‘Miracle at Merion’ and Other Titles

A HEADS UP ABOUT two recently published golf books and a popular instructional DVD that’s been out since April. (Note: These are not reviews.)

Miracle at Merion: The Inspiring Story of Ben Hogan’s Amazing Comeback and Victory at the 1950 U.S. Open
By David Barrett
Description from Amazon: Legendary sportswriter Red Smith characterized Ben Hogan’s comeback from a near-fatal automobile crash in February 1949 as “the most remarkable feat in the history of sports.” Nearly sixty years later, that statement still rings true. The crowning moment of Hogan’s comeback was his dramatic victory in the 1950 U.S. Open at Merion Golf Club near Philadelphia, where his battered legs could barely carry him on the 36-hole final day. Miracle at Merion tells the stirring story of Hogan’s triumph over adversity—the rarely-performed surgery that saved his life, the months of rehabilitation when he couldn’t even hit a golf ball, his stunning return to competition at the Los Angeles Open, and, finally, the U.S. Open triumph that returned him to the pinnacle of the game.

Opur’s Blade (Novel)
By James Ross
Description from Amazon: After the first ball is struck on the driving range, head pro J Dub Schroeder realizes that he has a child prodigy in his midst. Soon thereafter the pro shop regulars assign a nickname to the teenager. To the locals the lad becomes known as Opur because of his propensity to sink putts with an old, worn-out putter that was gathering dust in the lost-and-found barrel.

Tom Watson Lessons of a Lifetime (DVD)
(A two DVD instruction set and 16-page booklet.)
Description from WorldGolf.com: The two-DVD set’s approximately three hours of content provides the ultimate Tom Watson learning experience, covering all facets of the game—from the grip to full shots, to chipping, confident putting and effortless-looking drives, plus specialty shots including those required in strong wind conditions. Watson shares lessons learned from his childhood through competition, and gifts from the great teachers he has encountered.

−The Armchair Golfer

A Fresh Start for Bill Glasson

IF YOU HAD SEEN Bill Glasson back in the 1980s, you might have mistaken him for a skinny Charley Hoffman. Glasson had long, curly blond locks. Before joining the PGA Tour in 1983, he was a two-time All-American at Oral Roberts University.

I read at GolfWRX.com that the “dude never wore shoes when he played [golf]” while growing up in Fresno, California. Glasson looks more like a surfer than a golfer in a 1970s photo taken from a high-school yearbook.

Turning 50 at the end of April, Glasson is one of the lesser-known players who has joined the Champions Tour this season. Steve Lowery is another. Both are playing in this week’s AT&T Championship in San Antonio, Texas.

Glasson was a good player who won seven times in a 12-year span on the PGA Tour. His best finish in a major was a T-4 in the 1995 U.S. Open, and he amassed nearly $7 million in career winnings.

I wrote about Blake Adams’s medical troubles earlier this year, but Adams has nothing on Glasson. Bill had a respectable career despite enduring 19 surgeries on all parts of his body, including his elbow, sinuses, knee, lip, forearm and lower back. By the time he reached his 40s, physical problems limited his play on the PGA Tour.

Now he’s back on the second-chance circuit. In 11 Champions Tour events, Glasson has made 10 cuts (with two sixth-place finishes) and is 63rd on the money list.

−The Armchair Golfer

‘Doc’ McDowell Eyes Kaymer in Race to Dubai

Editor’s note: Brian Keogh is a golf correspondent for The Irish Sun and a regular contributor to The Irish Times, Golf Digest Ireland and other golf publications. The following piece is excerpted from his blog, Irish Golf Desk. 

By Brian Keogh
Special to ARMCHAIR GOLF

GRAEME MCDOWELL WANTS TO become Dr. No for Martin Kaymer and deny the German in the race to become European No 1. The US Open champion and Ryder Cup hero will be rewarded with honorary doctorates by both Queen’s and the University of Ulster for becoming the first Ulsterman to win a major title since Fred Daly in 1947.

But Dr. GMac is not ready to rest on his laurels just yet and he’s gunning to crown a career year by snatching Race to Dubai glory from under Kaymer’s nose. Determined to slash the Dusseldorf hotshot’s massive €1 million euro lead at the top of the European money list in this week’s Andalucia Valderrama Masters, McDowell said: “It’s been an amazing year but it is important to finish it off on a strong note.

“I am playing the next seven weeks with the first five of them counting towards the Race to Dubai. Valderrama is a great place to get the ball rolling but it’s going to be tough to make up a million euro deficit on Martin. He has a chance to go to No. 1 in the world this week and he is always a tough guy to beat. But I will be giving it a run and getting the head down and trying to finish the season really strong from here.”

All eyes will be on Kaymer at Valderrama, where a top-two finish would see him replace Tiger Woods at the top of the world rankings and become the first German world No. 1 since Bernhard Langer. He’s bidding for his fourth tournament win on the spin after sandwiching victory in the US PGA between triumphs in the KLM Open and the Dunhill Links at St Andrews.

But while his win at the Home of Golf helped him move close to one million clear of McDowell at the top of the Race to Dubai standings, the Irish star refuses to give up the chase.

McDowell said: “It’s been a very special, special year but I will enjoy my Christmas dinner more if I can give these seven weeks everything, especially the first five leading up to the Dubai World Championship.”

He’s fully aware that catching Kaymer will be no easy matter with both men set to continue their head to head in next week’s HSBC Champions, the Singapore Open and the Hong Kong Open before the climaxing Dubai World Championship.

As for his honorary degrees, McDowell said: “It will make my Mum proud. She never got a chance to see me graduate from college, because I never did. It was always a dream of hers to go to a graduation ceremony so this is the next best thing.

“When honours like that come your way it’s a surreal feeling and you feel a bit humbled by them. It puts what you have achieved in perspective.”

Brian Keogh covers golf for The Irish Sun and contributes to a variety of golf publications. Pay him a visit at Irish Golf Desk.