Show sp a ina of sports like old man river keeps rolli rolling ing by ROBERT mcshane ne released leased by western newspaper union that sturdy little roman gene ba razen gave golf dorn one of its major thrills a short time ago when the fates decided thit that he and la law son eon little should battle it out for the forty fourth national open championship champon pon pion ship little won the match and no one denies that his was a gallant victory but it was a sad blow to the thousands ot of tans fans who have rooted for gene during the past 20 years they took consolation in the fact that the 18 19 hole playoff was just as exciting as could be expected in a man to man duel between two of the greatest match players who ever lived cocky and courageous has won virtually all the honors offered to a professional golfer thir ty eight years old this was his awen ty first national open t tournament our namen t after his debut at toledos To ledos inverness course he won the open in in 1922 and again in 1932 standouts Stan douts of the looking back over the terrific thirties one can find but a handful of standout golfers the handful includes ralph guldahl sam snead harry cooper and a few more most of the big names featured in golfing news belong to the johnny come com e the boys who look good during daring a particularly hot stretch and then settle down to a less publicized mediocrity gene won all six of the major championships five of them during the thirties in 1932 he won both the U S and the british open crowns establishing a scoring re record in england in 1933 he won the professionals match play tournament two years later he scored his still famous double eagle to tie craig wood and win the augusta A Z 4 Y GENE masters in a playoff he was western open champion in 1930 and metropolitan king in 1925 backers will concede that one other man was a consistently better golfer that was robby bobby jones from the time the emperor jones won his first title in 1923 until he finished competition the top roan man of them all was never without a title ile he won 13 major championships including the 1930 grand slam ol of the national open the national amateur the british open and the he british amateur when jones entered a tournament it was always him against the field that cant be said about or any other player since jones time gene calls the turn gene called the turn about two months ago he he said see any reason why at his age he still be good enough to t 0 win he planned on entering a few tournaments getting plenty of practice and then going out for bigger game the success of his strategy almost made a third time open champion of him and must have been a surprise e ven even to himself therell be no forgetting letting Sara zens s semifinal semi final finish to gain a tie with little needing to come back in 34 strokes two under par the connecticut farmer picked up birdies at the eleventh and thirteenth he go got t them by holing a bad eight ei foot putt on the sixteenth a terrific 30 footer on the seventeenth and just missing a 60 foot ettl attempt empt for a birdie that would have W won on the title for him on the eighteenth when the tournament wa was s over knew that youth finally had been served tournaments as tough as the open are won by younger men players whose muscles are elastic who can shake quickly the effects of a 2 grueling Pun punishing ishin round against he heartbreaking heart art breaking cor competition the little italian spoke his feelings at the trophy presentation following the playoff ff he placed his hand on the championship cup and said 1 I had dates w with ith this graceful lady in 1922 and in 1932 and I 1 had hoped to keep another on one with her today she led led me on for three days but today she said im sorry gene but im going to go home with mr little hes younger than you are enthusiasts gather whenever golfing en the name of ww will conjure ap up tales of a truly great competitor |