| OCR Text |
Show 1 Steles of aS "f (Mairide Sfee &$if tS GRANTLAND RICE. (Copyright. J92-. New York Tribune In tenniH last year the two main figures were TUdtm and Johnsion. In lennis agoin th.- season ihe two main figures have been Tilden and Johnston. For tho last four years the two main turf tennis figures of tho world have been TUden and Johnston. But golf is another game is no way more wmeiy ciurereni man ns n.ctnou f remoVi&g crowns and shitting thrones. Here are tho four main golfing flv-ures flv-ures of the last thre- years, including the American and tSrltlsh uinners: i 1920 ECvnns. Ray. Duncan, Tolley.1 191.T Guilford, Barnes. HbtchlSOn I Hunter. 19J2 Sweetser, Sarazen, iiager.,' Holdemess. I Here you observe before you no less :than four new names each yeu. There1 i has been no repeating. For the Artier-1 : ican open and amateur ,and for thej British open and amateur there has been no repeater. Not a champion has-been has-been able to defend his crown with! any success Here are twelve of the greatest goiferH in the world, six aixatoUrfl hepj six professionals. Yet not one of them has been abb: to win more than one big national title ; in t hree years. Barnes and Duncan each came within' one stroke of tying Hagen. but neither, I could quite double up and collect two' crowns. SOME REASONS FOB THE 6 ME i Why is it that golf knows so many 1 6hifts and changes, so many new; I names along tho conquering line of ' marcli ? In the first place golf has more stars ! enrolled than any other single sport, l 'i barring possibly such widely different1 games ns baseball and football. In turf tennis when one gets beyond' the first tn or twelve there is usually! , a wide gap. i But in golf, after naming the twelve , winners of th past three seasons, one might name twelve others almost as I good ! For example among the amateurs ! there are Bobby Jones, Rudv KneppeT, Francis Oulmet. Roger Wethered and! Bob Gardner who are not down on the, i above list Among the pros there are Abel Mitchell, Johnny Farrell, Teo Dlogel I Havers, Boomer and others capa.ii , par-beating golf, capable of winning 'any championship. A I SO In golf, also, form nhlfts more qulek- ly. It In extremely rare that anv man has two great years In succession. ! At this tlmo last year Barnes. .Hutchison and Guilford were riding All three were well below the crest I when tho last big championship was concluded. Barnes and Hutohlaonl dropped well below their peel rani--1 Ing, Guilford making tho best hho-! j lng of the championship trio. And I even Guilford had bis troublos. Ho I was beaten by Roggls Lewis In the Apawamle invitation tournament, by Evans In Chicago and then slipped well out of the first ten at Skokle 1 all beforo Sweetser nipped him at! Brookilno by a decisive margin. Wo have another angle on this slump! in form where champions are con-1 cernod. It Is this Iho new champion becomes over-golfed. He Is in greater' demand than any one else. Is con-1 st.antly called upon for a tournament' or an exhibition, or else takes Bom! extended lour that leaves him stale I We rera i .Me remark from an amateur ama-teur champion of some time back after he bad 1 it hiM title. "Thank heaven I am no longer a Champ toi Now I can get cmc reat .nd pluv golf only when and where l want to. ' I am no longer public property and I'll no longer bo alck of the gam about three weeks out of the four." There Is little doubt In our mlnda but those long, extended trips auch us Barnes. Hutchison. Duncan, Mitchell, TTagon and Klrkwood havo taken are bad for one's game. Entlreiv too matt) matches are played where the touring sfar-i r weary and Worn nlally and phyalcally stale. And this rendi tion Is sure to lead u a certain slackness slack-ness In play. Sara.en hold up aftox winning the open until m had also won the P. G. A And then, after almost al-most continuous xoll, ho struggled tOI two S4s at Lido. I Sweetser. Saraaon and Hagun now take their crownn into winter Quar ters How many of the three will be holding a scepter this time a ear from n.,w ' The odds nre seven, or eight to ono against anv one of the three in any of the pig chanipionshlps. Form shifts too suddenly, luck Is too i-r. ,( a factor, and there are too many stars sprinkling the golfing sky. There wid be more good ones next summer than there wore this summer, for each season finds another flock Just beginning begin-ning to ripn with more experience and greater skill. Among the amateurs "Chick" Evand lias made the finest showing of the last three years. Ho won in 1!20, reached the'last four in 1921 and came to the final in 1922. Considering the growth and development of the game, this Is one of the most consistent performances per-formances now upon the books. It is complete proof of the extreme soundness sound-ness of "Chick's" game and his gre:il improvement around ihe green, where he is now a match for any one. , oo H |
