Evening Star Newspaper, June 8, 1935, Page 12

Storm Blasts Hopes of Capital _Entranfs in Top " WD, RAN HOLD | THELEN SPARKLES |ONENS IS SEVENT | Driving King Takes Lead D.C.TRIOTO MacKenzie, Spencer Topple From Heights—Houghton Aims at First 30. BY W. R. McCALLUM, Stafl Correspondent of The Star. OAKMONT COUNTRY CLUB, PITTSBURGH, Pa., June 8. —The boys are not out of the championship by a long way, but no big-time gambler would give you much chance to win a bet on the Washington contingent in the national open golf championship, which was to wind up its three-day career at Oakmont today. Roland Mackenzle, Congressional pro, had to make up eight shots on the leader; CUff Spencer of Beaver Dam had & nine-shot deficit and Al Houghton of Kenwood was out there playing for a spot in the first 30. Nothing much but that was left for the pride of Kenwood, one of the hard-luck guys of golf, who looked as if he was headed for a good round of golf in the second round yester- day when dat old debbil weather socked him in the jaw with a flock of rain drops and wind which shot his score up to 82. Couldn’t Battle Weather. there isn't anything to chronicle except that the boys just were not good enough. Couple that with one of the worst things in the way of wind and rain that any open cham- pionship has seen and you have the answer to the riddle of why the boys did so .badly, why Mackenzie shot from second place to eighteenth, why Bpencer shot from third to twenty-first and why Al Houghton, the straightest man hitting a golf ball in America today, piled up 82 strokes for 18 holes, just as Mackenzie and Spencer and a lot of other good gilys did. If there is one thing you cannot Yck in golf it's a tough freak in weather, and all the Washington lads, with the exception of Walper, who was out of the tournament anyhow, got that tough break. Mackenszie followed his first round of 72 with an 82, playing the last 12 holes in the storm, for a total of 154. But Spencer and Houghton drew even tougher assignments. Both of them started in the rain and wind and played 18 holes through the worst of the storm that caused Tommy Armour to withdraw and forced a flock of favorites to quit. Both of them scored 82's, which was good neough golf for any man in the gale and rain which swept Oakmont. Sarazen Still Held Favorite. Tfl! situation today, with the final ' 36 holes of the championship ehead, was this: Jimmy Thomson of California, who Jearned the game at Burning Tree, was in the 36-hole lead with 146. Three shots back of him at 149 was Gene Sarazen, whom I still pick as the winner. In between them with 148 is Alvin Kreuger, the Beloit, Wis., red-head, who is more than a flash— but is scheduled to curl up today. Bam Sparks, a local pride, is in there at 150 and may finish in the first 20. ‘The more potent threats to Sarazen are Al Espinosa, the 1929 runner-up, ot 151; Denny Shute, 1933 British open champ, at 151, and Horton Smith, Mortie Dutra, Ray Mangrum and Herman Barron at 152, and even possibly Walter Hagen at 153, where the old duke is tied with Vic Ghezzie, Paul Runyan, Dick Metz and the pres- ent and the soon-to-be-forgotten champion, Olin Dutra, That about exhausts the crop, but Mackenzie could inject himself into the picture with another 73. So could Clff Spencer with another 73, but: the pressure is on today. 'A FLOCK of good guys are on the sidelines today as the remaining 66 in the championship play for the open bauble. Such fellows as Leo Diegel, former Washingtonian; Ralph Beach of Baltimore, Wifty Cox, Harold McSpaden and even Tommy Armour are out, victims of the storm and a ot of poor golf shots. But Washington has three lads in there today. Spencer was the first starter at 8:05 and 12:05, with Mark Pry; then came Houghton at 8:35 and 12:35. with Herman Barron. Roland Mackenzie followed at 9:55 and 1:55, with John Goodman, the 1933 cham- There isn't much to be told about the play of the local lads yesterday. Many “Stars Fade Out. No man could have played through | 800d the gale and rain of the late afternoon and turned in a respectable score. It ‘was nothing short of villainous to make a man play golf in weather | SPeec! where the club slipped right out of wet fingers, bunkers were inundated and a high wind swept across the | Publ toughest golf course in Christendom. But they went out there and played | bert and the net result was: Houghton, 82; Spencer, 82; MacKenzie, 82, Here are their scores: 1t—Par ackenzie 654 554 456—4. “ r . 