Ben Hogan is renowned as one of the purest swingers of the golf club of all time. He was a supremely consistent player and consummate ball striker.
Although “The Hawk,” as he was known, turned professional in 1930, he didn’t enjoy immediate success and spent the first decade of his pro career working at the club level. It wasn’t until 1940 that he started to win as an individual. But after he claimed his first victory, the floodgates opened. He won four times in 1940, five in 1941 then six in 1942. After the Second World War, he really started to dominate. He won an amazing 13 times in 1946.
Hogan enjoyed a great rivalry with fellow Americans Sam Snead and Byron Nelson. The three players dominated professional golf through the 1940s.
Hogan continued to play and to win into the late 1950s but then injury started to take its toll and his competitive schedule became more limited through the 1960s. He continued to play in the majors though and enjoyed a last hurrah in the 1967 Masters when he fired a 30 on the back nine in the third round to put himself right in contention.
Hogan was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1974 and received a string of honours and distinctions including the Bob Jones award in 1976. At Augusta National, the Hogan Bridge leads to the green on the iconic 12th hole.
Ben Hogan died in 1997.
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