Larry Gatlin: Tiger Woods' accident – how golf great can draw same strength I did from this legend's life

On Tuesday, when I came inside from hitting some flip wedges (that’s golf talk) in the rough off the the15th fairway behind our home in Brentwood, Tennessee, my wife Janis told me about Tiger Woods’ car wreck. My mind somewhat eerily went to Van Horn, Texas, on Feb. 2, 1949, and another car wreck.

Golf legend Ben Hogan was almost killed in an automobile accident on that February day near Van Horn, about 80 miles from my boyhood home of Odessa.

In fact, the accident would have left him dead had he not thrown himself toward the passenger side of his new black Cadillac and in so doing also helped to save his wife Valerie’s life.

The driver’s side of Hogan’s car was crushed by the front bumper of a Greyhound bus, which pinned the steering wheel against the back seat, where Hogan’s chest would have been had he not thrown himself in front of Valerie.

TIGER WOODS WAS DRIVING ON CURVY ROAD MINUTES BEFORE HORRIFIC CRASH, VIDEO SHOWS

In the emergency room at the Hotel Dieu (go figure), a hospital in El Paso, the doctor assured Mrs. Hogan that her husband would survive his shattered pelvis, broken collar bone and internal injuries, but that his badly mangled legs were almost hopelessly damaged, that he would be crippled for the rest of his life if, in fact, they did not have to be amputated, and that his golfing days were over.

That doctor, whose name has been lost in antiquity, did not know of whom he was speaking, because Hogan, who was called "the hawk" by my friend Ben Crenshaw and "the Wee Ice Mon" by his Scottish caddie Cecil Timms and "Mr. Hogan" by me, won the U.S. Open at Merion Golf Club near Philadelphia in 1950, only 18 months after the accident.

He went on to win several more tournaments in his career, including the Masters in 1951, 1953 and 1964. Hogan is fourth on the all-time wins list.

TIGER WOODS’ TWITTER ACCOUNT PROVIDES UPDATE ON HIS INJURIES, THANKS FANS

On more than a few occasions, including four vocal cord surgeries and two back surgeries, I have steeled myself by rereading for the umpteenth time "Follow the Sun," the story of Hogan’s life, his wreck, his injuries and his comeback.

The example afforded me by reading the story of Hogan’s tenacity, his courage, and the work ethic he employed to get back to the top of the golf world, inspired and encouraged me.

It gave me hope that I would be able to continue my singing career, and to an almost infinitely lesser degree than Hogan, also continue my golf "career."

I’m grateful for the important life lesson I learned from Hogan's example: that tenacity, hard work, courage and, in my case at least, prayer, and the skill of my physicians Dr. Robert Ossoff and Dr. Douglas McCord, can in fact work miracles.

I have not met Tiger, but I have enjoyed watching him play golf at a level achieved only, in my opinion, by Mr. Hogan, Mr. Nicklaus and Mr. Palmer.

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On Tuesday afternoon as I watched the news about Tiger’s wreck and whispered a prayer for him, my mind went back to an interview I did on television a few years ago shortly after Tiger had really screwed up some "stuff" after having been "over-served" and under the influence of some pretty strong meds.

One of my fellow interviewees that morning, whose name is also lost in antiquity, pretty much read the riot act to young Tiger Woods as if he were sitting right there in the studio right beside us.

I bit my lip for a moment while I tried to "screw your courage to the sticking-place" as Macbeth exhorted Lady Macbeth to do, then I said, "Folks, on more than a few occasions I have been 'over-served' and I have taken prescribed and 'not so prescribed' drugs. I’ve wrecked cars, guitars, and almost a marriage, and without a good recovery program, the love of my family and friends, the forgiveness of the American people, and the mercy and grace of God, I wouldn’t be on television this morning… or anywhere else excerpt under dirt... I’d be dead."

Silence. Crickets. Zilch from my fellow interviewees until one of them said, "Gatlin, I think you’re right. I’ve changed my mind. I’m going to root for Tiger on and off the golf course" – or something like that.

Please understand, I’m not saying that my little quip that morning on TV had anything to do with Tiger getting ahold of himself and turning things around in his life, which he did.

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Tiger Woods wouldn’t know me if he were to fall on me, but here’s my point: we all need "a little help from our friends" every now and then, and maybe even the prayers and good wishes of total strangers. So that’s what I’m going to do again right now on the day after his accident. 

I’m going to say a prayer for Tiger and his family, send my heartfelt good wishes and, if I knew his address, I’d loan him my copy of "Follow the Sun: The Ben Hogan Story," which is signed… To Larry, Best Wishes, Ben Hogan.

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