Ben Hogan, the golfer who overcame devastating injuries from a traffic accident to win four U.S. Opens and come closest to capturing professional golf's "grand slam," died Friday. He was 84.
Hogan, who had colon cancer surgery two years ago and Alzheimer's disease, died at his home here, said his secretary, Pat Martin.The stone-faced man in a white hat, who gained a reputation as one of the game's most exacting players, captured the Masters twice, the PGA championship twice and the British Open once, in addition to his four Open victories.
Only three other golfers - Willie Anderson, Bobby Jones and Jack Nicklaus - won the U.S. Open four times. Hogan saw his fifth Open slip away when he lost a playoff for the 1955 championship to Jack Fleck.
He translated a stern, no-nonsense approach to the game, and endless, highly disciplined practice, into 62 professional wins over a career that spanned three decades.
In a rare interview in 1987 with Golf Digest, Hogan said he never tried to hit a straight shot.
"I can't," he said. "I don't believe anybody else can hit a straight ball. You only hit a straight ball by accident. The ball is going to move right or left every time you hit it, so you had better make it go one way or the other."
Hogan retired from full-time tournament play in 1955 and dedicated himself to business interests, including a Fort Worth-based golf club manufacturing company bearing his name. His last professional win was in 1959.
More recently, his company established the Ben Hogan Tour, a successful minor league training tour for pro golfers. The tour began in 1990; in 1993, the Nike sports equipment company took over sponsorship and renamed it the Nike Tour.
Hogan, whose full name was W. Benjamin Hogan, was born on Aug. 13, 1912, in the Texas town of Dublin and moved to Fort Worth as a boy. He became a caddy at age 9 after his father died, and later began playing.
A natural lefthander, Hogan switched to a right-handed swing because of a scarcity of clubs for southpaws.
He served in the Army Air Corps during World War II.