Ben Hogan Comes Back

Right back in the groove after getting out of the Army, 132-lb. Ben Hogan, the man with the delayed wrist-lash, still could belt a golf ball out of sight. On the fairways, he never made a careless shot. His ability to concentrate was hard to believe. Once again he was a man to beat on the pro circuit.

After romping home first in the Nashville Open, 19 strokes below par, the wasp-waisted Texan headed for Dallas. En route last week, he came down with flu, gobbled some sulfa pills, decided to play anyhow. Despite a 102° fever, he fired a 68 to tie for the first-round lead in the $10.000 Dallas Open. But next day, woozy from sulfa, he slumped to 74. After that he could not catch Sam Snead (lately recovered from a broken arm), Jug Mc-Spaden or Byron Nelson. Hogan finished fourth with a 3-under-par. In the longer run he was a good bet to succeed wartime golf's king of the links, fast-greying Byron Nelson, now 18 Ibs. underweight after the nerve-wearing grind of winning 16 tournaments within a year.