We lost a legend today.
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Gene Sarazen made history by becoming the first golfer to win all four major professional championships, but he will always be remembered for just one shot he hit during a career
spanning half a century.
Sarazen, ''The Squire,'' who died Thursday at age 97 from helped create the mystique that still surrounds the Masters.
Playing with his friend and rival Walter Hagen in the final round of the 1935 Masters, Sarazen came to the par-five, 15th hole trailing Craig Wood by three strokes.
After a good drive he pulled out his four-wood for a 220-yard approach to the green sited beyond a pond. As usual, Sarazen
wasted no time and swung quickly.
The ball arced through the air, landed on the front of the green, bounced a few times -- and rolled into the hole for a
double-eagle. With one amazing ''shot heard round the world,'' Sarazen had wiped out his three-stroke deficit.
Sarazen parred the last three holes and beat a stunned Wood the next day in an 18-hole playoff.
The Masters was then being staged for only the second time, but in no small part due to Sarazen's ''shot heard round the
world'' it quickly attained ''major'' status.
As he had already won the U.S. and British Opens and the PGA title, Sarazen became the first man to win all four, a feat
matched only by Ben Hogan, Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player.
In his early years no-one would have guessed he would become one of the greatest players in a sport dominated by English and
Scots. Sarazen, of Italian descent, was short and chubby, standing just five feet five inches (1.65 m).
However, what he lacked in height he made up for in an unquenchable self-confidence that gave him almost a cocky air.
''All men are created equal,'' he once said, ''and I am one shot better than the rest.''
But he was never arrogant, always wearing a broad grin across his broad face whether winning or losing.
British golf writer Bernard Darwin once compared Sarazen's grin to that of the Cheshire Cat, saying: ''His grin is so very much
a part of him... he leaves an agreeable appearance in the air, resembling a grin, to remind us of him.''
Sarazen was popular with his fellow-professionals such as Hagen and Bobby Jones, and counted among his friends the Prince
of Wales, later King Edward VIII.
During one round at the exclusive Royal St. George's club in England, the prince suggested they drop in the clubhouse for
refreshments. However, the head waiter refused entry to Sarazen, saying professionals were barred under club rules.
''You either change that rule,'' fumed the prince, ''or I will take the 'Royal' out of 'Royal St. George's'.''
The rule was changed.
Hagen had a particular soft spot for his diminutive rival.
''He was cocky and self-confident, but he had plenty of moxie (grit) and self-determination,'' he recalled.
Jones noted that Sarazen was never interested in second place and could play carelessly if he was out of the hunt.
''But when he saw a chance at the bacon hanging over the last green, he could put as much fire and fury into a finishing round as
Jack Dempsey could put into a fight,'' he added.
Sarazen was born on February 27, 1902, in Harrison, New York, the son of an Italian immigrant who had studied for the
priesthood before becoming a carpenter.
His son, too, became a carpenter when he left school at 15, but a bout of pleurisy and pneumonia changed all that. His doctor
advised him to find more healthy work, and Sarazen complied by caddying and playing golf at a local course.
He quickly found he could hit the ball better than most of the members, and landed a job as an assistant.
Sarazen entered his first U.S. Open when he was 18 and tied for 30th, and was still unknown when he teed off two years later
in the 1922 Open at Skokie, Illinois.
Four rounds later he was an overnight sensation, birdying the last hole for a record 68 to beat such greats as Jones and Hagen
and become then the youngest winner of the Open.
When not playing in tournaments he enjoyed experimenting with clubs, and in the winter of 1931-32 he earned the eternal
gratitude of all golfers by inventing the sand wedge.
Even after his days as a serious contender, Sarazen and his famous knickers continued to be a familiar sight in a career spanning
the years from Harry Vardon to Jack Nicklaus.
Sarazen continued to attend the Masters each year as an honorary ''starter,'' hitting a ceremonial tee shot before the opening
round along with Byron Nelson and Sam Snead, a function he served just last month in Augusta.
''I have been able to hope for the best, expect the worst, and take what comes along,'' he once remarked. ''If there is one
fundamental reason why I have outlasted the golfers of my decade... this is it.'' |
