Tiger Woods Should Play in the Inaugural Ben Hogan Invitational

The photo above is from a swing sequence taken back in the late 1940's. I am not sure of the venue and it could have been from an exhibition that Ben Hogan participated in during that time period. Hogan played in quite a few exhibitions for corporate outings and local fund raising events without seeking a lot of attention for these charitable contributions of his time and fame. Professional golfers today, both Tour players and members of the PGA, do the same thing with a lot of good publicity attached to the events.

I know this is wishful thinking. But it would make for an outstanding story. I would love to see Tiger play at the inaugural Ben Hogan Invitational Tournament in September at Shady Oaks CC in Fort Worth. It just seems to really fit well when I do a simple gut check on the idea. Tiger just recently attached his participation to an event his fellow professional and friend Notah Begay has for his charity. It is really wonderful to see generosity from those players.

The event is for charity and supports several organizations including The First Tee, The Ben Hogan Foundation, and Henry House. Again, the value of golf in our communities goes well beyond recreation and entertainment as the PGA Tour tournaments and local fund raising golf events throughout the country provides much needed support for important charities.

The prize for the professionals is a crystal trophy of Mr. Hogan's hands holding a golf club. The trophy will be one of a kind as it is the first event. I would bet on Tiger to win. His golf swing is getting better and he would have a lot of fun playing the Shady Oaks Championship Course where Mr. Hogan played in his later years.

Maybe Mark Steinberg of IMG will see this and whisper in Tiger's ear.... or maybe Tiger will hear of it some other way and want to play. If there was just a little room on his busy schedule!