445 344 858 (A - Y e g I"'s a1l 5001 badt. ssnch. too’ bad but | €a0e and the cloudburst and other Thomson’s Driving THE SPORTLIGHT >f:;hf Fipening Sitar WASHINGTON, D. C., SATURDAY, JUNE 8, 1935. Nets Lead in Open; But Sarazen Remains the Man to Beat. : : BY GRANTLAND cut. farmer—the owner of cows, chick- “This 45 & tough break, Walter» 1/ Former Queen of Courts Is|Looks to'N.C. A. said as he started the last nine. “Tough break!” Walter sald. “This is what I like. Now I'll have to play " And so he beat par by ens and pigs. Also the owner of a |and all. great golf swing and the grim de- termination to win. ::u;awm:efl an afternoon that col t ly of a hurricane, a cloudburst and & complete change of all scoring conditions, practically the entire afternoon section was wiped out when the par of Oskmont suddenly rose from 72 to 82 as the elements added their hazards to a tough course. As the final day of the United States gpl::u mmm, Jlmn‘y ‘Thomson, the ng s gun from Long Beach, Calif,, the longest hitter in gg world, led the fleld at 146. Jimmy, the dyna- miter, added another 73 to his 73 of the day before to set the pace on the | final day at 36 holes. Jimmy Thomson, the broad-shoul- dered, mighty hitting blond, almost turned Oakmont into a drive and pitch course with his 280 and 300 yard drives. Alvin (Butch). Krueger, the star pitcher of the Madison (Wis.) Blues, the old Three-Eye Leaguer, started the | final day in second place at 148, | Butch had his sour spots, but he re- | fused to crack with that smooth, un- hurried swing. After you've been three years in the Three-Eye League, an open championship is just a round | of golf. | Due to the young afternoon. hurri- | contributions from elemental nature, almost the entire afternoon field was wiped out. Tommy Armour was out in 48, Roland Mackenzie in 44, Mac Smith and Walter Hagen in 42, Others suffered the same fate. A gal- lery of more than 10,000 was driven to shelter as golfers suffered and struggled and tried to fight their way around. ( The Haig Likes a Storm. TH! one afternoon survivor who rose to the occasion and met the storm face to face was Walter Hagen. Out in 42, with two bad holes in the midst | of almost unplayable conditions, the stout-hearted veteran rallled on his| way back through wind and rain to turn in a 34 for a 76. To Hagen the human angle is only | puny competition. He has met and : beaten the best in the world. It was at Olympia Fields in Chicago, back in 1928, when he ripped his way through a storm of lightning, wind and heavy rain for a 32. His 34 in the last round of the second day’s march was another epic, & classic that won't be forgotten. In place of wilting or fading out, Hagen's face broke into a broad grin. You could almost hear him say, “Well, here is something to fight. Here is an op- ponent worth while.” FROM THE had a chance. They were the ones who stood at 153 or better. This list included Thomson, Krueger, Sarazen, Sam Parks, Shute, Turner, Espinoza. Also Horton Smith, Olin Dutra, Paul Runyan and Walter Hagen. But the man to beat remained the same—Gene Sarazen. Gene had » round Friday that might have been & 66 or & 78. That is Sarazen. He opened fire with three birdies. He holed three good putts in a row. Then he slipped into his first 6 in many rounds—the first 6 he had known in o'er two months. But ke came back to stand on the ninth green witn a 4 for a 33. He blew up here when he missed his tee shot and later some individual, who had overindulged in alcoholic brew, called out just as he started to putt. As a result, Sarazen took three putts from 12 feet for a 7. Yet even with a 7 and & 6 on his card he was out in 36, one under par. Only a Sarazen could have done this. A 7 and & 6 at Oakmont on that first nine usually mean 40 or 41. But Sarazen had four birdies to match this breakdown, “I was keyed up to spread-eagle the field,” he told me later, “when ‘that souse threw me out of stride. It took me some time to get started again. But I know I am hitting the ball as well as I ever did, and I'll take my chance on the stretch running.” After this three-putt upset on the ninth, Sarazen three-putted three greens coming home, but he finished only three shots back of Thomson, the leader, and only one shot out of sec- ond place. 