Ben Hogan had more dedication than any athlete today. Throughout his life
Mr.Hogan overcame a very traumatic childhood, recovered from a nearly
fatal head-on collision with a bus and built a golf equipment empire.
Ben Hogan was born in a small town in Texas called Dublin. He was one
of three children. When Ben was only six years old he witnessed his father
commit suicide while playing in the same room. ' At age nine my childhood
was shot through the heart'.(p.14) obviously Hogan was traumatize by the
tragedy.
Hogan's instinctive reaction was to become protective of his mother. After the
suicide the family underwent serious financial problems. To do his part Ben
began selling newspapers, until he heard that their was big money to be made
at the local golf club for caddies. This was Hogan's ticket into golf, with golf
being considered a 'rich man's' game Hogan probably would never have
started playing
Hogan
Hogans
A golf ball.golf. Because of the poor wages the caddies recieved, most of the caddies
made
money by gambling on golf, this was where Hogan's dedication was shown
even as
a child. Hogan was much smaller than any of they other caddies so they
usually
beat him. But Hogan wouldn't accept it, instead he would show up for work a
couple of hours early and practice his heart out, ' Sometimes I practised until
my hands bled.'(p.11) Finally he began winning the bets, but also caddy and
junior tournaments too.
Secondly, on February 1, 1949 Hogan was on top of the world, having won
the
US OPEN, the MASTERS and appearing on the cover of Time life Magazine.
Until he collided head on with a twenty thousand pound passenger bus. Hogan
suffered a broken collarbone, broken left ankle, broken right leg, broken pelvis
and a...