Fox Nation's 'Long Drive Back' depicts golf icons Ben Hogan's, Tiger Woods' similar journey to stardom
The pair share more than just their record on the course, including a similar life-threatening car crash that left them both with a 'Long Drive Back'
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Fox Nation's new "Long Drive Back" explores the careers of legendary golf icons Tiger Woods and Ben Hogan, highlighting eerily similar experiences they both had in their journeys to stardom.
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The pair share astounding career success, since both are the only two golfers to win three majors in the matter of a year, and both are two of only four players to ever win over 60 tournaments.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}While many knew Woods was going to be a star from the beginning, many doubted Hogan.
"Hogan was impeccably dressed," Mike Trostel, senior content producer with the United States Golf Association (USGA) said.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"His swing looked perfect, but he could be really intimidating to play with," he continued. "Whether you're a top level player at the time, like a Sam Snead or Byron Nelson, or you're anybody else, it was intimidating to play with Ben Hogan. That cold, icy stare."
Despite similar records on the course, the duo share a rather traumatic experience. Both endured a life-threatening car crash and had similar paths guiding them back to the course.
Hogan was having a wildly-successful golf year in 1949, winning two tournaments in January. He and his wife, Valerie, were on their way home from a tournament in Van Horn, Texas, and the pair ultimately crashed after a bus veered into their lane.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Then-36-year-old Hogan left the crash scene with a shattered ankle, broken ribs, and double fracture of the pelvis, among other injuries.
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Despite spending 60 days in the hospital, and doctors doubting if the sports icon would ever be able to walk again, Hogan defied the odds and ultimately went on to win the U.S. Open in 1950.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"And won 13 events after that," American golf tycoon, Rocco Mediate, recalled. "Six of them were majors. On 50, he won at Merion, and 51, he backed it up at Oakland Hills, and then 53, won Masters Open at Oakmont and Carnoustie at the British."
And then almost 72 years to the day of Hogan's life-changing crash, Woods endured an eerily similar one in Rancho Palos Verdes, California.
Woods suffered several leg injuries from the crash, including a compound fracture of his tibia and fibula and a shattered ankle.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}He also recovered in the hospital for weeks, and it was quite some time before he was able to hit the driving range again.
It would be months before either would play on a course again.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"If Tiger Woods were to win a major championship, it might be the biggest story in the history of golf," Trostel stated. "For him to come back from not only his five back surgeries, not only his torn ACL, his broken leg, at an advanced age in the mid to late 40s, if he could do it after surviving a near-fatal car accident, it would be unthinkable."
"And if there's one person that could do it, I think it would be Tiger," he continued.
You can stream "Long Drive Back," available on Fox Nation now.