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Show I SPORTLIGHT , Irish Stealing Scots' Thunder By GRANTLAND RICE I WHEN YOU look back over past records in the British golf championships, it seems odd to see a brace of Irishmen acting as the last two defenders of the British amateur. In past years Englishmen and Scots, from John BaE and Freddie ,w-Tgr, Tait through Hilton Ji on to the Tolleys I V and Wethereds have ? S b e e n the main tp- hopes across the y i f stormy water haz- " ard. ! Jt James I t I Bruen of Ireland I - I who led the pack in .r ... 1946 and now j , there's ' Sam Mc-Grantland Mc-Grantland Rice , . . Cready, also of Ireland, wearing the coronet of 1949. It is something for a first starter In a British amateur to roll back two such men as Frank Stranahan and Willie Turnesa down the stretch. Especially over what might be the toughest course in the world. At least we know of no other course or links that is 7200 yards long, par 74 where the normal weather is driving rains and battering gales. Yet McCready in his morning round against Turnesa shot himself a 70, just about the equal of a 62 on most other tests. It would have been pleasant to have had McCready Mc-Cready as a parlay against Stranahan Stran-ahan and Turnesa. It should have been a nice 10 to 1 or 12 to 1 payoff. pay-off. In the opening betting the final winner was around 40 to 1. First starters rarely ever win one of these big tournaments where experience ex-perience is almost as Important as skill. To stand 4 up at the midway point, to become 1 down late in the stretch, and then recover again is inbute enough to McCready's competitive com-petitive side. . It was a good thing for International In-ternational golf that an Irish-, man won. It will steam up the Walker Cup matches at Winged Foot in August where interested galleries would like to get a look at the swing that decapitated decapi-tated our two best amateurs. In the meanwhile, what has happened hap-pened to Scottish golf? What has become of the descendants of that ancient shepherd who began knocking knock-ing round stones into holes, thereby starting a game that in the U.S. alone has led to some 5,000 courses and some three million club swingers? swing-ers? It is time the land of the thistle and the bluebell came bounding back. A Champ Moves Up Some weeks ago, a few noncom-batants noncom-batants were kidding Bill Dickey about Ted Williams. Bill always has contended that Ted Williams was as fine a hitter as he ever saw. Ted was under .300 at the time. The Prince Regent of Arkansas Arkan-sas merely grinned. "I have an idea," Bill said, "that he will be back up there around the first of June. Nothing can keep back that eye and that pair of working wrists. Williams can wait until the ball is almost in the catcher's glove before he swings. And if it's a half inch wide of the plate he won't fool with it." It seems that in the race for batting bat-ting honors, Ted Is back where he belongs. He has moved from .290 to around the .330 mark. He also has his full share of home runs and runs batted in. He is the best bet of the year to become a Triple Crowner in the department of the ash. At this spot we can't see any one leading Williams to the batting wire in September. There is a big difference between be-tween hitting .400 now and hitting hit-ting .400 some 20 or 30 years ago. Williams was the last big leaguer to hit over .400 some years ago. But back in an earlier earl-ier decade we had Ty Cobb, Harry Beilmann, George Sisler, Rogers Hornsby, Bill Terry and others tapping the big mark from year to year. A .400 hitter hit-ter caused no undue excitement in those lost decades. There is another young hitter wh has moved up from his 1948 form His name is Ralph Kiner. Th Pirate bomber stopped in the .260'! last season. He has been nearly l 100 points better than that this spring. The Kiner-Mize home-run race is still something to watch. Both hit 51 home runs in 1947. Both hit 40 home runs last season. After the Memorial day double-headers. Kin er had 11 and Mize 10. "The kid worked hard all winter to be ready for this season," sea-son," Bing Crosby said a few days ago. "He has a set of exercises ex-ercises to develop hands, wrists and forearms. He is a fine boy who wants to learn. I believe this will be his best year. I hope so for we certainly need ' more of the same." "Any way," I said, "you ; Pirates have looked just as good as Bob Hope's Indians. Which is some help." |
