BEN HOGAN - The Greatest of them all?

Slammin Sam Snead, The Golden Bear, Tom Watson, Gary Player, Byron Nelson, Tiger Woods... All wonderful golfers and all with a shout of being the best ever golfer.

It's always a tough ask to come up with one but we think Ben Hogan might just edge it.

Never has a man ever been as dedicated to perfecting the game as Ben was and by all accounts, his ball striking wasn't too shabby either.

Sure, he wasn't laugh a minute on the links like the great Lee Trevino or perhaps hadn't the same charisma as big Jack, but read any of his timeless golfing manuals or indeed the wonderful biog by James Dobson and what comes across is a man who was utterly commited to the game.

A man who played the Open once ('53 at Carnoustie) won it and never came back ..oh and he now has the 6th at Carnoustie named after him (Hogan's Alley - named after the drive he hit on all 4 rounds between the bunker and OOBs.

Below, are a few of the great man's most memorable quotes:

Mr Hogan...we salute you!!

Hitting a golf ball and putting have nothing in common. They're two different games. You work all your life to perfect a repeating swing that will get you to the greens, and then you have to try to do something that is totally unrelated. There shouldn't be any cups, just flag sticks. And then the man who hit the most fairways and greens and got closest to the pins would be the tournament winner...

This is a game of misses. The guy who misses the best is going to win....

Like most professional golfers, I have a tendency to remember my poor shots a shade more vividly than the good ones....

I don't like the glamour. I just like the game....

I play with friends, but we don't play friendly games...

Reverse every natural instinct and do the opposite of what you are inclined to do, and you will probably come very close to having a perfect golf swing....

Hit the ball up to the hole - You meet a better class of people up there....

The most important shot in golf is the next one...

I never played a round when I didn't learn something new about the game...