Hogan's Comeback.

Hogan's Comeback. American professional golfer Ben Hogan stunned the golfing world when he entered tournaments less than a year after he suffered severe injuries in a 1949 automobile accident. His march up the ranks of golf is chronicled here. . Ben Hogan's Comeback Sports history is filled with tales of those who suffer a devastating injury only to return to glory. But perhaps no athlete has recovered so dramatically from such severe injuries to achieve as golfer Ben Hogan did in the early 1950s. Hogan was golf's hottest player when his car collided head-on with a bus on February 2, 1949. His wife, Valerie, wasn't hurt, but Hogan had to be pried from the crushed vehicle. His injuries were extensive: a double fracture of the pelvis, a broken collarbone, broken rib, broken ankle, and several internal injuries. His doctors didn't expect him to be able to compete again. Less than a year after the accident, in January 1950, Hogan entered the Los Angeles Open. Still in pain from his injuries, he had to rest between shots. But he shot 69 in each of the last three rounds, finishing second after forcing a play-off with Sam Snead. Six months later he again surprised the golf world by entering the United States Open in Ardmore, Pennsylvania. He shot a 72 the first day. Entering the second day eight strokes behind the leader, he fired a 69 to pull within two strokes. The final two rounds were to be played in one day. Hogan, his legs aching, finished the third round in a four-way tie for second, one stroke off the lead. On the 18th hole of the last round he hit a 3-foot putt to tie George Fazio and Lloyd Mangrum. An 18-hole play-off was held the next day, and Hogan registered a 69 to win by four strokes. Less than a year and a half after his near-fatal accident, he won golf's biggest tournament. Hogan won the Masters tournament in 1951 and then scored one of his greatest victories at the 1951 U.S. Open. The tournament was held at the Oakland Hills course in Birmingham, Michigan. Course designer Robert Trent Jones added 66 sand traps to give the course 121 bunkers, many of which were situated to discourage long drives or daring approaches to the green. Jones defended his brutal additions to the course, which the golfers referred to as the "Thing." "Great and accurate shots will earn their just rewards," he said. "The slightest miss or badly executed shot will be punished. A great champion should emerge." Hogan, calculating and precise, was just the kind of golfer to tame the Thing. On opening day none of the golfers cracked par; 122 of the 162 competitors shot 76 or worse. Hogan was in that field, with a 76. He lowered that to 73 the second day and 71 in the third round to pull within two strokes of coleaders Bobby Locke and Jimmy Demaret. But on the final round Hogan registered a 67, the first round below par in the tournament, to bolt into the lead. On the final hole, a 459-yard par 4 with a curve onto the green, Hogan birdied it after eyeing the ball for more than 30 seconds. Only one other golfer, Clayton Heafner, with a 69 on the final round, completed a round under par. "Under the circumstances," Hogan said, "it was the greatest round I've ever played." Life magazine went further: "Probably the greatest golf round ever played," it said. Microsoft ® Encarta ® 2009. © 1993-2008 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.