Ben Hogan’s Last Hurrah At The 1967 Masters

Ben Hogan had not played a competitive round for 10 months prior to The Masters Tournament of 1967. He was 54, he was suffering a persistent shoulder injury, and his troublesome legs were aching. But on Saturday 8th April at Augusta National, “Bantam Ben” shot the lowest round of the tournament to give himself a realistic chance of the most unlikely victory. This is the story of how the sweet-swinging veteran equalled a Masters scoring record in his last ever Masters outing.

Hogan was a late developer as a professional. Unlike his contemporaries Sam Snead and Byron Nelson (all of whom were born in 1912), his early years in the paid ranks were tough and he didn’t get an individual win until 1940, some 10 years after turning pro. His nine Major titles all came in a relatively short spell between 1946 and 1953 with his two Masters victories were in 1951 and 1953.