He Learned a Lot From Hogan in More Than Half a Century

I knew Ben Hogan for 57 years. I met Ben in 1940.

Hogan, Byron Nelson and Jimmy Thompson had to come to the Lakeside Golf Club in Toluca Lake to practice for the L.A. Open to be held at Hillcrest Country Club in January 1942.

I was a publicist at Warner Brothers Studios in Burbank, which was across the street from Lakeside. My boss, Charles Einfeld, a golf nut, sent me over to Lakeside with some starlets to get some photos of them with any golf stars I could find.

I found Hogan, Nelson and Thompson. After the picture session, I invited the three pros to lunch in the studio “Green Room” where the stars ate.

Since I was a golf nut myself, I thought this was going to be a great chance to ask all my pent-up golf questions. Right off, Hogan spotted Bette Davis, Nelson stared at Arlene Dahl and Thompson recognized Errol Flynn. That’s the way it went all through lunch. I never got to ask one question about golf.

In 1948 I was Ben’s “gofer” at the U.S. Open held at Riviera Country Club, where I bought his Hershey bars and Cokes. He gave me a lesson in precision golf. He was the most precise ball striker I ever saw. He hit the desired target more often than anyone in the history of golf.

On the 18th tee in the last round, Ben looked tired. An old friend named Jerry Namer strode up and said, “Ben, how would you like an ice-cold beer?” Ben stared at him and said, “I think I’d throw up.” He was on in regulation and won his first U.S Open.

Ben taught me a very good trick at Riviera before his playoff with Sam Snead at the 1950 L.A. Open. He was in the locker room being interviewed by some reporters. He looked nervous. As we walked toward the first tee, a reporter named Jim Tobin of Life magazine asked him a question. Ben answered, and Jim jotted down a note. Then Hogan turned on Tobin and said, “Damn it, Jim. You don’t have to write down everything I say.” Tobin dropped out of the group in shock.

When we got to the steps near the first tee Ben leaned toward my ear and said, “I had to get mad at something!”

Later he explained that he would sometimes drive away nervousness by expressing anger. This “safety valve” has served me in many situations since.

Shift to the 1960 U.S. Open at Cherry Hills in Denver. Hogan hit 34 consecutive greens in regulation. At the 17th green, in the afternoon, Hogan asked me to run to a scoreboard to see if anyone was more than four under.

I ran back and told him that nobody was more than four under. (He was paired with an amateur named Jack Nicklaus). I had hardly got out of his shadow when he struck a 40-yard wedge dead on line to the pin. The ball had so much backspin that it pulled back into the creek that guarded the green. Ben took off his shoe and stepped into the water. Then he stepped out, put the shoe back on and splashed the ball out to eight feet. He missed the putt. Upset, he hit his tee shot in the water on 18. Arnold Palmer won the title at four under. Ben finished four shots back.

The next day at the Brown Palace Hotel, I tried to console him. He said, “It hurts to lose, but one win wipes out all the pain.”

Ben’s last visit to Riviera came in March 1987, when he made some commercials for his Hogan clubs. He looked up from his practice on the 17th tee and said, “Bob, do you still have the macaroni company?” I replied that I had just sold my business to the Borden Co. “Good,” he said. “I hope they made you rich.”

Ben was extremely cordial to all the Riviera spectators during the filming.

One evening I drove him back to his trailer. His secretary popped out and said, “Mr. William, Mr. Hogan would love a vodka martini on the rocks.” I sped my cart back to the club bar and picked up two jugs of martinis, which he shared with me.

Emboldened after two martinis, I said, “Ben, for a long time I’ve been swinging with my shoulder.” Ben ordered me to the top of my simulated swing. Then he took hold of my left hand and said, “Now, if you don’t start your downswing with a pull of your left hand and arm, you will never reach maximum speed at impact. What’s more, you must turn over your left wrist through the ball as fast as you can.”

A lesson from Ben Hogan!

What a gift from a wonderful friend!

Funeral services for Ben Hogan, who died Friday at 84, will be held Tuesday at University Christian Church on the campus of Texas Christian University in Fort Worth.