621 Yards in Two Shots. ONI of the big features of Jimmy Thomson's round was his play at the 621-yard twelfth hole. This will give you some idea of the broad- shculdered Californian’s terrific power. His tee shot traveled more than 300 yards over soft fairways, and his spoon shot caught a trap just hole-high to the left. He had completed 621 yards with a drive and a spoon. His bunker shot stopped just 5 inches from the cup for a birdie 4. “I've seen golfers lash into a goif ball,” Prancis Ouimet said to me as Thomson played this hole, “but I've never seen any one hit a ball like this man. He is almost unbelieveable.” (Copyright. 1935. by the No; American Newspaper Alliance. Inc.) PRESS BOX Members of Fighting Set Absent-minded in Baer-Braddock Title Fight Comment. BY JOHN LARDNE! HE members of the prlnngml set are getting more absent- | minded every day. Lend an- ear, for example, to the re- marks of Joe Gould as he presides over the tea table at James J. Brad- dock’s camp at Loch Sheldrake, N. Y. “Gene Tunney is the referee I want for this fight. Gene is honest and thorough and he'll give fair treatment to both men. Besides, he knows the game.” This lovely valentine may bring tears to the eyes of Mr. Tunney, but it pusszies your correspondent. Wasn't it just & few days ago that | Tuaney predicted an early victory for Baer? Wasn't it immediately there- after that Mr. Gould, oozing resent- ment at every pore, spoke his about Tunney in words that destroy whole cities if sprayed the more courteous passages diatribe. “When did he ever this that Mr. an anti-Tunney guy. Yet Mr. Gould turns right around and asks for Tun- ny as referee on the that old Gene is Honest and fair and knows his stuff like nobody’s business. Efggg; § | g » a o " I nobody that can stand up against it. And of all the suckers for my right hand, this Braddock is the big- gest sucker, “Why, I'll belt him in the Max feels that he will win without the help of sparring So does almost every- rht. 1935, the North American (mm'lenunr.xnhm. Ine.) FACE FOR NET TITLE Argyle Tourney. Barney Welsh was to meet this IN'TENNIS RETURN Finalist Today in Meet in England. By the Associated Press. EYBRIDGE, England, June 8.—Helen Wills Moody ap- sume her old habit of walking off with tennis titles. The former American champion, in competition for the first time since she defaulted to Helen Jacobs in the American ‘championship in 1933, to- day faced Mrs. Elsie Goldsack Pitt- man, defending titlist, in the St. Georges Hill tournament. ‘The comely Helen gained the final round yesterday, when she gave an exhibition that obviated- further queries about the -condition of her back in defeating Billy Yorke, Eng- lish chop stroke artist, 6—1, 6—4. Mrs. Moody's play had been more or less uninspiring until yesterday and the galleries were wondering whether she still favored the injury which caused her to default to Miss Jacobs. Against Miss Yorke, how- ever, she unleashed the power that formerly featured her game and swept the English miss before her as ap- plause broke from the astonished gal- lery. It was evident that she still | was & favorite with English tennis fans. Meanwhile, at Wimbledon, polish- ing her game for the coming all- England championships, Helen Jacobs was apprised of the progress of her old rival, They were expected to meet in that tournament. Mrs. Moody hit only one streak of wildness in vanquishing Miss Yorke yesterday. That was in the second set, when she permitted her English rival to take a 3-1 lead. Mrs. Pittman gave a skillful exhi- bition in defeating Mrs. Eileen Ben- nett Whittingstall, 6—3, 6—3, to gain | the final round. MRS, KEEFER'S 6 GETS GOLF PRIZE Best Net Score in Herald Hits Low Gross, 89. LAYING throughout the event with a bandaged ankle, the re- sult of & bad sprain, Mrs. F. R. Keefer of Chevy Chase Club yesterday won the Herald trophy golf tournament with & net score of 76 at Kenwood. Going out in 44 and shoot- ing the back nine in 47, Mrs. Keefer was aided by » 15-stroke handicap. Low gross honors went to Miss ‘Winifred Paunce, Manor, who carded » gross 89, netting an 84 with her 5-stroke handicap. Wilds Martin, Kenwood, won second prize with a 93—16—177, while Mrs. Hume Peabody, Army-Navy, and Mrs. Montgomery Blair. Chevy Chase, tied for third place with net 78s. Scores: Mrs. P Keel « ) 91— 16227%; Twilda Martin (Kenwood), Di-—-10 —~—77; Mrs. Moni Ty nlnh- (Chevy P Mrs_ Lee or). : Mrs. R P (Army-Navy). 96—12—84; Mrs. e (CommeasionaD) Pyl e % ;' Mrs. rt Lacey — (Colmbia). 