Background
Ben Hogan was born on August 13, 1912, in Stephenville, Texas, United States. He was the last of three children in a family of Chester Hogan, a blacksmith and mechanic, and Clara Saphronia Hogan, a housewife.
1946
650 Curtiss Pkwy, Miami Springs, FL 33166, United States
Ben Hogan with Jimmy Demaret (left), winners of the International Four Ball matches in Miami, in the dressing room at the Miami Springs Golf and Country Club after the matches.
1948
Ben Hogan flashes a victory smile and points to his record-tying 259 after he won the Greenbrier Open Golf Tournament.
1953
Scotland, United Kingdom
Ben Hogan (right) pats W. J. Branch on the back as they leave the 18th green at the end of their qualifying rounds in the Open Golf Championship in Scotland. Photo by Central Press/Hulton Archive.
1953
Links House, Links Parade, Carnoustie DD7 7JE, United Kingdom
Ben Hogan holds the British Open cup after winning the tournament at Carnoustie Golf Links.
1953
Ben Hogan, putting during the British Open. Photo by Carl Mydans/The LIFE Picture Collection.
1953
Ben Hogan is shown after winning his fourth National Open title with five-under-par 283 for 72 holes.
1954
604 Washington Rd, Augusta, GA 30904, United States
Ben Hogan takes a moment to reflect before the start of the Masters Golf Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club. Photo by Transcendental Graphics.
1955
Ben Hogan plays golf. Photo by Yale Joel/The LIFE Picture Collection.
1956
Ben Hogan warms up for his Canada Cup match. Photo by Allsport Hulton/Archive.
1957
604 Washington Rd, Augusta, GA 30904, United States
Ben Hogan in action at Augusta National Golf Club. Photo by John G. Zimmerman/Sports Illustrated.
1960
4125 S University Blvd, Cherry Hills Village, CO 80113, United States
Ben Hogan walks along the course, a club and ball in hand, during the U.S. National Open Golf Tournament at Cherry Hills Country Club, Denver, Colorado. Photo by Ralph Crane/The LIFE Picture Collection.
1962
177 Hepburn Rd, Clifton, NJ 07012, United States
Ben Hogan walks off the tee at the Thunderbird Classic in Clifton, New Jersey. Photo by Transcendental Graphics.
1962
177 Hepburn Rd, Clifton, NJ 07012, United States
Ben Hogan shows off his form in warm-ups at the Thunderbird Classic, Clifton, New Jersey. Photo by Transcendental Graphics.
1970
Ben Hogan. Photo by Martin Mills.
1970
Ben Hogan. Photo by Martin Mills.
1970
Houston, Texas, United States
Ben Hogan in action at the Champions International Tournament, Houston, Texas. Photo by George Long/Sports Illustrated.
3001 Forest Park Blvd, Fort Worth, TX 76110, United States
Ben Hogan attended R. L. Paschal High School while living in Fort Worth, Texas.
Ben Hogan plays a short iron as the gallery looks on during a golf event. Photo by Allsport Hulton/Archive.
Ben Hogan smiles while holding a golf club outdoors, about 1948. Photo by Hulton Archive.
Ben Hogan portrayed about 1955. Photo by Hulton Archive.
Ben Hogan in action. Photo by Yale Joel/The LIFE Picture Collection.
Ben Hogan in action. Photo by Yale Joel/The LIFE Picture Collection.
Ben Hogan, keeping his shoulders level at top of swing. Photo by J. R. Eyerman/The LIFE Picture Collection.
Ben Hogan praticing putting in his hotel room with wife Valerie watching from armchair, at the Town House. Photo by Loomis Dean/The LIFE Picture Collection.
Ben Hogan working on a golf club in workshop. Photo by Martha Holmes/The LIFE Picture Collection.
2604 Washington Rd, Augusta, GA 30904, United States
Ben Hogan takes some practice shots on the range during a 1940's Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia. Photo by Augusta National.
2604 Washington Rd, Augusta, GA 30904, United States
Ben Hogan poses with his golf bag during a Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club, the 1940s. Photo by Augusta National.
Ben Hogan portrayed resting on the grass after one of his rounds.
1 Norwood Hills Country Club Dr, St. Louis, MO 63121, United States
Ben Hogan holds the PGA Trophy he won at the Norwood Hills Country Club Tourney.
