Ben Hogan won a golf tournament on the Sunday before winning the 1950 US Open!

“Did You Know”
Ben Hogan won a golf tournament on the Sunday before winning the 1950 US Open!

Hershey Country Club’s Ben Hogan was in Virginia playing in the National Celebrities Golf Tournament the weekend before winning the 1950 US Open. The tournament was held to raise money for disadvantaged young people in the Washington DC area. The celebrities and golf professionals all paid their own expenses for travel and their stay during the event.

A few days before Hogan had been in Philadelphia playing practice rounds at Merion Golf Club, which was hosting the US Open one week later. On Thursday he toured the course with his lawyer Francis Sullivan, who was a member of Merion GC, and Tommy Armour, winner of the 1927 US Open. Hogan said that the round wasn’t worth much, with the golf course very wet from rain and the back tees closed.

On Saturday and Sunday Hogan was winning the National Celebrities Golf Tournament at the Army Navy Country Club in Arlington, Virginia. Hogan turned in a five under par 65 in the first round on Saturday. Paired with Bob Hope on Sunday, Hogan shot a 33 on the first nine and then it rained so hard, the rest of the round was canceled. Hogan’s total of 98 strokes won by eight strokes over Philadelphia’s George Fazio, who was tied by two other professionals. Two veteran professionals, Gene Sarazen and Henry Picard were also entered there as a warm-up for the US Open. Bob Hope tied for low celebrity at 117 strokes, with New York Yankees co-owner Dan Topping, and Robert R. Young, president of the C&O Railroad. Babe Zaharias won the women’s division with a 103 total.

With Hogan still recovering from his near fatal automobile accident he was playing a limited schedule. The two-day Celebrities Tournament was a perfect warm-up for the upcoming US Open.

That next Sunday, Ben Hogan won the US Open at Merion Golf Club in a three-way 18-hole playoff over Lloyd Mangrum and George Fazio. The week before Mangrum had won the Fort Wayne Open on the PGA Tour. It became evident that Hogan’s, Mangrum’s and Fazio’s golf games had been trending in the right direction.