100—16—84; Mrs. R C. Miller (Kenwood). 1 16— 84; Mrs. H. E. Brundaee ( % ). 98—10—88; C, }Ilnofl 105—16—89; . Army-Navy), 105—]1i 3 (Army-Navy). 1 R ‘wood). 11 ;M (ulll’fl). 119—16—103. Trophy Meei—uiss Faunce a VTR EASD U He Cops Broad Jump, Century and 220. BY WILLIAM WEEKES, Associsted Press Sports Writer, “ parently proposes to ve- |- country’s prize track and field ace, as well as gate attraction extraordinary, apparently was looking ahead today. Perhaps the thrill of smashing rec- ords in & wholesale way has worn off since he bettered three world marks and tied another to astonish the track -world ' in the Big Ten meet at Ann Arbor, Mich., two weeks ago. Per- haps the damp night air last night in the tenth annual, Central Intercol- legiate Conference title meet at Mar- quette Stadium had something to do with it—but Jesse seemed to be saving himself for the tough assignments of the N. C. A. A. meet at Berkeley, Calif., June 21-22, and the National A. A. U. championships at Lincoln, Nebr., July 3-4. Only once, as he led his Ohio State University team to the C. I. C. cham- plonship last night, did he appear to be letting go as he did at Ann Arbor. He streaked down the runway in the broad jump and bounded awsy to a great leap of 26 feet 2!; inches to better for the second time in two weeks the accepted world record of 26 feet 2% inches listed under the name of Chuhei Nambu of Japan. The jump was, however, not quite so fancy as his 26 feet 8)4 inches in the Big Ten meet. Wins Two Other Events. meUT extending himsel! too much, the Buckeye Negro won the 100-yard dash in 9.6 seconds, and came from behind with a terrific burst to win the 200-yard dash in 21.8 sec- onds. He has hit 0:09.4 for the cen- tury on several occasions and has a stunning 20.3 seconds for the 220 up for consideration as & world mark. The Buckeyes scored 31 points in | Indiana’s C. 1. C. team as winner, and Wisconsin and Indiana gave the Big Ten the next two places with 29%, and 241, points, respectively. Owen’s broad jump was & new meet mark, replacing the 2¢ feet made by George Meagher of Notre Dame last r. ”‘D‘n Caldemeyer of- Indiana, gal- loped the 120-yard high hurdes in 14.7 seconds for another meet record and Billy Zepp, Michigan State Normal's ce man, won the. two-i to 213 feet 8 inches half-mile relay quartet won its event in 1:27, shaving four-tenths of from Marquette's former record. Don Elser, Notre Dame’s fullback, achieved an unique “double” by win- ning the shotput with an effort of 50 feet 2% inches, then returning to scissor over the 220-yard low hurdles ahead of & good field in 24 HORSE SHOW IS ON Fifteen Classes in All-Day Session at Meadowbrook Club. show at the M on East-West highway got under way this morning at 10 o'clock, with 15 classes scheduled for the all- day session. The events were to bring into TILT FOR 'GATORS. Pla., June 8-(P).— Sarazen, No Lead to Defend, Not Far Back, Is in Fine Spot For Tiile Drive, Says Jones|, . .? §§ir : s B f | § $iH { & s B d L L ® ; i l'll ‘ g gt i i3] 18 i £ £ i i i El £ 1 58 " at Pittsburgh’s Oakmont course. - £ V2N " Here's Jimmy Thomson, Long Beach, Calif., slugger, shown getting off one of the prodigious tee shots that enabled him to enter the final day's competition for the.national open golf championship, leading the field —A. P. Photo. WETHERED-VARE T TUMURRUW't With Pros, Start Play ' at Columbia at 2. OYCE WETHERED, foremost woman golfer of the world, and | Glenna Collett Vare, five times American champion, will match strokes tomorrow on the Columbia Country Club course at 2 o'clock in the renewal of an old rivalry in which the English marvel has yet to lose. The famed Englishwoman, finest golfer of her sex in the world, will pair with Fred McLeod, grissled Co- lumbia pro, against Mrs. Vare and Roland R. MacKenzie, Congressional pro, who will leave the national open championship at Oakmont, Pa,; late this afternoon for the Capital. . Famous golfers have declared that Britain's pride plays s man’s game, yet there is nothing “mannish” in her appearance STARS THREATEN AMILE RECORD Hornbostel, Venzke, Daw- son in Special Race Today in N. Y, C. A. Games. Associated Press. EW YORK, June 8.—The rec- ord for the three-quarters of & D.C. WOMEN PLAY STATE GOLF FINAL {Woman Golf Stars, Paired!Mrs. Meckley Opposes Mrs. | Scott Today for Title in Maryland Meet. Special Dispatch to The Star. ALTIMORE, Md., June 8.