Ben Hogan is lifted from a train which brought him to his hometown to recuperate from a near fatal auto accident.
Ben Hogan follows through on a swing before a field of spectators.
Ben Hogan prepares for the PGA Tournament.
3735 Country Club Cir, Fort Worth, TX 76109, United States
The statue of Ben Hogan at the Colonial Country Club, Fort Worth, Texas
Ben Hogan, demonstrating his golf drive. Photo by J. R. Eyerman/The LIFE Picture Collection.
Golf phenom Ben Hogan posing with his trophy after winning the U.S. Open Golf Championship at Riviera Country Club. Photo by Hans Knopf/Pix Inc./The LIFE Images Collection.
2604 Washington Rd, Augusta, GA 30904, United States
Bobby Jones (left) and Ben Hogan (right) sit on a bench while Jimmy Demaret (left) and Byron Nelson (right) stand behind them during a Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club in the 1940s. Photo by Augusta National.
2604 Washington Rd, Augusta, GA 30904, United States
Byron Nelson, Clifford Roberts, Robert Jones Jr, Craig Wood, Sam Snead, Henry Picard, Jimmy Demaret, Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Horton Smith, and Claude Harmon pose for a group shot. Photo by Augusta National.
Ben Hogan shows seven-year-old Madelon Leonard how to handle an iron for a tricky fairway shot, as the little lady gets ready to compete against Hogan.
79 Country Club Ln, Sugarloaf, PA 18249, United States
Ben Hogan holds his driver at the Valley Country Club.
Ben Hogan with his trophies
450 Ardmore Ave, Ardmore, PA 19003, United States
Ben Hogan (center) as he receives trophy and prizes after winning the playoff for the National Open crown at Merion Golf Club, accompanied by his wife Valerie and James D. Standish, Jr., President of the United States Golf Association (1950-51).
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1948
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1957
Ben Hogan was born on August 13, 1912, in Stephenville, Texas, United States. He was the last of three children in a family of Chester Hogan, a blacksmith and mechanic, and Clara Saphronia Hogan, a housewife.
Ben Hogan was raised in a poor but hard-working family. After his father committed suicide in 1922, Ben's mother found a job of a seamstress in a small dress shop in Fort Worth, Texas, where she brought the family. At first, Ben attended R. L. Paschal High School but soon quit it before graduation to help his mother support the family.
While Hogan's elder brother served as a deliveryman, Ben earned money by selling newspapers at Fort Worth's Union Station. By the age of twelve, the boy discovered a better source of income, notably working as a caddy at the Glen Garden Country Club. Hogan spent four years at Glen Garden and then had to turn his attention to other affordable public courses in the area, including Katy Lake, Worth Hills, and Z-Boaz.
Ben Hogan practiced a lot on his own as well as with his brother and Byron Nelson, former fellow Glen Garden caddy and future fellow golfing star. Such amateur trainings paid off when Hogan finished second in his first amateur tournament in 1928, and replicated the success in the summer a year later.
The start of Ben Hogan's career as a professional golfer can be counted from 1930 when he registered for the Texas Open in February. The first attempt, as the second one a week later, at a tournament in Houston, ended with a departure after two rounds. Hogan returned home to Fort Worth and continued to hone his golf skills while serving at odd jobs to make a living as the professional golf tour wasn't a sustainable source of income in the Depression years, even for the winners.
He made another try in the 1931 tour in Phoenix, and for once finally finished in the money, for the first time. Small victories at few subsequent opens followed, and the lack of money made Hogan come back home again. The athlete joined the staff of the Nolan River Country Club, Texas, as the club professional.
Hogan resumed golf tournaments two years after the marriage, in 1937. The amount of money he won increased throughout a couple of years. In 1938, he was given a $500 a year job as a club professional in White Plains, New York, and he played in his first Masters. That July, he won his first tournament ever, at the Hershey Four-Ball (later known as Hershey Open), and finished in the money in all of the tournaments of the year.
Hogan remained the tour's leading money winner for 1940, as well as for the next two years. In 1941, the golfer became a club professional at Hershey Open where his duties included playing in tournaments, promoting the club, and playing the course often enough that the club members could attempt to learn from his play.
The victory at a major tournament was the next big goal for Hogan. The reduction of the touring schedule, however, caused by the involvement of the United States into Second World War barred him from several opportunities to fulfill the goal from 1942 on. The golfer won the Hale America National Open Golf Tournament that year, organized in lieu of the U.S. Open, but lost to Byron Nelson at the Masters.
