The Iconic Ben Hogan

Posted on August 7, 2018

William Ben Hogan was born on August 13, 1912 in Stephenville, Texas. Hogan was the youngest of three children. He took up caddying at the age of 11 at the Glen Garden County Club. It was there his life long obsession with the game of golf began. There Hogan began his devotion to the game he would dominate, but not without overcoming many struggles.

One of the earliest tragedies Hogan faced was at 9 years old with the passing of his father, Chester Hogan. Many attribute this early experience as the cause of Hogan’s introverted attitude. Ben and his other siblings took various odd jobs to help their mother, Clara Hogan who worked as a seamstress. After selling newspapers Hogan made his way to the Glen Garden Country Club where he caddied alongside fellow future golf legend, Byron Nelson.

Nelson and Hogan began a lifelong friendship and playful rivalry during their time at the Glen Garden Country Club. They played against each other in caddie tournaments and later in professional tournaments. On a few rare occasions the pair teamed up to put on a display of near flawless golf. It was in part watching the success of Nelson which fueled Hogan to keep pursuing professional golf.

Although Hogan is today considered one of the greatest golfers, his start as a professional was full of strife. Hogan’s early golf game suffered from a hook, which he first developed during his time as a caddie. In 1930 when Hogan was 17 he turned professional and competed in the Texas Open in San Antonio. He failed to make the cut. Two years later Hogan joined the PGA Tour in 1932.

Hogan failed to claim victory during his 1932 PGA Tour season, but it was still a good year for him. He landed a club pro position in Cleburne which just so happened to be where Valerie Fox, an old friend from Fort Worth, lived. Ben and Valerie reconnected and were married 3 years later. Valerie became one of Ben’s cornerstones and biggest supporters. The two set out on the PGA Tour circuit to follow the sun, so Ben could give playing professionally one more shot.

Hogan worked diligently to correct his hook which had hindered his early game. After making a change in his grip he was able to turn the hook into a controlled fade. Hogan was affected by the crowds as well when playing. He had to get into a trance-like state where he blocked out the galleries and even his playing partners, focusing solely on his game, to perform well on tour. This earned him nicknames such as the “Hawk,” “Wee Iceman,” and the “Mechanical man.” After nearly going broke many times and dining on meals which consisted of oranges picked at the golf course, Hogan got his break. In 1938 he earned his first professional win at the Hershey Four-Ball with teammate Vic Ghezzi.

Finally, in March of 1940, ten years after turning pro, Hogan won his first individual professional tournament at the North and South Open at Pinehurst, North Carolina. Hogan beat out Sam Snead by three strokes finishing at 11-under, a new tournament record. After finishing runner up in so many past tournaments, Hogan had found the key to winning. He won three more tournaments that year.

Hogan went on to win 11 more tournaments in 1941 and 1942. In 1943 Hogan, along with many other tour pros, answered the call and joined the U.S. Army Air Forces during World War II. Upon returning in June of 1945, Hogan went back on the PGA tour and added 5 more tournaments wins to his career that year. In 1946 Hogan won the most tournaments in a single year of his career with 13 victories, including winning his first major title at the PGA Championship.

From 1947 through 1949 Hogan would win 19 more tournaments. Among those wins were two major championships in 1948, the PGA Championship for the second time and his first U.S. Open title. In February of 1949 during a foggy night in Texas Ben Hogan and his wife, Valerie, were in a severe head-on collision with a greyhound bus. Hogan selflessly threw himself across Valerie to protect her as they crashed. He inadvertently saved himself in the process because he would’ve been crushed by the steering column. He suffered fractures of the pelvis, collar bone, left ankle, a chipped rib, and blood clots which would cause circulation issues that hindered Hogan from ever playing a full season again.

The heroic act spread across the news headlines and Hogan became an icon. The man who’d closed himself off to the galleries to perform on the course received countless fan letters in support of his recovery. Hogan discovered a fan base he never thought he had. This invigorated his spirit to make a comeback to golf not just for himself, but for his newly found fans.

A determined Hogan returned to playing golf in November 1949. At the 1950 Los Angeles Open, in January, Hogan finished second behind Sam Snead after an 18-hole playoff. In June 1950, a mere 16 months after his accident, he won the 1950 U.S. Open in what became known as the “Miracle of Merion.” In 1951, Hogan only entered five tournaments, but won three of them including two majors the Masters and the U.S. Open along with the World Championship of Golf. His comeback story was turned into a movie, starring Glenn Ford and Anne Baxter, entitled “Follow the Sun” which was the first movie based on an individual golfer released in 1951. Hogan was on set during the filming and actually hit the golf shots for the movie.

In 1953, Hogan became the first player to achieve the Triple Crown of Golf, winning three major championships in a year, the Masters, U.S. Open, and British Open. (A feat only repeated by Tiger Woods in 2000.) Hogan’s 1953 U.S. Open win was his fourth which ties him for the most U.S. Open titles. Unfortunately for Hogan he was unable to earn the single season grand slam because the play of the PGA Championship that year overlapped the play of the British Open, which he won. With Hogan’s win at the British Open, his only time competing in the tournament, he completed his career grand slam, winning all four modern majors throughout his career. Hogan received a ticker-tape parade from the city of New York upon his victorious return from the British Open.

For his success in 1953 Hogan was awarded the Hickok Belt as the top professional athlete of the year in the United States. Hogan decided to capitalize on his most successful year and began his own golf club company in Fort Worth, Texas in the fall of 1953. The Ben Hogan Golf Company began production in summer of 1954. In 1960 Hogan sold his company to American Machine and Foundry but remained on as president.

Having struggled early with a large hook Hogan was a diligent practitioner of the game and developed one of the greatest swings in golf. Hogan was a stickler for practice and would spend hours on the range to work on his swing. Hogan shared the lessons he’d learned through appearances on the Ed Sullivan show and in the book Five Lessons: The Modern Fundamentals of Golf, written with Herbert Warren Wind. In it Hogan breaks down the swing into four parts: the fundamentals, the grip, stance and posture, and the swing.

Hogan’s legacy in the game of golf is undeniable as he often appears towards the top of greatest golfers of all time lists by publications. He ended his career with 64 PGA Tour wins including 9 major championships. The Golf Writers Association of America awards the Ben Hogan Award to a golfer who stays active in golf despite a handicap or illness, the first winner was Babe Zaharias. Golf courses such as Riviera Country Club, where Hogan won the 1948 U.S. Open, the Colonial Country Club, where Hogan won the Colonial Tournament five times, and the sixth hole at Carnoustie, where Hogan won the 1953 British Open, all bare the nickname “Hogan’s Alley” in honor of the iconic golfer’s success at those venues. In 1974, Hogan was a member of the inaugural inductees into the World Golf Hall of Fame. Hogan passed away on July 25, 1997 at the age of 84 in Fort Worth, Texas, but his legend will forever live on.

Categories: Golf History, Legends of Golf