The Man Who Casts The Longest Shadow

Frequently the group Hogan is playing with will stop the match and make side bets on a particularly tricky bunker shot, and they usually wind up the match with extra bets on sand shots out of the bunker alongside the 18th green. Dunphy, who prides himself on his sand play, says, "I've driven a lot of guys out of that bunker at the 18th, but I've never driven Ben out. There isn't a greater sand player in golf."

Hogan usually goes out to Seminole in the morning and practices before lunch, picking a spot on the course where he can hit shots either into the wind or with the wind blowing from the right. He refuses to practice with the wind from the left because it demands a hook, and he detests a hook. (He once ordered a tree chopped down on Colonial's 15th hole because it forced a hooked tee shot.) Until he revised his swing in 1947, Hogan had hooked most of his shots, but he has long attributed his later success to the built-in fade he devised for himself, a technique that became known as Hogan's secret.

After playing 18 holes at Seminole, Hogan may practice some more or go to the putting green. To Hogan, practice can be as enjoyable as an actual round. He once said, "I just like to go out and hit balls. I enjoy being out there with the golf club in my hand, whether I'm practicing or playing. I experiment all the time with something, and sometimes I get my game so messed up I have to put it all together again."

After the long winter layoff, when the demands of his business make it impossible for Hogan to keep his game in shape, Ben feels it takes him at least two months to start playing the way he likes. "Hell," he says, "you never have your game the way you really want it, but when it comes time to play in a tournament you just take what you've got and go out and play."

Maybe so, but those who know him best insist it has been years since he entered a tournament while his game was ragged. "That is the difference between Ben and most of us," Demaret explains. "Lots of times I'll go to a tournament just to play in it and have some fun, and others will do the same, but not Ben. Ben doesn't play unless he is ready."

Assuming Hogan judges himself ready, and he surely will be, he will be putting in his 23rd appearance at the Masters next week. Those who arc fortunate enough to watch him will see shots executed as no other living man can do them. They should savor the sight. After playing the second round with Hogan at the Masters last year, Dave Marr, himself a purist of the swing but of a later time, said something of Ben Hogan's golf that could be applied to every facet of this rare man. "Hogan plays one game," said Marr, "and the rest of us play another."