After the tour was officially canceled in 1943, Hogan was called to service in the United States Army Air Forces. Trained to become a flight instructor, he went to Officer Candidate School, and eventually became a captain. While in the army, Hogan played golf as often as he could, including war-benefit exhibitions in 1943 when there was no tour. In 1944, when professional tours restarted, he managed to take part in a few competitions. With so many other players off to war, Nelson was the absolute champion of the year and early in 1945. Ben was discharged in August and returned to the tour almost instantly.
The lack of proper trainings for more than two years didn't disturb Hogan to successfully challenge Nelson for the top spot. Although he lost major championships again, he had thirteen victorious tournaments of the thirty-two he competed in, becoming the Professional Golfers' Association of America champion and the top money-winner of 1946. The majors of 1947 were lost too, but in 1948 Hogan recaptured the PGA champion title pairing it with the victory at the United States Open.
The triumph was broken by a terrible car crash less than a month later. Hogan and his wife collided head-on with a Greyhound bus on bridge in rural Texas on February 2, 1949. The accident hampered circulation to Hogan's legs, leading to problems with walking that would last for the remainder of his life.
Discharged from the hospital in April, the golfer headed the American team in the Ryder Cup, held in the United Kingdom, before the end of the year. Although the consequences of the accident were still present, including the pain in his left shoulder and partial loss of vision, he was determined to make it back into competitive play. The loss at the Los Angeles Open (present-day Genesis Invitational) in January of 1950 was compensated by the win at the U.S. Open in the spring.
The next three seasons were the pinnacle of Ben Hogan's career as of a professional golfer. In 1951, the player won his first Masters Tournament and had a second consecutive victory at the U.S. Open. It repeated two years later: the fourth victorious U.S. Open and the second win at the Masters were crowned by the triumph at the British Open, the only in Hogan's career.
It turned to be the last victory in a major tournament. Ben Hogan got involved in manufacturing golf equipment and established the Hogan Company (present-day Ben Hogan Golf Equipment Company) in 1954. Since then, Hogan worked a two-hour day, from ten to noon, and then spent the afternoon playing golf. He continued to play in tour events and won his last competition, the Colonial National Invitation, in 1959. Ben Hogan retired from competitive golf in 1971 and made rare public appearances in his later years which he preferred to spend in his hometown, Fort Worth.
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1957
Quotations:
"Golf is not a game of good shots. It's a game of bad shots."
"The only thing a golfer needs is more daylight."
"Reverse every natural instinct and do the opposite of what you are inclined to do, and you will probably come very close to having a perfect golf swing."
"Placing the ball in the right position for the next shot is eighty percent of winning golf."
"The ultimate judge of your swing is the flight of the ball."
"I learn something new about the game almost every time I step on the course."
"Every day that you don't practice is one day longer before you achieve greatness."
"The greatest pleasure is obtained by improving."
"I liked to win, but more than anything, I loved to play the way I wanted to play."
"Selecting a stroke is like selecting a wife. To each his own."
"Your name is the most important thing you own. Don't ever do anything to disgrace or cheapen it."
"As you walk down the fairway of life you must smell the roses, for you only get to play one round."
Ben Hogan was a perfectionist both in his life and career. He was known for his intense concentration and for his marathon practice sessions.
Quite enclosed lifestyle that Hogan adopted at the end of his life is explained by many, including his biographer James Dodson, as the fact that Hogan's father allegedly took his life in the presence of his son.
Physical Characteristics:
Ben Hogan was 1.74 meters tall. He was believed to be left-handed by birth though he mastered a right-handed grip as an adult.
At the end of his life, the athlete was diagnosed with pneumonia and Alzheimer's disease. In 1995, Hogan underwent emergency surgery for colon cancer.
Quotes from others about the person
Johnny Miller, retired professional golfer, PGA Tour Hall of Fame inductee: "Never has there been a golfer who influenced the swing more than Ben Hogan. I still study his book as if it's true scripture."
Byron Nelson, professional golfer: "Hogan wanted the standards he left for the game to speak more eloquently than his words."
Ben Hogan met his wife-to-be, Valerie Fox, while attending Sunday school in Fort Worth in the middle of the 1920s. They married on April 14, 1935. The family didn't produce children.