The purpose of the book is to shed light on the questions “Who was Ben Hogan?”, “What was Ben Hogan, the man, really like?”, “Was he really as his public image describes— a cold, selfish, machine-like golf champion, who cared for no one other than himself?” “Was he the loner without friends, as sometimes described, or was he more than that, possibly even a great deal more than that?” The book reveals the non-public side of Ben Hogan, focusing on the little-known aspects of the man to consider when contemplating Ben Hogan, the man and the myths. 

The book provides insights into various aspects of the man, Ben Hogan, to which the public previously has had very limited, if any, exposure, including some never before published photos. It illuminates his intelligent, scientific mind and the different aspects of his strong character, including honesty, being a man of his word, respecting women, exhibiting humility and appreciating others who helped him throughout his career and his life.  The book also reveals Ben Hogan’s creative sense of humor, his speaking ability and his incredible ability with a golf club. Finally, the book presents Ben Hogan’s commitment to golf and his contributions to the game of golf and to professional athletes in general. The author’s objective is to share relationships, experiences and real life episodes with Ben Hogan, from many people from different walks of life, to help the reader to better understand Ben Hogan, the man. 

 Ben Hogan was fifty-six years old and active in the high-end golf equipment company that bore his name when the author, Tim Scott, first met him. From the start he found Ben Hogan a very interesting person— a man of black and white, with very little gray, who walked a narrow path. He was a man of strong principles, and from those he rarely, if ever, deviated. As a young man just out of graduate school, Tim found him friendly yet intimidating, open yet forceful, humorous yet dour, engaging yet distant, inviting yet solitary, a perfectionist yet forgiving, a technician, yet a motivating, inspirational person. 

On several occasions prior to leaving the company in 1982, Tim entreated Mr. Hogan to work with someone on his autobiography. He gave the legendary test pilot Chuck Yeager’s autobiography to him, hoping it would interest him enough to want to tell his own life story. In every case, however, Hogan declined, saying it would be too time consuming and too much work. His modesty may have been another problem as Hogan had told several friends that he was worried that in such a book, “people would think I was bragging.” 

 In the 1980s and early ’90s the author heard, saw and read numerous references to, and descriptions of, Ben Hogan that differed dramatically from his personal experiences with the man for a decade and a half.  In most instances he felt Ben Hogan was being misunderstood or maligned, so he documented his personal experiences, and then talked to others he knew who also knew Ben Hogan personally. 

Combining his own experiences with the information he received from others he noted things that seemed very similar to his own life. They all saw a much different side of the man than the one described in the media. Losing his own father at such a young age (6 years old) may have helped him to better relate and understand some of the things Ben Hogan did, or didn’t do since he had lost his father to a horrific suicide at age nine.  That all gave Tim an even stronger desire to set the record straight. 

After a brief biographical section of Ben Hogan from his struggles through childhood, becoming a professional golfer, his near-fatal auto accident and his desire to be a very private individual, all of which impacted him as a person and later his public image, the rest of the book is anecdotes, personal relationships and life experiences that reveal the non-public side of the man. It is structured to look into the various aspects of disparity from his public image, including chapters on— “The Kinder, Gentler Ben Hogan”, “Toofies”, “Hogan’s Presence on a Golf Course”, “Hogan’s Sense of Humor”, “Hogan & His Shag Boys.” 

The first portion of the subchapter “Max, Duffer and Buster” was used in January 2002 as the basis for one of Paul Harvey’s “The Rest of the Story” radio episodes.  After confirming that was the basis for the episode Paul Harvey’s office sent Tim a tape of the program.

First printing vs. Second printing

After a very limited print run of the book, Ben Hogan: The Myths Everyone Knew, The Man No One Knew, the author changed publishers. The original 1^st printing of the book had not been launched into the bookstores or on Amazon. The remaining limited quantity of 1^st printing books is available only through the author.
The new publisher Triumph books, recommended a few changes. The author agreed, the changes were made and that book is now available at bookstores and on Amazon.com. Here are the differences— 

1. The cover – the photo on page 282 of the 1^st printing was used for the cover.

1. The 1^st “Knew” in the title was changed to “Knows” – the new title Ben Hogan: The Myths Everyone Knows, The Man no One Knew. 

1. Numerical page numbering of second printing begins with Chapter 1 vs. the “Introduction” in the 1^st printing — a 14 page difference.

1. The author inserted a note under the U.S. Open photo (pg. 266 of 1^st printing) that reads “NOTE: While public information throughout the years has called this Hogan’s famous 1-iron shot, others, have said otherwise. Even Ben Hogan in his 1957 book, Five Lessons: The Modern Fundamentals of Golf, said on page 13, ‘I went with a 2-iron…’” The note in the book on page 251 noting this change should reference page 252 not 266.