Which is greater: Tiger Woods' comeback story or Ben Hogan's comeback story?
Dr. Lamar Smith, 91, then said I should investigate the question. So I am posing it to my reading audience.
Here is my answer: Ben Hogan, no doubt.
Simple premise: Hogan darned near died in the 1949 accident when his car ran head-on into a Greyhound bus.
Tiger, as you well know and has been written 108,245 times in the past, is back in a Masters green jacket after eight back and knee surgeries, a sex scandal and rehab, a DUI-related rehab, divorce, too many girlfriends to count, etc.
But he wasn't close to death, as far as we know.
So, for Dr. Smith and everyone else, here is the Hogan portion of a September 2018 Golf Digest story headlined "Tiger Woods and 9 other remarkable career comebacks in sports":
"While this list isn't limited to golf, we'd be remiss to not start it off with Ben Hogan, who suffered a number of gruesome injuries in a head-on car collision ... Despite those injuries being career-threatening, Hogan improbably returned to the PGA Tour in 1950 and won the U.S. Open that season at Merion Golf Club. His schedule was limited throughout the rest of his career, but he still managed to win five more majors between 1951 and 1953."From a pga.com story in 2018, on the 50th anniversary of Hogan's return to golf after the accident, here are details of the man's injuries:
"... In a successful attempt to save his wife's life by throwing himself in front of her, Hogan likely also saved his own life since the steering column punctured the driver's seat.
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| Ben Hogan and the crashed car. |
"Fifty-nine days after the accident, Hogan was out of the hospital and by November of that year, he resumed golf activities."
And, yes, we are partial because he was Fort Worth's finest golfer and longtime resident.
If you want the whole list of comebacks in this particular story, here is the link:
https://www.golfdigest.com/story/tiger-woods-and-9-other-remarkable-career-comebacks-in-sports-history
If you are really diligent and want all the links on this subject -- greatest comebacks from injury in sports -- try Google. There are plenty of choices. A few more links ...
https://bleacherreport.com/articles/845881-the-20-biggest-injury-comebacks-in-sports#slide20
https://www.mensjournal.com/sports/13-athletes-who-made-amazing-comebacks-after-career-threatening-injuries/
https://www.insidehook.com/article/sports/these-athletes-made-amazing-comebacks-from-horrific-injuries-illnesses
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As for the man asking the question, a little about Dr. Smith:
He was the longtime associate pastor of evangelism at First United Methodist Church of Fort Worth. He "retired" in 1997, but most days -- when he is feeling good -- he drives the few blocks to the church and still works, meeting the people with his good words.
He is a legend at his alma mater, Texas Wesleyan University, where he has ties dating 70 years. He was first president of the alumni association in the early 1950s, was interim president in 2010-11, and honored with the naming of the Rev. Dr. Lamar Edward Smith Center for Evangelism and Church Growth, part of the Central Texas Conference building.
And he recently was honored with the Law Sone Medal, named for the longtime Texas Wesleyan president. It is on a lanyard, so he can wear it for display, and I think he has taken it off one or twice the past couple of months. Not bad for a young man who moved slightly west after growing up in Mineola, Texas, and who served in the U.S. Navy during World War II.
His career in the ministry began at Fort Worth's First Methodist in 1955 and in 13 years as associate minister he welcomed more than 5,000 new members.
He also is a humorous, story-telling man -- aw, heck, he is downright funny -- who, when reading the daily papers downstairs in one of our breakfast rooms, makes the sports section his first choice.
His pastoral days took him from Fort Worth in '68 to a couple of other Texas stops and at one point to the Methodist church on the LSU campus in Baton Rouge.
Which leads to one of Dr. Smith's favorite little stories, his move from the Methodist church in Wichita Falls, Texas, to Baton Rouge ...
"When I left Wichita Falls, the last bumper sticker I saw said, 'Honk If You Love Jesus.' When I got to Baton Rouge, the first bumper sticker I saw said, 'Go to Hell, Ole Miss.' "
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Back to Tiger and Hogan ...
Mr. Ben -- "Bantam Ben" was one of his nicknames -- won 11 more PGA Tour titles after his return from the accident. That is fourth-best all-time.
Tiger Woods, after this Masters, has 81 PGA Tour titles -- one behind all-time leader Sam Snead. So Tiger very likely soon will be the greatest winner of all, and his comeback is off-the-charts tremendous.
But greatest comeback story? Dr. Smith and I will stick with Hogan.
From Nell Gould: This is great. I really like Tiger, but I learned about golf by reading a book by Ben Hogan. My first husband was a par golfer and before we married I knew very little about the game. When my husband-to-be spotted my book, he felt he had won me over. So I love knowing all that about Ben and about Lamar Smith.
ReplyDeleteFrom Bill Workman: I’m not a golfer, but I can appreciate both stories. Agree that Ben Hogan had the most serious hill to climb.
ReplyDeleteFrom John Bradshaw: Ben Hogan and Byron Nelson were two of the greatest golfers in my lifetime. Living conditions were much different during their lifetime. The golfers had to drive to the "next tournament" without the benefit of air conditioning and automatic transmissions. Purses were about $20-40 thousands. New technology was not available and skills other than hitting the ball miles was important. A tournament with old technology golf equipment would not draw an entry (my opinion) but modern scores would soar. Tiger may be the best in the past 25 years, but living conditions are much better.
ReplyDeleteAthletes can be measured only by the time they were competitive. I consider Babe Ruth the best home-run hitter in the 154-game seasons. Roger Maris eventually broke Ruth's 60 by hitting 61, but the current quantity of 162 games was needed for Maris. Again, Ruth had no A/C and had to ride trains from one location to the next game. The modern baseball players have "juiced up" balls because the public want home runs and games to last until they [the public] have consumed a few beers.
Games I watched would last only one hour and 45 minutes, or so. Not much time to sell beer or TV ads.
From Don Matheson: Both comebacks defy legends. Circumstances differ as to cause, severity, and debilities that had to be overcome. Hogan's accident was horrendous. The mangled car is evidence enough. Tiger's injuries were from wear and tear. Other circumstances could be in play.
ReplyDeleteThe mere fact that Hogan threw his body in front of his wife, at the moment of impact, negates any story surrounding the Tiger story. If Hogan could have hit the golf ball 350 yards, he would have won 50 majors. If he had grown up affluent, he might have played tennis.
From Marvin Bahnman: Lamar [Smith] is probably the best loved of all of the staff at FUMC FTW. I became a member there on January 4, 1985.
ReplyDeleteFrom John Henry: I was more interested in learning about Lamar Smith ... sounds like an interesting guy. But give me Hogan as greatest -- or greater -- comeback. Just wish we had all the sophisticated means to record all the moments then. That's why Tiger's will go down as the greatest.
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