GOLF.

Evening Star, Issue 17977, 25 May 1922, Page 3

GOLF.

KIRKWOOD'S NEW CHANCE. LKXriTHKXTXa HIS SWTXCL T|,,- interesting announcement is made * Ti.-i (, Joseph Kirkwood, the Australian r!inn|iv>'n. one Ci f tin? most original golfers •v!:o ever .-el. font upon these shores, is, e'iiiiii l ; ii> England again to com pelo. ip t ! -.' I’i ii ish open ehnnipionship at Sandvo li fsnvs the London ‘ Observer '). Ho nr'f, f/alisOod, 'neither, apparently, - (lie golfers of the Antipode:;, (hat iv. had done himself eornplefn jnslico- at .'t. Andrews last year, when he tied with -even others for sixth place. ,: T ought (■■ have done bettor.” ho said to me as 1 e le n ned over the railings at, the hack of .■ *e ehrhfeeuth preen garing wistnilly at X ITiitrhi-.on rnakin:' his last putt m his historic record round of 70. which was d. -fined to win him flic eliainrimishio. As a maiter of fact, Kirkwood did extraovdinarilv well to train so high a position l-i a field which inelnded nil the world’s master golfers. Purely he did not expect fha! he was coin:' to win the area test of all )iri/e.s at his first ntT-unpt. 'Hie sporlsmen of .Australia, deeply impressed with Kirkwood's rreriius for the game, are civin-: him another onpnrtnnity bv snbseribieg the necev-arv funds to enable him to make the inn to Knmpc. They Micro that lie gained enormously in experience dnring his last visit, and that- on lies occasion his chances of success :ue great!’/ Cl 'naui'.-'il, Twi.-f Kirkwood’* huHHo was nricked hv Mitel HI. The first time was rt, (Tien, codes, wh-'ii they reached ilm final of the I.oooj-s foninament. ami the .second was at Oxhey in the £750 competition, when Mif.-Ill'll scrain’ded home a enunlo of strokes ahead cf Kirkwood. The Ans trail,in learned a very valiiah’e h.’isoi; —viz., if one h to succeed in firM-H-is-- golf lie mu.-t he all'.--' to drive- enormous dipt: nrcs. TlTl-i WILL TO- MIT. Kirkwood was not. slow to perceive what was larking in his game, and ho went home fnllv determined to exploit a r.v’.v idea, which would add yards to has drive. I In-ar from a mutual friend that he lias alreadv (lone an, ami that now he fears nobody in the matter of did.niuethat a golf ball can he propelled. In some rw-ptefs Kirkwood’s crusade was (he most, romantic ever -undertaken by a. professional golfer. As a young man of 24 'oars of ace he was burning with the dr--ire In mal.e his name on the links, and with the financial assistance of tin? farmer on whe-m .'•been ranch he formerly acted as a nunhe made (ho icily journey. Too '‘new id. a " of Kirkwood’s was really a modification of his swing from fat to i-p.mrbt and the employment nr the right ;o Wt “ draw ” instead of ‘the left to right "drift” which Vardon always utilised in hi-; great unconquerable days. Vardon, seeking length, luui m latter yean varied hi- style to procure tlio right to left tliidit with subsequent run. In a careful study of the styles and method.-! of 'British golfers Kirkwood and hi-, friend and partner, Victor Hast, pay n pi-etty tribute to Mitchell. If every leading player, (hey say, contributed ono essentia! -cart of the gHliiny [winy toward il;.- formation of the faultless rondel then if might bo- said that Mitchell has given the perfect poise and stance arid Vardon tile graceful morynent. ease, and rhythm of the actual awing. Contrasting tho two wing:;, one sees the definite arrival of 'lm newest tinny in golf—tho “ swinging bit.” Tho cld rnlo still prevails that it, is Ihe speed of (ho Hub head Hurt matlint .Mitchell has introduced more Ilian speed; ho obtains speed, plus firmness, a t, (ho rnnmnnt of impact. That si m!..-, these vast differences, tho Australians d Hare, which all must learn in cover. Many golfers havo speed of dub bead, led (heir movement;! Hung of too loose a i nfiire they fail to got tho length. Mit-eh'-'Il. combining tho two, guts normally oAfivds, while Kirkwood’s average is about 9,20 yd s. m'NTAX’S COMPLICATED MECHANISM. It. is quite refreshing, and a little unique, to find famous professional golfers criticising one another. Duncan started the fashion, and now it in the Jt urn of Duncan to bo criticised himself. Tim Australian says of him i “Duncan’s golf is a product of constant thought, and it i - unusual to find a person thinking hard "ul acting quickly. His is a complicated mechanism, which sometimes goes wrong am! cannot easily be put rigid,” I do uni suppose there is any golfer, certainly no professional, who devotes so much thought to Dio scientific side of the game as Duncan. Even in tho middle of tho competition ho will experiment with eorao new club or attempt nn entirely different type of shot fWTm tho ordinary. British sportsmen in general, and golfms in particular, will again offer a most hearty welcome' to Kirkwood, because of hk puict, unassuming bearing, his com--age in taelding a tremendous problem, and his originality in the company of golf Hubs—seven in all—and his methods of emplovintr them. It would not ha a- ma,t(er for great astonishment if one day he achieved bis life’s ambition by capturing the world’s championship.