Author(s): David Barrett

Golf

Legendary sportswriter Red Smith characterized Ben Hogan's comeback from a near-fatal automobile crash in February 1949 as "the most remarkable feat in the history of sports". Now, more than sixty years later, that statement still rings true. The crowning moment of Hogan's comeback was his astonishing victory in the 1950 U.S. Open at Merion Golf Club near Philadelphia, where his battered legs could barely carry him on the 36-hole final day. "Miracle at Merion" - the recipient of the USGA's 2010 Herbert Warren Wind Award for the best golf book of the year - tells the stirring story of Hogan's valiant triumph over adversity, from the rarely-performed surgery that saved his life, the months of rehabilitation when he couldn't even hit a golf ball, his shocking return to competition at the Los Angeles Open, to, finally, the U.S. Open triumph that returned him to the pinnacle of the game, cementing his legacy as one of the sport's true legends.