Ben Hogan Was Told He Might Never Walk Again Following a Near-Fatal Car Accident and Won the U.S. Open 16 Months Later

Few things in sports are better than a good comeback story. But not the ones that sound a bit more dramatic than they really are. We're talking about the real comeback stories that truly inspire people; stories like that of 64-time PGA Tour winner Ben Hogan, who may just have the greatest comeback story in sports history.

Entering the 1949 PGA Tour season, Hogan had 51 wins and three major championships. He quickly added two victories in January and nearly won a third. But driving home from that third event, Hogan and his wife nearly lost their lives in a car accident, one that nearly cost him the ability to walk.

But Hogan fought through it and returned to the PGA Tour in less than a year. He went on to win the U.S. Open in 1950. Surprisingly, that is only part of this legendary comeback story.

Ben Hogan and his wife were involved in a near-fatal car accident in February 1949

Ben Hogan picked up two PGA Tour victories in 1949, first the Bing Crosby Pro-Am at Pebble Beach and then the Long Beach Open at Lakewood Country Club. He nearly earned a third consecutive win at the Phoenix Open, a tournament he'd won twice before, but lost in a Monday playoff to then-two-time Masters champion Jimmy Demaret. (He added a third win at Augusta in 1950).

Two days later, on February 2, 1949, Hogan and his wife were near Van Horn, Texas, on their way home to Fort Worth from Phoenix. As Smithsonian reports, they were driving east on Highway 80 in extremely foggy conditions when their vehicle was hit head-on by an oncoming Greyhound bus attempting to pass a truck.

In an extremely heroic move, Ben threw himself across the passenger seat to protect his wife, saving her from a major injury. This inadvertently saved his own life as the steering column of the Cadillac sedan was thrust into the back of the driver's seat.

Some outlets initially gave false reports of Hogan's death, but essentially, the wreck crushed the entire left side of his body. He suffered a fractured clavicle, double-fractured pelvis, fractured left ankle, broken rib, damage to his left eye, and near-fatal blood clots.

Hogan spent 59 days in an El Paso hospital, where his weight dropped to 95 pounds. At one point, he was told that not only might he never play golf, but he also might never walk again.

But as it was on the golf course back in those days, you just don't bet against Ben Hogan.

Ben Hogan returned to the PGA Tour 11 months after his accident and won the 1950 U.S. Open

Ben Hogan did walk again, and that became one of the biggest parts of his rehab process. He slowly resumed golf activities in the ensuing months and made a glorious return to the PGA Tour in January 1950 at the Los Angeles Open at the famed Riviera Country Club. Magically, he nearly won the tournament but lost to fellow legend Sam Snead in a playoff. But there was certainly more magic to come.

Five months later, just 16 months after the accident nearly killed him, Hogan won the U.S. Open at Merion Golf Club in suburban Philadelphia. He hit one of the most famous shots in golf history en route to his victory.

Tied for the lead on the 72nd hole, Hogan hit a 1-iron into the green at the difficult 18th — producing one of the most iconic photographs in sports history — and two-putted his way into an 18-hole playoff with Lloyd Mangrum and George Fazio.

Hogan was the only player to shoot under par in the playoff, firing a 1-under 69 to win by four over Mangrum and six over Fazio to secure his second U.S. Open and fourth major championship.

And there was still more magic to come.

Hogan won 10 more times on the PGA Tour, including five additional major championships

The famous U.S. Open win at Merion was Ben Hogan's only victory of the 1950 PGA Tour season, but it certainly wasn't the final victory of his career.

In 1951, he won The Masters for the first time and a second consecutive U.S. Open, also winning the World Championship of Golf. The following year, he earned his third win at Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, the same course that honors him to this day with a statue just outside the clubhouse.

Then, of course, there was that magical 1953 season in which he became the first (and still the only) player to win The Masters, the U.S. Open, and The Open Championship in the same calendar year. His victory at The Open, which was actually the only time he played the tournament in his entire career, made him just the second player in history — Gene Sarazen was the first — to win the career Grand Slam.

Since then, only Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, and Tiger Woods have joined the highly-exclusive club. Hogan won two other PGA Tour events in 1953 and a last one in 1959, naturally at Colonial. His 64 wins are good for fourth on the PGA Tour's all-time victory list. His nine major championships also rank fourth (tied with Player).

After nearly losing his life at age 36, Ben Hogan lived to be 84 years old before dying on July 25, 1997. Valerie died two years later.