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Ben Hogan (August 13, 1912 - July 25, 1997) was a
professional golf player. Born in Dublin, Texas,
he began caddying at the age of eleven and started
as a professional golfer in 1931. Hogan was by
most accounts the greatest golfer of his time and
one of the greatest of all-time. He is arguably
the greatest ball striker of all time. "The Hawk"
possessed an iron will and fierce determination
which when combined with his unquestionable golf
skills, often intimidated opponents into
submission. He rarely spoke while in competition.

Although slight of build at only 5'7" and 140
pounds (64 kg), he was very long off the tee and
even competed in long drive contests early in his
career.He was left-handed, but played golf
right-handed.  Between the years of 1938 through
1959, Hogan won 63 professional golf tournaments
despite his career being interrupted in its prime
by World War II and a near fatal car accident. 

Hogan was known to practice more than any other
golfer of his contemporaries.  He thought that an
individual's golf swing was "in the dirt" and all
one needed to do was dig it out by hitting enough
golf balls. While afflicted with hooking the golf
ball early in his career, he developed a "secret"
which made his swing nearly automatic.  His
"secret" was once revealed in a 1955 Life
magazine|Life magazine article, but many believed
he did not reveal all.

Hogan believed that a solid repeatable golf swing
involved only a few essential elements, which when
performed correctly and in sequence, was the
essence of the swing. His "Five Lessons, Modern
Fundamentals of Golf" is perhaps the most widely
read golf tutorial which is often plagiarized by
modern "swing gurus."  The "Five Lessons," written
after his prime, demonstrated his clear command
and knowledge of the mechanics of the golf swing.

In 1948 alone, Ben Hogan won 10 tournaments,
including the 1948 U.S. Open (golf)|U.S. Open at
the Riviera Country Club, a course that was called
Hogan's Alley because of his success there.
Tragically, the following winter, a head-on
collision with a bus nearly killed him. With a
double fracture of the pelvis, a fractured collar
bone, left ankle fracture, a chipped rib, and near
fatal blood clots, he would suffer lifelong
circulation problems and other physical
limitations. His doctors said he might never walk
again, let alone play golf competitively.

Prior to the 1949 accident, Hogan never truly
captured the hearts of his galleries, despite
being the dominant golfer of his time. Perhaps
this was due to his cold and aloof on-course
persona. But when Ben Hogan shocked and amazed the
golf world by returning to tournament golf only 11
months after his accident, and amazingly took
second place after a playoff loss to Sam Snead in
the 1950 Los Angeles Open, he was cheered on by
ecstatic fans. "His heart was simply not big
enough to carry his legs any longer," famed
sportswriter Grantland Rice said of Hogan's near
miss. However, he proved to his critics and to
himself especially that he could still win by
completing his famous comeback five months later
by defeating Loyd Mangrum and George Fazio in an
18 hole playoff at Merion C.C. to win his second
U.S. Open. Hogan went on to achieve perhaps the
greatest sporting accomplishment in history by
limping to 12 more PGA wins, including 6 Majors.
He even received a Ticker-tape parade|ticker-tape
parade in New York City upon his return from
winning the 1953 The Open Championship|Open
Championship.

In 1953 Hogan won the Hickok Belt as top
professional athlete of the year.

Ben Hogan later went on to found a golf club
manufacturing company (now owned by the Callaway
Golf Company), and his clubs, or at least ones
that carry his name, are still played today.  Ben
Hogan never competed on the Champions Tour|senior
golf tour, which did not exist until he was in his
late sixties.

==See also==
*Golfers with most PGA Tour wins
*List of golfers with most major title wins

==External links==
*http://www.golfstarsonline.com/H/Ben_Hogan/ Ben
Hogan at Golf Stars Online Directory of relevant
online Hogan resources
*http://golf.about.com/od/golfersmen/p/ben_hogan.h
tm Ben Hogan on About.com Profile, stats and
quotes