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Wednesday, May 20, 1998

Fans, players say tournament isn't the same without Hogan

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) -- A statue of golf great Ben Hogan overlooks the 18th green at the Colonial Country Club. His name is listed as the defending champion on the leader board. The course even bears the nickname "Hogan's Alley."

But players and fans say it is his spirit that will be most apparent this week during the MasterCard Colonial -- the first since Hogan's death in July, when he suffered a massive stroke at age 84.

"It's going to be melancholy," Ben Crenshaw, a close friend of Hogan who won the Colonial in 1977 and 1990, told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

"For a lot of people who knew Mr. Hogan, it was a tough year last year. His name was synonymous with that tournament. You can't really mention Colonial without mentioning Mr. Hogan. Gosh, it's going to be very, very different."

Paul Stewart, a retired investment banker and golf fan from Minnesota, flew to Fort Worth to watch the tournament and bask in the Hogan magic.

"I was lucky enough to see him at the U.S. Open in 1950. I'll never forget it," Stewart said. "I wanted to see the players of today, but I also wanted to feel what it was like to be on those courses because of the players I grew up with, too."

Hogan was one of just four men to have won all four of golf's majors. He accumulated 63 career tournaments, including Colonial wins in 1946, 1947, 1952, 1953 and 1959.

But during the last few years of his life, Hogan retreated from the public eye, including the tournament he made famous. He remained a regular at the club's annual champion's dinner, but he last attended the Colonial in 1991.

This year's activities will go on without Hogan. Practice rounds were scheduled for Tuesday, and the first round of play is set for about 8 a.m. Thursday.

Most of golf's big names will be in Fort Worth this week, including Crenshaw, Justin Leonard, Phil Mickelson, Tom Watson and Fred Couples. CBS will televise the weekend rounds and Sunday's winner will don the Colonial's signature plaid jacket.