way that a charity-school boy would have been ashamed of. In one sense it was refreshing for an ordinary mortal to see great men fail in the way they did, for we could all flatter ourselves we could quote this instance as a proof of how hard putting was, when we failed ourselves. But in this case the putting of both these distinguished players was never "up"; they failed where nearly every player who is "off" his putting fails; they were short.
To prove how much nerve is the first, second, and third necessity in putting, you may take a man of thirty years old who has been and perhaps still is a good cricketer, and has a good eye for games generally. Set such a man on a putting-green with a putter and three or four balls, and he will very likely putt as well as the best professional; ask him to drive or play a brassey and he will be nowhere. Experience is nothing in putting; it is everything for the rest in the game. In the one case experience begets fear, in the other confidence. The man of thirty in a few years will very likely develop into a really bad putter, not because he has not the skill—for he proved his skill when a beginner—but because
