(5 of 6)
In 1946 (after 2% years in the Army, all of it Stateside), he shot his way right back to the top of the heap, with earnings of $42,556. But try as he might, Ben couldn't seem to win the big one—the U.S. Open. His swing still didn't suit him; his drives still had a tendency to hook.
"I've Learned How." In a quarter-century of the game, Ben Hogan had probably hit more golf balls than any man alive. Then one day in 1947 while he was walking out to a practice tee in Fort Worth, a brand new idea occurred to him. He hit a few shots in what was for Ben a slight change of style. He had lost the hook (which golfers say always rolls till it reaches trouble) and found a fade (a slight drift to the right) which he could control with great accuracy.
Then, Ben Hogan began to ease up on his solitary practice lessons. Said he: "I've learned how to play golf." His recent book, Power Golf (A. S. Barnes; $3), tells most of the golf tactics he knows—but not the one he discovered that day at Fort Worth. Of that one he says: "I won't even tell my wife."
Whether Ben had found a new trick or whether he had merely shifted his grip a little, nobody really knew. But he got off on the 1948 winter circuit at Riviera with a sparkling 275 (nine strokes under par) to win the Los Angeles Open and set a new course record. At St. Louis in May, he gave Mike Turnesa one of the worst drubbings (7 and 6) of Mike's career in the final of the P.G.A. championship. Last June at Riviera, where he got the big one —the U.S. Open—he chipped five off the old tournament record of 281 strokes.
It didn't improve his disposition much. He was still brusque with waiters and photographers. He was fussy about food. When he ordered scrambled eggs, he said: "Got any cream out there? Well, mix the eggs with cream before you cook them. Not milk—cream!"
"Thanks for the Check." At Buffalo in August, he all but ran Porky Oliver off the course in the Western Open playoff; Hogan had seven birdies and an eagle for a course-record 64. Later when the committee asked him to say a few words, the story goes that Ben seemed reluctant. So a friend got up and said: "I travel with Ben Hogan quite a lot and he has a set speech for these occasions. It goes something like this, 'Thanks for the check.' "
Like any good businessman or golf pro, Ben Hogan loves to hear a dollar clink. Last year, his gross income ran to almost $90,000. Besides his tournament prize money, he drew down bonuses and royalties from MacGregor Golf, Inc., which uses his name on its topnotch golf clubs. He masterminds a ghost-written golf column for the McNaught Syndicate, and Power Golf has already sold 54,000 copies. He is pressed to give exhibitions, for which he charges $500 on weekdays, $700 on Saturdays and Sundays. Most of his money goes into the bank.
When Ben Hogan quits tournament golf, he wants to own a stable of race horses. Meanwhile, after twelve years of living in hotel rooms, he wanted a home. He prefers California. Says he: "Anybody who doesn't live in California is a victim of circumstances." But because Valerie Hogan still prefers Fort Worth, that's where he bought his new Colonial-style house three months ago.