An insider's glimpse into one of the Great Moments In Sport:
The Scene
A nondescript hotel room at a 1940s PGA Tour stop somewhere east of the sun and west of the moon. Inside, Ben Hogan is practicing his putting as his wife, Valerie, looks on, knitting a new spoon headcover. Ben hits two putts from ten feet. The first is long and to the left side of the suitcase, and the other is short and right. He goes to window (three stories up) and opens it. Returning to his putting, he steadies the blade behind the ball . . .
Ben: My putting's killing me! I can't even putt to a freakin' suitcase! One more bad stroke, and I'm out that window.
Valerie: Ben . . . Get a grip. Tomorrow, just hit it closer to the hole.
Ben: I've got a grip. My left hand is . . .
Valerie: Oh, stop it, Ben. That's not what I meant.
Ben: So, what did you mean?
Valerie: Just what I said: Tomorrow, just hit it closer to the hole!
Ben: Tell me again why I married you?
Valerie: C'mon, Ben. I'm okay with the open stance and the wristy stroke. But, please, take off those silly cufflinks. They won't help.
Ben: But I like these cufflinks!
Valerie: Tomorrow, just hit it closer to the hole, and you'll see.
Ben: That's all there is to it, just hit it closer? Are you serious?
Valerie: [Setting down her knitting.] Ben, look at these high heels . . . do I look serious?
Ben: You gotta point there, Val. [Puts down his putter and closes the window]. Let's see what tomorrow brings!
Great job, Ben. Please add the link to our gallery. Also, if available and as your time permits, links to other golf greats, e.g., Bobby Jones, Sam Snead, Walter Hagen, Arnold, Jack, Gary, Tiger, et. al.
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If you cannot take the shoulder down the clubshaft plane, you must take along some other path and add compensations - now, instead of one motion to remember, you wind up with at least two!
Thanks, elliskit. And hg, too, for the original posting!
However, something's going on here . . .
This is not the original Life Magazine version (illustrated by photos versus Ravielli drawings). Instead, it is a Sports Illustrated 'do-over' with the same date, August 8, 1955. It's a great piece, of course, and I am delighted to see it, but . . .
Did it really happen?
I didn't think Ravielli joined the Hogan / Wind team until Five Lessons, a 1957 project.
Hmmm . . .
hg, did you buy the actual magazine (as stated in your post), or did you buy an article purported to have been published in that magazine?
Or was there indeed a simultaneous Life Magazine / Sports Illustrated publication of essentially the same 'Secret' article (but by different authors and illustrators)?
"Hogan Reveals His Secret" - by Herbert Warren Wind, Sports Illustrated 8-8-1955
"This is my Secret; Ben Hogan finally reveals the mysterious maneuver that made him a champion" - Life Magazine also dated 8-8-1955 with cover.
__________________
If you cannot take the shoulder down the clubshaft plane, you must take along some other path and add compensations - now, instead of one motion to remember, you wind up with at least two!
Tomorrow, just hit it closer to the hole, and you'll see. 
You gotta point there, Val. [Puts down his putter and closes the window]. Let's see what tomorrow brings!
cover.
Linear Mode
