Is Ben Hogan the Greatest Golfer of All Time? (A Colonial Recap)
Austin Evans recaps the results of the Dean and Deluca Invitational. He also breaks down whether or not the man who caused Colonial to be named “Hogan’s Alley” is the greatest to ever play the game.
Kevin Kisner won his 2nd PGA Tour title at the Dean and Deluca Invitational on Sunday with a clutch par putt on the final green.
He finished one shot ahead of two hard charging young stars in Jordan Spieth and Jon Rahm.
Kisner was having an excellent season already with two runner up finishes, and this win moves him into the FedEx Cup top 10. This week could also be a big boost for Spieth, Rahm, and Webb Simpson, who finished in the top five. A good finish on a tough, old style golf course like Colonial requires all facets of one’s game to be strong. Kisner will join an elite list of champions, including one notable five time winner at Colonial.
Before the final round of the 1960 US Open, Arnold Palmer said to golf writers Bob Drum and Dan Jenkins that if he shot 65, he would have a four round total of 280 and that usually wins the US Open. Jenkins looked back at him and said “Ya when Hogan shoots it.”
Ben Hogan to this day has the mythical reputation of being one of the most intimidating players to ever play the game. He had an icy stare, a workmanlike mentality, and the game to back it up.
His numbers are staggering. Nine major championships spread amongst 64 PGA Tour Wins. Fighting through early life personal tragedy and a nearly fatal car accident, Ben Hogan has a compelling case as the game’s greatest player.
Check out our special podcast episode on the greatest players in golf history:
The Best of his Contemporaries
The Great American Golf Triumvirate was comprised of Ben Hogan, Sam Snead, and Byron Nelson. All three were born in 1912 and dominated golf from the late 193o’s until the early 1950’s. Hogan was the only one of the three of them to achieve the Career Grand Slam by winning in his only appearance at The Open Championship in 1953. Hogan had the ability to play his best in the tournaments that mattered most. Snead famously finished second in four US Opens because his short putting held him back on difficult greens. Nelson never won The Open Championship, as he was unable to win in his only appearance as a full time competitor. In terms of shear wins, Hogan won the most majors out of the three, with nine to the seven and five each of Snead and Nelson.
When considering how to rank a truly great all time great player, I have always strongly considered their ability to clearly separate themselves from their competition. Even though Nelson had an 18 win season and Snead ended his career with a record 82 PGA Tour wins, Hogan was the premier player of his generation because he won the most important tournaments in the most difficult conditions at the highest rate of his generation. It’s hard to argue against the man who set longstanding scoring records at both The Masters and US Open.
The Comeback from the Car Accident
In 1949, Ben Hogan was in a car accident that nearly ended his life, and almost certainly ended his golf career. He missed the full 1949 season with a broken pelvis, broken collarbone, broken ankle, chipped rib and blood clots that caused permanent damage. He somehow came back for the 1950 season. He won the US Open at Merion that year with his famous 1 iron on 18. Hogan had the following results between 1950–1953.
He had 17 starts, 17 made cuts, 15 top 10s, 10 wins, two Masters, three US Opens, and one Open Championship
That is absurd.
Despite being forced to play such a limited schedule, Hogan somehow managed to remain sharp enough to run off one of the greatest stretches of major championship golf ever recorded. With his three major wins in three major starts in 1950, Hogan became the first man in the modern era to win three majors in one year. Tiger has been the only other to do it since.
The mental and physical fortitude required to battle through such adversity and still perform at such a high level is the mark of a champion. The unfortunate reality of the accident is that Hogan had permanent physical limitations that kept him from being even greater.
Physical Ability
Tiger Woods once said that only two people to ever owned their swing; noted Canadian golf savant Moe Norman and Ben Hogan. Ben Hogan is likely the greatest ball striker who ever lived. As a young pro, he fought a big hook, which forced him to develop his mythical swing secret that allegedly stems from the cupping of his left wrist at the top, producing his patented left to right fade. This round to round consistency in his ball striking allowed him to excel on the difficult golf courses typically seen in major championships. While his short game and putting would sometimes prove to be an issue, Hogan’s iron play was possibly the greatest weapon that any single golfer has ever possessed.
Significance to the game
In no particular order, here are absolute standard golfing procedures that Ben Hogan either heavily influenced or flat out invented.
- structured practice through repetitions of hitting balls
- player having a line of equipment
- using points of reference on course for distance control (trees, bunkers)
Hogan was the ultimate tactician, as well as a man who believed that whatever you put into the game is what you will get out of it. He didn’t have the charisma of Arnold Palmer or Walter Hagen. He didn’t have the dazzling short game of Seve Ballesteros or Tiger Woods. Ben Hogan simply had the ultimate respect of fans and players alike. It is hard to rank him ahead of Jack or Tiger on the all time great list, given what they were able to do against deeper fields with technology that allowed more people to contend on a weekly basis. However, Ben Hogan will always be remembered for his dedication to the game of golf, his perseverance in the face of hardships, and as the subject of many golf myths and legends that are told to this day.
Austin is TheOcho.ca’s golf contributor. He also writes about basketball and guest hosts The Ocho Podcast with Riley when Aaron has something better to do. Follow Austin on Twitter at @austevans24.
