Saturday, November 8, 2008

Ben Hogan's 30's record, Tiger Woods 30's future

When Ben Hogan was in his 30's immediately after WWII he became Mr. Golf. He was winning almost every tournament he entered during this prime time of his career. Hogan is mostly remembered for his comeback from the horrible accident with a Greyhound bus in 1949 and his incredible majors run in 1953.

According to Hogan himself he was a better overall player after the war. The Ben Hogan Collection dvd set highlights some film taken during this period that shows that remarkable golf swing. The film came from the Alex Morrison portfolio of films and photos owned by McTee's Champions LLC. Golfers can see and learn from watching Hogan at his peak in these unique films. No other dvd set on the market has these films.

Tiger Woods is now entering that same period in his life as a professional golfer where Hogan was in the late 40's. With the credentials and records Tiger brings to this period of time one can surely expect some really terrific golf from him. Records will fall or be totally smashed. Tiger should finally shoot his 59 or better in competition. Hopefully he has taken it upon himself to continue his quest for a better swing, one that keeps him in the fairways and yields more birdies. Tiger has a great short game and is the best putter I have seen on tour. He will be putting for more birdies and eagles if he can approach the greens from the fairways and not the rough. Maybe he could learn to swing more like Hogan? What a nightmare it would be for competitors if Tiger could hit all 14 fairways most rounds like Hogan used to.

I wish Tiger all the best. Hogan would be proud of his dedication and perserverence to the grand game of golf.

Tom McCarthy

2 comments:

Mark J. Choiniere said...

Tom,
I really like the DVD set. But Mr. Golf after WW II was most certainly Byron Nelson, a motivational point that no doubt irritated Hogan to no end, as did his number 2 billing to Byron in the MacGregor club stable. I don't hink Hogan was liked enough before the accident to be even grudgingly granted that moniker.
It wasn't until his breakthrough efforts after the Masters of 1946 through shortly before the accident in 1949 that he achieved the type of results that Tiger Woods has certainly matched and/or exceeded, that is, expected to win every time he tees it up.
As far as comparing the two, Hogan was quite a bit older and had less bites at the apple (e.g., the majors) than any of the modern golfers. Considering that Hogan only entered the Open Championship once and the PGA only a handful after winning in 1946 and 1948, Tiger is going to have a lot more opportunities in the big events than Hogan ever did. Regards, Mark

Mark J. Choiniere said...

Tom,
Like your site. Really enjoyed the Ben Hogan Collection; I think you did a top notch job with it.

As you know it is incomplete. After all the work you guys put into the series, it was a shame that all Jim McLean could say about his secret was that "it consisted of a lot of little things or details...". The DVD missing is The Secret Revealed.

Below is my web site and blog (under construction). Once I publish my book I would be interested in helping in anyway possible to support the production of that next or final DVD in the series. It will require a bit of re-analysis, perhaps a dramatic recreation of the methodology I describe and a revisit of a few of the elements that are not quite correct in the video analysis.

Regards,
Mark Choiniere
mchirp@comcast.net
mark@thesecretofhennybogan.com

http://www.thesecretofhennybogan.com/