Hogan, "Ben" (William Benjamin)
Golf
b. Aug. 13, 1912, Dublin, TX
d. July 25, 1997
It took Hogan a relatively long time and hours of practice to reach the top, but once he did, he became a remarkably consistent golfer, even after an auto accident that almost took his life.
Hogan began caddying at twelve, when he discovered it paid more than delivering newspapers. He became a professional in 1931, but didn't win a big event until 1940, when he set a tournament record in the North and South Open. In 1941, Hogan entered 26 stroke-play tournaments, won 5 of them, and was never lower than 6th. He was the tour's top money winner and the winner of the Vardon Trophy for the lowest strokes per round average from 1940 through 1942.
After serving in the Army Air Corps during World War II, Hogan rejoined the tour in 1945 and won 35 tournaments in the next 4 1/2 years, including PGA Championship in 1946, the PGA and U. S. Open in 1948.
In February of 1949, Hogan and his wife Valerie were returning to Ft. Worth from a tournament when a bus hit their car head-on. He suffered a double fracture of the pelvis, a broken collarbone, a broken left ankle, and was almost killed by blood clots during an operation.
He had to learn how to walk and how to swing a golf club again. But, just eleven months after the accident, he tied Sam Snead for first in the Los Angeles Open, though he lost the playoff. In the 1950 U. S. Open, Hogan struggled with pain and lost 3 shots on the last round to tie Lloyd Mangrum and Tom Fazio for the lead, then won the playoff with a 69.
Forced to limit his playing schedule, Hogan continued to turn in brilliant performances in major tournaments. He won the Open and the Masters in 1951 and was named male athlete of the year by the Associated Press in 1953, when he won the U. S. Open, the Masters, and the British Open.
From 1940 through 1960, Hogan finished among the top ten in every U. S. Open he entered, and he was never lower than seventh in the Masters from 1941 through 1956. His British Open victory came the only time he ever entered that tournament.
Hogan retired from competition in 1960 after shooting a record 30 on the back nine of the Masters. Nicknamed the "Wee Ice Mon" by the Scots and the "Mechanical Man" by U. S. sportswriters, he was known for his outward lack of emotion. Will Grimsley once wrote of Hogan, "He was a cold, detached artisan on the course, likened by some observers to an undertaker weaving a shroud of defeat for his adversaries."