Biography

Ben Hogan - World Golf Hall of Fame: Year Inducted: 1978          

Ben Hogan is one of only five players to win the career Grand Slam. It was said Ben Hogan had the secret. He may or may not have-it was not the nature of the man to say. But if one player deserved to have it-by dint of total dedication and immersion in the game's mystery-it would be Ben Hogan.           

Hogan had a code: work, study, endure-that he never betrayed. The way he unwaveringly applied his code to achieving total control of the golf ball engendered a respect that surpasses that of any other player. When he won, it was completely deserved. When he lost, it was poignant because no man ever gave so much. "I always outworked everybody," he said. "Work never bothered me like it bothers some people."          

Hogan's record just happened to be something of a byproduct of this higher calling. He won 63 tournaments, his first in 1938 at the Hershey Four Ball (with Vic Ghezzi) and the last the 1959 Colonial. He won nine majors and is one of the only five men to win the Masters, the U.S. Open, the British Open and the PGA at least once. In 1953, he won all three majors he played in, missing the PGA because the dates conflicted with his only journey to the British Open.           

Because he was the master of control, the U.S. Open was the canvas upon which Hogan did his best work. He won it four times: 1948, 1950, 1951 and 1953. From 1940 to 1960, excluding the championships of 1949 and 1957, both of which he missed due to injury, Hogan never finished out of the top 10 at any U.S. Open.        

Hogan was born Aug. 13, 1912, in Dublin, Texas. His father was a blacksmith who died when Ben was nine. After moving to Fort Worth, Hogan began his life in golf as a caddy, along with Byron Nelson, at the Glen Garden C.C. Hogan joined the professional circuit in 1932, and had very little early success. Small but strong at 5-7, 140 pounds, Hogan was a long hitter who was often undone by a hook. He went broke twice, and when he was on the verge a third time on the eve of 1938 Oakland Open, he thought seriously about giving up. Instead, he shot a final-round 69 to finish second and win $380 to keep going. "I played harder that day than I ever played before or ever will again," he said.        

Hogan didn't bloom until he found "a secret"-believed by some to be a weakening of his left hand along with the pronounced clockwise rotation of his left arm on the backswing-that allowed him to play a power fade. After several close calls in major championships, he won his first major at the 1946 PGA. When he won the 1948 PGA Championship in May and the U.S. Open at Riviera three weeks later, Hogan felt he was at his peak.          

But on Feb. 2, 1949, a Greyhound bus crossed a center divider and crashed into the car carrying Hogan and his wife, Valerie. Hogan nearly died and suffered permanent leg injuries. Miraculously, Hogan won the 1950 U.S. Open at Merion in an 18-hole playoff with George Fazio and Lloyd Mangrum. "Merion meant the most," he would say later.          

Even though Hogan played only a few tournaments a year thereafter, his best golf was ahead. In 1951, he won his first Masters and the U.S. Open at Oakland Hills. In 1953, he had his greatest year, winning his second Masters, his fourth U.S. Open and his only British Open. He played his last official event in 1971.              

Professional Majors:

Masters Tournament: 1951, 1953
U.S. Open: 1948, 1950, 1951, 1953
Open Championship: 1953
PGA Championship: 1946, 1948     

Other Significant Victories: PGA TOUR: 54         

1938: Hershey Four-Ball
1940: North and South Open, Greater Greensboro Open
1940: Asheville Land of the Sky Open, Goodall Palm Beach Round Robin
1941: Asheville Open, Chicago Open, Hershey Open, Miami Biltmore International Four-ball, Inverness Four-ball
1942: Los Angeles Open, San Francisco Open, North and South Open Championship
1942: Asheville Land of the Sky Open, Hale America Open, Rochester Open
1945: Nashville Invitational, Portland Open Initational, Richmond Invitational, Montgomery Invitational, Orlando Open
1946: Phoenix Open, San Antonio Texas Open, St. Petersburg Open, Colonial National Invitational, Western Open, Winnipeg Open, Golden State Open, Dallas Invitational North and South Open Championship, Goodall Round Robin, Miami International Four-ball, Inverness Four-ball
1947: Los Angeles Open, Phoenix Open, Colonial National Invitational, Chicago Victory Open, World Championship Of Golf, Miami International Four-ball, Inverness Round Robin Four-ball
1948: Los Angeles Open, Motor City Open, Reading Open, Western Open, Denver Open, Reno Open, Glendale Open, Inverness Round Robin Four-ball
1949: Bing Crosby, Long Beach Open
1951: World Championship Of Golf
1952: Colonial National Invitational
1953: Pan American Open, Colonial National Invitational
1959: Colonial National Invitational         

Other Accomplishments:

Player of the Year: 1948, 1950, 1951, 1953
Vardon Trophy: 1940, 1941, 1948
Leading money winner: 1940, 1941, 1942, 1946, 1948
Ryder Cup: 1947, 1951. Non-playing captain in 1949, 1967.            

References
http://www.wgv.com/hof/member.php?member=1061
www.hickoksports.com/ biograph/hoganben.shtml
http://www.all-sports-posters.com/benhogan.html
http://espn.go.com/classic/biography/s/Hogan_Ben.html