Subject: Ben Hogan

All these things I read and hear that people say about me bore me just a little bit," Ben Hogan said. "If they were right, it wouldn't bother me.

"For 10 years they've been saying that I'm through. They used to say I was too small. Then I came along and made the first tour. There was a very prominent golfer on the tour. One day I overheard him say I would never make it. Then a fellow who's written several books on golf said my swing was no good. After the first tournament I ever won, they said that would be my last, that it was just luck.

"It seems to me that every time somebody said I couldn't do something, I just got more determined. Not to disprove them, but to prove to myself I could do it.

"It's been a good thing," he added, "a sort of motivating force in my life."

Hogan was standing on the practice tee at the Augusta National Golf Course. It was a week before the Masters Tournament.

"I'll only practice when the wind comes from the right," he said. "If it comes from the left, I'll just hit a few balls and quit, otherwise I find myself fighting the wind. It ruins my swing and I start to hook. I hate a hook. It nauseates me. I could vomit when I see one. It's like a rattlesnake in your pocket."

A young pro stopped by to ask Hogan a question.

"How can you practice so much?" he asked. "I get tired of practicing."

"I like it," Hogan said, following through with an added zest.

"Why do you hold your four-wood so short?"