What made Ben Hogan so popular?

Question

i was just wondering if anyone knew. Im just curious and wondered if you can help.

Answer 1

he never gave up body destroyed car accident lost sight one eye . could make the ball do anything . todays swing coaches are going back to hogans therioes including tiger . hogan pound for pound greatsest ever .

Answer 2

Tonpidlaoan,

There’s no way I can summarize Hogan’s iconic status in this short answer. Entire books have been written on the man, and I would suggest you pick up on of these books and get the entire story.

But I will try to give you a brief glimpse into the life of arguably the greatest ball striker of all time. I will begin with his childhood.

He grew up in Fort Worth, Texas, caddying was his trade as a young lad, in fact, he grew up caddying at the same course as Byron Nelson, although Nelson was a few years older than Ben. He was very poor growing up and had a tough childhood, in fact, his father committed suicide when Ben was very young and Hogan actually discovered his father’s body. You can see how this might traumatize a child and mold a man…Hogan was a very cold and distant person both on and off the course, most believe that this event shaped the man he became.

Eventually Hogan became an excellent golfer, he was actually very long for his day, he employed a buggy whip type swing not dissimilar to Sergio’s style today. Only problem was he had the propensity to hit a vicious duck hook which would ruin his round.

Despite this Hogan turned pro and tried his luck on the professional circuit, where his childhood contemporary, Nelson, was already playing and succeeding.

My memory is fuzzy on this, but he struggled for a few years, at one point he and his wife, Valerie, were subsisting only on Orange’s he would steal from trees along the side of the road.

I believe he had finally broken through and was having success when one night he and Valerie were driving to another tournament site along a foggy road when they were struck head on by a greyhound bus which was passing a slow moving car. This was in the days long before seat belts and Hogan dove from the driver’s seat onto his wife who was sitting in the passenger’s seat. This act saved both their lives as the impact from the bus drove the steering column of the car into the back seat! Thanks to Ben, Valerie was unhurt in the crash, but Hogan was mangled. He was flown to a hospital by a military jet (he had served during WWII) and was operated on immediately. As a result of the surgery he would have circulation problems in his legs the rest of his life. He also would never walk normally again.

The doctors told him he would never play golf again, yet Ben did his best to recover his old form. (this is chronicled in a bad movie about Hogan’s life entitled Remember the Sun I believe) Eventually he did recover, and he would go on to play and win a majority of his major championships AFTER the accident.

During the time just prior to the accident and after, Hogan remade his swing to hit a controlled fade. He chronicled his adjustments in his book and a Life magazine article. The way he did it was known as “The Secret” … which he so called revealed in the Life article….but the way Hogan did it would result in a wild slice for most amateurs. However it yielded spectacular accuracy for Hogan and he would use his ball striking prowess to overcome some of the hardest golf courses of his day.

Tthe mystique surrounding the secret and Hogan’s aloofness when dealing with the general public made him quite an enigma and kind of an icon in his day.

During his playing days he started his equipment company (which still makes clubs today) and in a cruel twist of fate, was beaten using his own clubs during a major by Jack Fleck.

As a side note, a contemporary of Hogan named Gardner Dickinson, who was training I believe as a physiatrist, once serendipitously asked Hogan every question from an IQ test over the course of a year. What he concluded was that Hogan had an IQ on the genius level.

As I said, the man was extremely complicated and these words do not do him justice….I would encourage you to read this book by Curt Samson, it’s good:

http://www.amazon.com/Hogan-Curt-Sampson...

I have written this from memory and I did not include any specific details, like years he won majors, but I am going to post his wikipedia entry for you to reference:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Hogan

Hope this answers your question!

Answer 3

I think Ohio Golfer meant "surreptitiously", not "serendipitously".  Otherwise, he was pretty accurate.

Answer 4

Ben Hogan...was popular becuse he was a small man with a big heart...Golf was Hogan's life..he worked day after day..sun up till sun down...Hogan didn't have any talent growing up.,..Byron Nelson and Sam Snead had natural talent..and didn't practice as much as Hogan did..It fustrated Hogan that he worked harder than alot of golfers but was't getting nowhere...and almost gave up the game..But as alot of success stories goes..he kept at it..and then one day it all came together for him....and then his legend grew.

Hogan built his swing through hard work sweat..as he once said "you have to dig it out of the ground"...Almost all of PGA pros and teachers credit Hogan for giving them the foundation of a fundamental swing..a repetitive swing.

In essence Hogan is the father of the modern swing that is used today.

Answer 5

He was a great golfer and a great person. He loved the game of golf and treated people with respect. His personality transcended the game.