MEMORABILIA AND COLLECTIBLES PART 13: Gary Moranon the history of the one-iron which the legendary Ben Hogan used to great effect in the 1950 US Open at Merion.

IF A SINGLE shot in history has caused more intrigue and excitement in the world of golf collecting than Ben Hogan's one-iron to the 72nd in the 1950 US Open at Merion then we would like to know about it.

In an earlier column in this series we featured Hy Peskin's photograph of the famous shot. A poster-sized print of Peskin's image continues to be the biggest seller for Michael Neary since he opened his Golfing Memories shop in Bray in 1992.

A fortnight ago we covered the reopening of the USGA museum where the club itself is on display but the story of how it got there is far from straightforward as we discovered when prompted to investigate further by an e-mail from Kilcoole GC member Charles Price.

He drew our attention to James Dodson's 2004 book Ben Hogan: An American Life. Dodson raises the possibility that Hogan actually used a two-iron for the approach shot and Hogan said so himself on the very first page of his famous instructional work, Five Lessons, The Modern Fundamentals of Golf(it has been reprinted 64 times).

George Fazio, who was nearby in the gallery, and veteran New York sportswriter Al Laney also both claimed Hogan had used a two-iron.

What all sources do agree upon is Hogan's one-iron was stolen from his bag before the next day's play-off. It seemed just a little bit too convenient when we read the claim in the USGA Journalfrom 1984 that the club had resurfaced after over 30 years "having been seen in a shop by someone who suspected its origin, perhaps by the peculiar wear on the face". (There was a very distinct worn area the size of a quarter dollar right on the sweet spot and it was purported that very few - if any - other players would hit a one-iron with such consistency to produce such a wear pattern.)

According to the Journal, the club was delivered to Hogan "where it stood in the corner of his office while he considered its authenticity and eventually determined that it was the real thing".

He also confirmed to Golf Digestthat he had indeed used a one-iron but hadn't bothered to change the text in subsequent editions of Five Lessonsbecause he didn't think it was important.

For a man who paid such attention to detail that also seemed slightly questionable, although the Golf Digestwriter, another Charles Price, was a fairly impeccable source.

To try to get to get to the bottom of things, this column tracked down the man who really rediscovered the club, Bobby Farino from Newport News, Virginia.

Back in the 1980s, before equipment trucks and custom-fitting at the level we know today, Farino's American Golf Classics company was invited each year by the PGA Tour to set up at the Tournament Players Championship at Sawgrass. Farino was a real club connoisseur and helped players to source coveted models such as the MacGregor oil-hardened persimmon woods from the 1950s. It was not unusual for a player to put a 21-year-old club in his bag if it felt right.

Early in the week, Farino was not averse to trading with members of the public and in 1982 a man he had never seen before and never saw again brought in a mixed bag of MacGregor Ben Hogan clubs. Farino bought the lot for $150.

It was only when he went through them back at base the following week that he really took note of a one-iron that had "Personal model" stamped on the bottom left side. He knew from experience this meant the club was a special order which MacGregor did for their staff players and recalled reading the story of the stolen one-iron from 1950.

Putting two and two together and hoping for four, he got Lanny Wadkins to bring the club to the Colonial tournament in Texas a couple of weeks later where it was given to Hogan. He subsequently confirmed it was indeed the club he had used at Merion and expressed by letter his gratitude for "the return of an old long lost friend."

Hogan donated the club to the USGA Museum and Dodson balances his account with reference to another Hogan letter to Merion confirming he had used a one-iron for the famous shot.

Such was his expertise that Farino was asked to appraise all the clubs and artefacts in Hogan's collection after he died and he remains proud of his contribution to what Golf Digestlabelled 'The Return of the Prodigal one-iron.'

It seems the USGA really does have the genuine article.

Next week we go on the trail of further Hogan clubs.

In the meantime, this column welcomes e-mails from readers concerning golf memorabilia and collectibles but does not guarantee to provide valuations. If you have an interesting story or item, e-mail  collectgolf@gmail.com