Tour News (posted 28th October 1998)

Mangrum elected to Hall of Fame

St Augustine, Florida  - Lloyd Mangrum, winner of 36 professional tournaments including the 1946 U.S. Open, won election to the World Golf Hall of Fame, the World Golf Foundation announced on Wednesday.

Mangrum, who died in 1973 at the age of 59, was mentioned on the required 75 percent of ballots returned by the voting body. No other player won mention on more than 66 percent.

Mangrum and Seve Ballesteros will become the 74th and 75th members when they are inducted into Hall during ceremonies next March 22. Ballesteros was elected through the International Ballot last year.

Known as a tough competitor with an aggressive style of play, Mangrum competed in an era that included Hall-of-Famers Ben Hogan, Byron Nelson, Jimmy Demaret and Sam Snead.

Mangrum began working as an assistant to his brother Ray, the head pro at Cliff-Dale Country Club in Dallas, at the age of 15 and joined the professional tour in 1937. He scored his first victory in the 1940 Thomasville Open.

World War II interrupted Mangrum's career. He was part of the Allied Invasion Forces on D-Day and earned two purple hearts in Normandy.

Mangrum, joint second behind Sam Snead in the 1949 Masters, counted the 1946 Open at Canterbury Golf Club in Cleveland among his career highlights, but put his life and career in perspective when asked about his greatest tournament thrill.

"When the shooting was finished and we were able to play in the (Army's) European Theater Championship at St. Cloud Country Club near Paris, that was a greater thrill than ever experienced before," he once said.

"I had the good fortune to win...there couldn't be any first prize money in any tournament that could mean as much to me."

Mangrum won six times during the 1948 tour season and in 1951 was the tour's leading money-winner. He was named to six Ryder Cup teams, although the 1941 match was canceled because of the war, and served as captain in 1951.