Great Golfers: Ben Hogan
No golfer has come close to Ben Hogan’s remarkable achievement of winning nine of the 16 majors he competed in from the 1946 PGA through the 1953 British Open. He won four U.S. Opens, two Masters, two PGAs and one British Open. He won PGA Player of the Year honors four times and is one of only four golfers (Jack Nicklaus, Gene Sarazen and Gary Player are the others) to win all four major titles in his career.
In 1949, Ben Hogan’s car was smashed when a bus, swinging out to pass a truck, hit Ben Hogan’s car head on. The impact drove the engine into the driver’s seat, the steering wheel into the back seat. Ben slid from the drivers seat to the passenger side in an effort to shield his wife Valerie from the impact. Ben Hogan’s heroism saved his wife from serious injury and probably saved his life also. Valerie Hogan received only minor injuries, Ben suffered a broken collarbone, smashed ribs, a double fracture of the pelvis and a broken ankle.
After his bones were set Ben developed a blood clot, and doctors performed an abdominal operation and tied off the principal veins in his legs, preventing the clot from reaching his heart.
Many thought Hogan would never play golf again. But few had his determination and strength of character. “People have always been telling me what I can’t do,” he said. “I guess I have wanted to show them. That’s been one of my driving forces all my life.”
Sixteen months after the near-fatal accident, Hogan won the U.S. Open at Merion in Pennsylvania. His remarkable 1-iron shot on the difficult final hole forced a playoff, which he captured the next day by shooting a brilliant 69 to beat Lloyd Mangrum and George Fazio. The Hawk, who had been the best golfer in the world when the accident occurred, had regained his throne.
From the time of his discharge from the Army in August 1945, just after his 33rd birthday, until the car crash, Hogan won an amazing 37 tournaments and twice was leading money-winner for the year. A controlled left-to-right ball flight and sound course management were the main reasons for his success. After the accident, Hogan didn’t play more than seven tournaments a year because his legs couldn’t take the stress. Yet he won 13 more tournaments. Hogan retired with 63 tournament victories, third all-time to Sam Snead’s 81 and Jack Nicklaus’ 70. Only Nicklaus with 18 and Walter Hagen with 11 have won more professional majors.
After his professional career declined, he concentrated on managing his successful golf equipment company, the Ben Hogan Company, which he started in the mid-1950s. With Herbert Warren Wind, he co-authored perhaps the most quoted golf book of instruction: Five Lessons: The Modern Fundamentals of Golf.
Hogan, who was diagnosed with colon cancer surgery in 1995 and suffered from Alzheimer’s disease, died at age 84 on July 25, 1997 in his home in Fort Worth.
