Back In the Day ...

Doing a little reading this morning, and came across a 1935 Associated Press article about that year's Masters. Gene Sarazen defeated Craig Wood in a 36-hole playoff that year.

The AP notes that Wood was runner-up to Horton Smith at The Masters the previous year, and reports:

(Wood) collected the (second-)place money, $800, for the second straight year and in addition received a check for $500 from Alfred S. Bourne, New York sportsman, who drew Wood in the tournament's "Calcutta pool."

Did they just report on the Masters' seemingly "official" Calcutta? They sure did. Calcutta pools aren't exactly scarce these days, but they are technically illegal in places where gambling is illegal. Sometimes you'll see a golf tournament announcement in a local paper which includes notice of a Calcutta, but I doubt Calcutta winnings get reported very often to the media.

Wood, by the way, is being honored at this year's Memorial tournament (along with Tony Jacklin, C.B. Macdonald and Ralph Guldahl). Wood was sort of the Greg Norman of his time. Very talented golfer, rotten luck (probably with a few chokes thrown in, ala Norman). Wood lost each of the four professional majors in playoffs before he finally won a major in 1941. And that year he won two, his only two majors. But he wound up with 21 wins and 2 majors. Not too shabby. Some day, he'll get into the Hall of Fame.

Some day soon, I hope, because I've got him in the Hall of Fame Calcutta.