The "Hogan Slam" - More from the Brandenburg Museum

In the early 1940's Ben Hogan was consistently getting more successful. In 1948 alone, he won 10 tournaments including the U.S. Open at Riviera Country Club. This course became known as "Hogan's Alley" because of his winning history there. "Hogan's Alley" also became the nickname for the sixth hole at Carnoustie after the 1953 Open Championship, where Hogan took a famously tough line off the tee during all his rounds.

Before the 1949 car accident, Hogan's perceived cold and aloof persona may have been the reason he didn't capture the hearts of golf fans. However, by returning after only 11 months following his life-threatening experience, he went on to amaze the golf world. Despite his playoff loss to Sam Snead in the 1950 Los Angeles Open, his first tournament after recovering, he was cheered on by ecstatic fans. Five months later, he found himself in another playoff. This time, the it was against Lloyd Mangrum and George Faxio for the U.S. Open title. This time, he won.

After the 1950 U.S. Open title, Hogan's success didn't slow down. He won another 12 PGA Tour tournaments before his retirement, six of which were majors. In 1951, he entered only five events but won three of them (The Masters, The U.S. Open, and the World Championship of Golf). In the other two events, he finished second and fourth.

Hogan's 1953 season is probably what most of us know most about. This was the "Hogan Slam" year, when he won three majors in the same calendar year (the Masters, U.S. Open, and the British Open). Until Tiger Woods won the three final majors in 2000, Hogan had been the only player who had won three majors in one year. (Tiger also went on to win the Masters the following year.) Hogan was unable to play in the fourth major, the 1953 PGA Championship, since the dates overlapped with the British Open.

Picture located in the Brandenburg Museum

As the years went by, Hogan often declined to play the PGA Championship. There were two reasons for this. First, it was played in a match play format until 1958. Hogan's skill was "shooting a number"; to plan in detail and executing a strategy on a particular course (he even left his 7-iron out of his bag in the U.S. Open at Merion, saying "there are no 7-iron shots at Merion"). Secondly, since the PGA often required several days of 36-hole competition, Hogan couldn't physically keep up. He struggled to manage 18 holes a day after his car accident.

Golf Digest October, 1960

Located in the Brandenburg Museum