On February 2 , 1949 Early one hazy Texas morning, about 150 miles east of El Paso, Ben Hogan almost dies when a Greyhound bus, swinging out to pass a truck, collides with his car. When it becomes clear a crash is unavoidable, Hogan heroically throws himself in front of his wife Valerie, who is in the passenger’s seat. “It’s a good thing he did, because the engine of our car was tossed back into the (driver’s) seat and the steering gear was shoved into the rear seat,” Valerie says. While she suffers only minor injuries, Hogan suffers a broken collarbone, a smashed rib, a double fracture of the pelvis and a broken ankle. Hogan will make a remarkable recovery and 16 months later he will win the U.S. Open.
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