Can you imagine anyone calling Bobby Jones a witch ?
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Can you imagine anyone calling Bobby a witch ? But here is the exact quote as spoken to O.B. Keeler, "They ought to burn him at the stake. He's a witch." Pretty clearly expresses it don't you think ? But again why, and why in 1930 in particular, well maybe these three little shots contributed; Shot 1, the British Amateur on the Old Course in St. Andrews. Jones on the fourth tee hits his drive a little left of target and his ball ends up in The Cottage Bunker approximately 140 yards from the green. As he climbed down into the bunker with his mashie-niblick in hand he turned to the photographer who had been following him and said "Please don't make a picture just now." What ? The guy has played golf in front of thousands with people jumping in front of his line, cameras clicking at every imaginable point in his swing.
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Shot 2, The Open Championship at the The Royal Liverpool Golf Club in Hoylake, clutching to a lead going into the par 5 sixteenth hole Jones in an effort to reach the green on his second shot hits a 2 wood into one of the green side bunkers. We don't know which bunker, but history does tell us he had a downhill-sidehill lie. Upon assessing his situation he decides to hit a shot with a club, "a sand wedge", that the record shows, he had hit only twice before. With the Open Championship on the line, he took his swing and "rays of sun peeked through the clouds and flashed off the head of the club as Jones drove it down behind the ball." George Trevor, New York Sun.
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the ball floating in a geyser of sand, flopping like a tired frog, (then)
rolling, rolling, it reached the cup, circled the rim as as the crowd
shrieked, settled 3 inches from the hole." O. B. Keeler wrote and be sure
to notice the
wording," as the crowd shrieked", not as the crowd cheered, not
as the crowd applauded, but "as the crowd shrieked.........". Jones walked up and tapped in his birdie which in the end was the difference between winning and second place. |
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Shot 3, The United States Open played at Interlachen Country Club in Edina
Minnesota, struggling in the 100+ degree heat, Bobby is one stroke off the lead after
Horton Smith eagles number 9 in the group in front of him. Having pushed his
drive right he finds himself in clump of trees with can be best described as as
a horrendous lie. Knowing he had to go for it to keep the young Smith within
striking distance Jones called for his 3 wood.
While in his back swing he sees 2 little girls darting out from the crowd. Unable to stop his swing he hits the ball painfully thin and sends it rocketing toward the center of the lake protecting the 9th and 18th greens. The spectators groan as the ball heads for its watery grave then "gasps" in stunned disbelief as the ball shoots off the water to the slope beyond stopping just shy of the green. Horton Smith observing the shot from his perch on the 10th tee later wrote, "When I saw that topped shot come off the water I knew nobody else had a chance to win the tournament." Keeler wrote, "If your name is up, the ball will walk on water for you." |
By the time the 4th leg of the Grand Slam came along Jones had no further need for golfing miracles, and left them for the rest of the field. the result was an astonishing tournament with shots so amazing that the huge galleries ran all over the course like some out of control seething mass. From the time play started at Merion until Eugene Homans congratulated Jones on the 11th green conceding defeat in the finals 8-6 Bobby just simply destroyed his competition. His closest match being 5 and 4 against Canadian Fred Hoblitzel.
So here we are again, back to our original question, Can you imagine anyone calling Bobby a witch ?
To learn more about the
golfing miracles of the great Bobby Jones, continue your search here....