Sport: With Strokes to Spare

Slammin' Sammy Snead cussed his corset and his hook. Without his corset, he wouldn't be playing golf at all; even with it, his lame back (slipped vertebra) needed two weeks of rest in every six. His hook off the tee continually landed him in tall grass, behind trees. Yet crowd-drawing, drawling Sammy had somehow managed to stand the winter circuit troupe on its par-cracking ear. Ever since his 26-month hitch in the Navy, the once temperamental Samuel Jackson Snead had played with a brand new and compelling confidence.

The man he had to...

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