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Show T OS ANGELES. - The paths of Francis Ouimet and Eddie Lowery Low-ery crossed again at the Bel-Air course ef Beverly Hills. Who is Eddit Lowery? He Is now a successful suc-cessful San Francisco business man and a good golfer in his own right But nearly 28 years ago Eddie Lowery Low-ery was the 10-year-old caddie who worked for Francis i Ouimet in the fa-f fa-f ., ; N mous Vardon Ray f 4 play for the U. S. ' Open at Brookline in V j 1915. V V Ouimet's finishing yY,r' rush and his play in lne play-oil is now V one the main (ra M matic spots of all goIf' no matter now WxMlX&aS many centuries you Crantland Rice J, lorok bac Bu Eddie Lowery s part In that championship also has an interesting side which in the main has never been known. Lottery's Story "1 was only 10 years old at the time," Eddie said, with Ouimet listening, lis-tening, "when my older brother and I used to caddie for Francis. We both played hookey the first day of the tournament. My brother cad-died cad-died for Francis while I followed Vardon and Eay. That night onr mother said we both had to be at school next day. My brother went back to school, but I played hookey again and carried Ouimet's bag. I had to keep an eye on Ouimet's ball and also on the lookout for truant officers, who were pretty keen. "I'll never forget the last three holes of the last round," Eddie continued. con-tinued. "Francis had to play these in 10 strokes, one under par, to get a tie with Vardon and Ray, who had already finished. On the short sixteenth Francis had a 20-foot putt for a two. This seemed a good chance to go for that birdie. But he was too bold, and the first putt ran eight feet by the cup. But he holed that one for his three. On the seventeenth he holed another 13 or 20-footer for the needed birdie and then through pouring rain got his par four on the last hole which resulted in the now famous triple tie." What Happened Later "You can Imagine how tremendous tremen-dous was the excitement," Lowery said. "Few thought the 20-year-old kid with the 10-year-old caddie had even an outside chance against two famous British golfers who had played in so many British Opens. A good many of Ouimet's friends thought I was too young and too small to caddie in an event so important. im-portant. They insisted on some older old-er caddie, but Francis held out for me." "I'll pick the story here for a moment." Ouimet cut in. "Next morning, a short while before the match, Eddie came and got my bag. "You won't want to hit any practice prac-tice shots, will you?' he asked, knowing know-ing that I seldom did. I said, 'No.' Eddie then said. I'll see you in abogt half an hour.' 'Where are you going?' I asked. 'We start In a few minutes. min-utes. 'I'll tell you later. Eddie an-swered an-swered as he hustled away. As we were all three ready to drive off I looked around again and there was Eddie. " 'Where have you been?' I asked him. " 'I didn't want to bother you,' he whispered, 'but I've been hiding In that barn. There's a truant o nicer ni-cer after me to take me back to school so I had to keep out of bis sight. And listen,' he said, 'you're going to brat these two guys sure. You Just keep your eye on the ball and I'll take care of everything else.' " Lowery Speaking "As I recall it." Eddie said, "the three were all even as they passed the turn. I could see a worried look on the faces of both Vardon and Ray. They had expected the inexperienced in-experienced 20-year-old kid to crack wide open. But here he was coolrr than ever. He didn't watch their drives. He Just kept playing his own game. Then on the tenth hole both Vardon and Ray took three putts and Ouimet was out in front. "They all played fine golf the next few holes, and then big Ted Ray was the first to break up. This left the battle between Francis and the great Harry. And It was Vardon Var-don who finally couldn't stand the strain and the fast pace any longer as he, too, cracked and Francis with a birdie picked up two more strokes. The killing thrust. "Francis was still as cool and as unruffled as if he had been playing a dime Nassau with two old pals. It was still raining and the course was wet and soggy, but Ouimet's drives continued to find the middle. His iron play was perfect and hit putter was smoking hot. The two veterans couldn't stand up against that finishing 34 under such conditions, condi-tions, especially when they had looked for a certain runaway." "That must have been a big thrill" 1 said to Lowery. "It was a thrill I've never forgotten, for-gotten, and never will," Eddie laid. |