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Show p Uales of a5 BB ggy y GRANTLAND RICE (Copyright. 1022 New York Tribune,. Inc.) There is a world of drama in an open golf championship for those who! care to peer back of the curtain and! get the inside story. Skill, of course, plays a leading' role, but wo sometimes wonder whether the break of luck among : the leadors Isn't almost as import-: ant. In the course of taking 300 6troke.s for the four consecutive rounds you I can flgcrc this out for yourself the putLs that hang upon the lip. the putts that pop in and then pop out, one bad drive that stops Just shoit of a deep trap, another that bourn's along Into a heel print against the bank. I Those In the running know th t each stroke may mean the winning or the losing of a championship worth at least $20,00, outsido of the official prizes given. No wonder the strain is heavy and the pulse often starts Jumping sldo-ways. sldo-ways. TUP LUCK OF TIIF. GAME. The championship that begins at Bkokie on Monday should bo extremely extreme-ly close. ( I . . i i 1 . qI r,Lne mnv i- A f V n r. w settle the Issue. Last year at Colum-; bia Leo Delgel, at the long fifth, was uncertain whether or not he waa out of bounds. He played the ball out and got a 4; one under par But it was decided that ho was out by 6 inches on his drive and with this second ball he took 11. Six inches hero nTOde a difference of seven strokes. At Inverness on I the last round Ted Ray. after being trapped on three of tho four holes, holed a 20 footer at the first green. a 25 footer at the second, a 30 foot-er foot-er at the third and a 2G footer at, tho fourth On the same round near tho finish , V.irdon had two short putts that hit! the cup wild jumped out And Raj I beat Yardon by one stroke. in 1919 at Braeburn, starting the last round Mike Brady led Walter ' Hagen by five strokes. At the third ' hole Brady had an 18-inch putt for ! a 4 As his putter started forward a I big butterfly lit on the ball and Brady missed. That putt cost him the ' championship In 19n at Baltusrol, Tommy Mc-Nnmara. Mc-Nnmara. coming to the fourth hole, 'struck within two inches of the top I Of the bunker on his approach to tho , green. The ball dropped back into a heel print against the hank In place of taking an easy o, he got an S. And he was beaten iy one stroke for the big title. Jim Barnes took a G on 1 par, 3 hole at Sandwich In his last round a hole he had been playing consistently in par and lost the title l.v one stroke. At St. Andrews, Rojjt Wethered stepped on his pall as he lis walking backward to keep the , line and this one stroke penalty cost 1 him the big 1 row n. There are the long putts that drop In waving a stroke. There an the short putts that stay out costing a stroke. When you are battling with 125 acres of naturo over a flvo mile stretch of turf, water, woods, ravines rav-ines and sand, you can easily see Whal a leading role, chance must pis ' Luck isn't all of it, for only the elect have any chance to figure, howevor the luck may run Seventy-two lodes with pencil and card keeping tab Where most of the finest golfers in the world arc gathered make? one of the supreme tests of competitive sport Even the star who weakens, Who loses his grip upon his nervous , system is lost beyond recall. A golf-1 golf-1 er can have hard luck and still win I But not if he permits that hard luck to get upon his nerves or break up ; his mental poise. For at one time or another they ore all going to etep I into their share of trouble It Is I then merely a question of getting out and going on In 1920 Deal. Geor jc Duncan started with an So and an SI. 1 He was thirteen strokes back of Abe ; Mitchell Yet Duncan won. There arc a whole flock of golfers who can shoot one or two flno rounds In an open. But they can't hold on. Once they start slipping! tho decline turns into an avalanche. There are only a few who can hook 1 one fine round to another, and who j can keep their worst round In reasonable rea-sonable bounds. And who after a slip can step back promptly with tho winning stuff Even the duffer at tlmee caJ play one or two holes as well a.s Hagen or Barnes. This 1j one of the main lures of golf. If one or two holes In par why not tan or twelve." In the same way there are numberless good golfers who can turn out one or two brilliant rounds, Put who are usually far out at tho finish- The 72-hole route, In addition addi-tion to rare skill, calls for the heart of an Iron ox. It Is for this reason at Skokle among the pros that names of Hagen, 1 Barnes, Hutchison and Duncan are so Often mentioned, with the names of Mitchell and Klrkwood demanding lt- tention. They bave shown their ability abil-ity to go the route. These six could , be taken against the big field with better than an even chance of coming com-ing through. They have stood up , under the heavy pressure before an l bave become seasoned by success. j And this la no light factor In the final I round-up. |