Ben Hogan Biography:
In 292 career PGA Tour events, Ben Hogan finished in the Top 3 in 47.6-percent of them. He finished in the Top 10 in 241 of those 292 events.
Hogan was born near Fort Worth in 1912. Hogan and Byron Nelson were childhood acquaintances, caddying at the same Fort Worth club. They even squared off one year for the club's caddie championship (Nelson won).
Hogan's childhood was rough - his father committed suicide, and it is believed that Hogan witnessed the tragic event.
Hogan turned pro in 1929, at age 17, to play pro events in Texas. He didn't join the PGA Tour until 1932. Much of his early career, Hogan battled a hook. But through a tremendous work ethic, he changed his game to a controlled fade (in his famous words, he "dug it out of the dirt"). In 1940, he began winning, and often.
He missed a couple years on Tour due to World War II, but returned full-time in 1946 and won 13 times, including his first major, the PGA. From August 1945 to February 1949, Hogan won 37 times. But in 1949, he suffered terrible injuries in a car crash, and was never again able to play a full schedule due to circulatory problems in his legs.
In fact, from 1950 on, Hogan never played more than seven PGA Tour events in a year. Yet, he won 13 more times, including six majors. Until Tiger Woods did it in 2000, Hogan was the only man to win three professional majors in one season. That was in 1953, when Hogan won the Masters, U.S. Open and British Open. (He didn't play the PGA Championship because that tournament's dates conflicted with the British Open's.) From 1946 to 1953, Hogan won nine of the 16 majors he played.
Hogan brought his same quest for perfection to the golf clubs made by the company that bore his name, and Ben Hogan Golf produced many of the finest clubs available over the years.
His demeanour on the course was quiet and focused. With others, Hogan was often distant, aloof, brusque or even rude. But he had everyone's respect.
Ben Hogan was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1974.
