New Champion

After two rounds of the U.S. Open golf championship last week, the sportwriters, and most of the competitors, conceded the title to Ben Hogan, who was gunning grimly for his third straight after his miraculous comeback. Hogan had pounded out a pair of one-under-par 69s, back to back. Going into the final two rounds Hogan seemed to have it cinched.

But golf's precision machine, two months short of 40, slipped a cog in the blistering (96DEG) Texas heat in the third round, wound up with a 74. While the crowd was following the big names, a swarthy, burly (5 ft. 11 in., 200 Ib.) player named Julius Boros, an ex-boxer who smacks a golf ball with punching-bag precision, slipped around Dallas' Northwood course almost unnoticed. Not until he posted his third-round 68, equaling the best of the tournament, did the crowd wake up to the fact that he led Hogan, by two strokes.

Hogan, always a fast finisher, was in his favorite role as a pursuer. Boros teed off first for the final round, played with a cool nonchalance that amazed the gallery. Chomping blades of grass, swigging Cokes, making shots with a cigarette dangling from his lips, the former Connecticut amateur constantly extricated himself from trouble. Gasped one sweating spectator: "He looks cooler than the gallery."

Boros scrambled to a 71 in the final round, then sat back to see what Ben Hogan could do about it. Hogan, drained and grim-faced, could do no better than another 74, for third place, a stroke behind Porky Oliver. Boros, a pro for only 2 1/2 years, was the new champion. His 281 whipped Oliver by four strokes.

Professional at the Mid-Pines Club in Southern Pines (N.C.), Boros, 32, had never won a major tournament, last year was 34th in tournament money winnings with $4,697. But in his first Open (1950), he placed ninth behind Hogan. Last year, improving steadily, he was fourth. Boros now faces an ironic situation. Unless the Professional Golfers' Association waives-its five-year eligibility rulings, U.S. Open Champion Boros will not be allowed to play in this week's P.G.A. tournament.

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