The Iceman Winneth

The smallest golfer in the crowd put all his 135 Ibs. behind one all-out swing. The ball screamed down the fairway, stopped 275 yards away. Ben Hogan was satisfied with his drive. That was the only shot in a tournament that he really enjoyed.

The rest of the winter's first big tourney, the $7,500 North & South Open at swanky Pinehurst last week, was uphill work for Hogan against his old enemy--himself. Ben froze a tabby-cat grin on his face, paid no attention to anyone else's score. He walked fast; a hare-&-hounds trail of cigarets marked his route; he smoked a cigaret half through, dropped it to make a shot, then lit another. If this was a sign of nervousness, his 170 rivals --many of whom had given up tobacco to steady their nerves--didn't think it was much of one. Said one competitor: with Hogan, the age of golfing man ended, the age of golfing machine began. After 72 holes, Iceman Hogan had a six-under-par score of 282, enough to win his twelfth tournament of the year and bring his winnings to $40,777.

In three months, pint-sized Ben Hogan had become Mr. Golf by picking up where greying, golfed-out Byron Nelson left off (TIME, Sept. 2). A good many pros are convinced that Hogan is now better than, Nelson in all departments, and at 34 he is getting cooler and tougher.

While waiting for golfers to get off the next green, he calmly practiced putting on the hole just finished. On every difficult approach shot he walked up for a look ahead; on trap and green shots he sometimes went up to see how the shot looked backwards. On one three-quarter-inch putt last week, he went through all the footwork and club-positioning that he used on a ten-footer. After a match, he usually retired to Maniac Hill (the practice range) to work on some minor flaw. Ben Hojan seemed to thrive on tension and hard work.

Said white-haired ex-Champ Tommy Armour, who played against Hogan last week: "Like Joe Louis and Walter Hagen, he'll never quit till they carry him out. They may be able to beat this boy in the muscle, but not in the mind."

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