Word: golfed
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Dates: during 1940-1949
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...amateurs) readied themselves for the big push, the man who held the top spot by virtue of his temperament, tireless diligence and many more qualities, was slim, wiry William Ben Hogan, 36, of Fort Worth, the U.S. Open champion and one of the greatest tournament players in U.S. golf's 54-year major-tournament history...
Some of Hogan's fans call him "Blazin' Ben," but another nickname-"Little Ice Water"-fits even better. He stands 5 ft. 8½ in. and weighs only 140 lbs., but he manages consistently to hit one of the longest and straightest balls in golf. Apart from such purely technical skills, little Ben Hogan is the fiercest competitor in the game. With his relentless training schedule and assembly-line precision, Ben is all business, considers a social round of golf the most boring thing in the world. Any man who outscores the champ more than once this year...
Hogan had no intention of relaxing on that account; 1948's laurels are no good in 1949. He hadn't played tournament golf for eleven weeks and he had some catching up to do. For an hour after he got to Riviera, he sprayed balls from the practice tee-first with the No. 9 iron, then the No. 8 and on up the ladder to the woods. He considered the wind and terrain even in practice, controlled every shot as if the tournament had begun. He has a horror of what he calls the Sunday golfer...
Last week he laced his shots toward selected spots-to the right of the caddy, then to the left, then beyond. It was the same grim ritual on the putting green, the part of golf that the swinger in Hogan still dislikes. Says he: "Putting is foreign to the rest of the game. One of them should be called golf and the other something else." He put in long practice "tapping" the ball (for short putts) and "rolling" it (for long ones). Then he took a practice spin around Riviera's 18-hole championship course...
...kept no score, exchanged few words with his caddy. He was trying to tune himself to a competitive pitch. "Relax?" he says, incredulously. "How can anybody relax and play golf? You have to grip the club...