-down from a bunker. Hogan’s lead had evaporated, and he found himself facing the fearsome 18th requiring a par to force a playoff with Mangrum and Fazio.
After a perfect drive, Hogan found himself with around 200 yards to the green. He elected to hit a one-iron from the fairway, which he struck beautifully, and the ball found the green, within 40 feet of the pin. (This was a moment captured by photographer Hy Peskin and it remains one of golf’s most iconic images.) Hogan would two-putt from there to make par, and he would face Mangrum and Fazio in an 18-hole playoff the following day. But the challenge of playing another 18 exhausting holes wasn't the only disadvantage that Hogan would face.
Astonishingly, the one-iron that Hogan used for that iconic shot was not in his bag on Sunday morning for the playoff, after it had been stolen from his locker during the night. Its whereabouts was unknown for 30 years, until an anonymous man sold it, amongst a full set of Hogan branded irons, to a golf collector’s shop. The owner of the shop, Bob Farino noticed that the one-iron was different to the rest of the clubs he bought, and had ‘personal model’ marked on it. Eventually, the club found its way back to Ben Hogan for verification, who remarked almost instantly after seeing it: “Good to see my old friend back. Give it to the USGA.”
The one-iron now resides in the USGA Museum in Far Hills, New Jersey.
On Sunday morning, the 11th of June 1950, the three-man 18-hole playoff for the 50th United States Open began. After 13-holes, Hogan held a one-shot lead over both Mangrum and Fazio, but the tide began to turn, as Mangrum birdied the 15th to remain within a shot. However, it was at the 16th that the defining moment of the playoff would occur.
On the 16th, Mangrum marked his ball to allow Fazio, who had struggled in the closing holes to fall out of contention, to finish. As Mangrum replaced his ball, an insect landed on it. The 1946 U.S. Open champion marked his ball once again, removed the insect, and then made his putt for par. However, as he approached the 17th tee, a USGA official informed Mangrum that he had incurred a two-shot penalty after incorrectly marking his ball for a second time. (At that time, in USGA Championships, players were only permitted to mark their ball when it was in the line of another player).
Mangrum’s chances had dissipated, and Hogan inflicted further punishment by making a 40-foot birdie putt on the 17th to extend his lead further, before making par on the 18th to complete a four-shot victory in the playoff.
Ben Hogan, despite suffering from intense pain, had remarkably won the United States Open for a second occasion, coming just 16 months after his life so nearly ended in a car accident. He would go on to win a total of nine major championships, including four U.S. Opens, in a career that ranks him among the most successful players in the history of the game.
Hogan may have been one of the finest strikers of a golf ball in history, with arguably the purest swing, but he was also one of the most tenacious and determined competitors of all-time. Such personality traits enabled him to make this incredible comeback to the game, just months after being told that he might never walk again, let alone win major championships. It was a story that was deeply embraced by a war weary public.
Coming just a few years after the end of the Second World War, Hogan’s recovery was inspirational to millions of Americans who had either suffered serious injuries in combat, or knew someone who did. Hogan’s story deeply resonated with the population.
His victory at Merion is not only one of the greatest achievements in the history of golf, but also in the all spectrum of international sport.
Hogan’s legacy will forever live on at Merion Golf Club, and the best players of today will play their second shots at the 18th from almost the same spot from where Hogan hit his defining and iconic shot 63 years ago.
In 2013, at the 113th U.S. Open, someone will follow in the footsteps of Ben Hogan and win America’s National Championship at Merion Golf Club.
And what truly remarkable and inspirational footsteps they are to follow.