Mrs. Five-by-Five

In men's golf, as Lightweight (139 lb.) Ben Hogan has proved again & again, a good little man can outhit a good big one. In women's golf, it seems quite the other way: the bigger they are, the harder they hit. By far the biggest of the women golfers these days is a roly-poly (5 ft. 3 in., 222 Ibs.) Hawaiian named Mrs. Jacqueline ("Jackie") Pung, who celebrated a victory in last year's Women's Amateur championship with a hip-swinging hula that brought frowns of disapproval from the staid U.S.G.A. This year, playing for pro pay, Jackie has restrained her hulas, but her booming 240-yd. tee shots have taken the play--and some of the pay--from such old pros as Babe Zaharias and Patty Berg.

Jolly Jackie, temperamentally a fine match player in her amateur days, has found it a little hard to settle down to tight-lipped medal play where each stroke counts. Canny Scotsman Tommy Armour taught her a few tricks of the old-pro trade. Moans Jackie: "When somebody drops a long putt against me, I'm not supposed to compliment her at all. Just turn and walk off to the next tee." Jackie, who gave up a $185-a-month job with Sears, Roebuck and Co. in Honolulu for the faster money on the fairways, has been a quick study. In her first five tournaments she finished 11th, 8th, 6th, 4th and 3rd.

Last week, in the first round of the New Orleans Open tournament, Jackie banged out a men's par 72 to take a two-stroke lead over Patty Berg and Alice Bauer Hagge. Next day, Jackie slipped badly (81), dropped into a tie for third, then finished her final round with an 80, to finish in third place again.

Gum-chewing Jackie has had some adjustments to make. Even in the South, she finds the weather chilly; the food is not her favorite fish & poi. A recent happy discovery, that has added 12 Ibs. to her weight: grits & gravy. But most of all Jackie is homesick for Hawaii, her two daughters, and Chinese-Hawaiian husband Barney, a Honolulu fireman. Barney, on a day-on, day-off routine, helps cook the meals, does the washing, takes cafe of the kids. No golfer, Barney is often privileged to caddy for his wife, who outweighs him by 67 Ibs. The original golf widower, Barney maintains that he still wears the plus fours in the family. Jackie happily agrees.

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