— Mrs. Betty Meckley, Indian Spring star, was to oppose Mrs. Jack Scott, Congres- sional, today in the title match of the Miaryland State Women's golf championships. The titular match, bringing together two out-of-town entrants for the first time in the history of the event, was to be de- cided over 18 holes starting at 2 o'clock. Mrs, Meckley scored s brilliant 6 and 4 triumph yesterday in the semi- finals, defeating Mrs. E. Boyd Mor- row, Elkridge, who had beaten the Indian Spring golfer in the final round of the 1932 tournament. Mrs. L. G. Pray, Manor, forced Mrs. Scott to the limit before bowing, 1 up, on the eighteenth green. e v | Qualify for Final | In Open Tourney PITTSBURGH, June 8 (#).—Scores 73—73—146 T1—77—148 78—76—154 72—82—154 78—76—154 75—79—154 76—79—155 74—81—135 y-Turvy Title Golf _Izlay ICARAZEN PRESSES LEADING THOMSON Favorite’s 149 Is 3 Behind Best Card—Krueger, Dark Horse, Is Second. BY BOB CAVAGNARO, Associated Press Sports Writer. AKMONT COUNTRY CLUB, PITTSBURGH, June 8$— Jimmy Thomson, the 28-. year-old Scot who has done most of his golfing in the United States, stood closest to the national open title today as 66 players—é0 pro- fessionals and 6 amateurs—turned into the 36-hole final of one of the most topsy-turvy tournaments in the 39- year history of the links fixture. The survivors of an original start- ing field of 157 included the defending champion, Olin Dutra, six former win- ners of the title and two of an orig- inal seven-man invasion—Sid Brews of South Africa and Kanechichi Nakamura of Japan. Tommy Armour of Chicago, winner of the crown in the 1927 battle at Oakmont, withdrew before completing his second round. Themson's Tenth Bid. "JHOMSON'S two preliminary rounds of 73s, good for a total of 146, gave him a 2-stroke advantage over his closest pursuer, Alvin (Butch) Krue- ger, the comparatively. unknown pro from Beloit, Wis., who led the first round with a subpar 71. The pace- setting Jimmy also held a 3-stroke, margin over Gene Sarazen, the hottest pre-tournament choice and betting odds favorite. ‘Thomson, who is a nephew of Jack White, the widely known British pro- fessional, came to this country 15 years ago and served his novitiate in the game as a caddy. This is his tenth bid for the title and his best performance to date was at Columbus in 1926, when he finished twelfth with a total of 306. Thomson and Sarazen were the only players among the first 20 low scorers | of the first round to improve their | positions in yesterday's firing, which for the most part was carried on under punishing conditions brought about by a wind of terrific force and a heavy downpour of rain shortly after noon. Jimmy and Gene benefited by play- ing in the forenoon when conditions were ideal. Elements Oust Armour, elements, plus & bad run of golf, forcer Armour to quit on the fifteenth hole after he had amassed no less than 17 strokes over par for that distance. The same combination also took .a toll of such campaigners as Wiffy Cox and Leo Diegel, who' failed to make the grade for the qual- ifying quota of 161 for the first fwo rounds. - Sarazen was the only favorite who was figured to be within striking dis- tance of the blond, curly-haired Thom- son. Sam Parks, Pittsburgh pro, was four shots away from the top figure with 150, while Denny Shute of Phila- delphia, winner of the 1933 British open crown; Al Espinosa of Cleveland and Ted Turner of Pine Valley, N, J,, | were bracketed at 151. Dutra, who was Thomson's compan- ion on an exhibition tour the last two months, was 7 strokes back at 153, along with Paul Runyan, the Amer- ican professional champion and one of the favorites, and Victor Gheszl of Deal, N. J. Goodman Low Amateur. N BETWEEN that trio were Horton “ Smith of Chicago, Vincent Eldred of Pittsburgh, Mortie Dutra of Detroit, Ray Mangrum of Los Angeles and Herman Barron of New York, with 152s. Bobby Cruickshank of Richmond, Va, stood at 154. Former Champion Johnny Good- man of Omaha, the low amateur thus far; Johnny Revolta of Milwaukee, | George Von Elm of Los Angeles and Gene Kunes of Jeffersonville, Pa., had FRETHORN RATED CHEF OMAHA FOE Rosemont Second Choice m Betting Today in the Belmont, However. BY ORLO ROBERTSON, Associated Press Sports Writer. the Kentucky Derby and the 7::‘3 EW YORK, June 8—William ‘Woodward’s Omaha, winner of Preakness, came up to the $50,000 Belmont stakes at Belmont Park today with the chance to dupli- cate the feat of his famous sire, Gal- only