Editing Titanic Thompson (section)

==Expert golfer==
Gifted with extraordinary eyesight and hand–eye coordination, he was a skilled athlete, crack shot and a golfer good enough to turn professional.<ref name=ah>{{cite journal |url=http://www.americanheritage.com/articles/magazine/ah/2005/4/2005_4_58.shtml |title=The 18-Hole Hustle |journal=American Heritage |first=Tom |last=LeCompte |date=August–September 2005 |volume=56 |issue=4 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060507091807/http://www.americanheritage.com/articles/magazine/ah/2005/4/2005_4_58.shtml |archive-date=May 7, 2006 }}</ref> Raised in a poor environment far from exclusive golf courses, Thomas did not take up golf seriously until he was in his early thirties, but he improved very quickly during an extended stint in [[San Francisco]], where he took lessons from club professionals and honed his skills. From then on he played several times per week for the next 20 years. In an era when the top pro golfers would be fortunate to make $30,000 a year, Thomas (who, after a misprint in a New York newspaper, let people think his name was Thompson) could make that much in a week hustling rich country club players. Asked whether he would ever turn professional, he replied, "I could not afford the cut in pay".<ref name=ah/> Hall of Fame golfer [[Ben Hogan]], who traveled with him in the early 1930s for money games, later called Titanic the best shotmaker he ever saw.<ref name=cook/> "He can play right- or left-handed, you can't beat him", said Hogan.<ref>{{cite book |first1=Harvey |last1=Penick |author-link1=Harvey Penick |first2=Bud |last2=Shrake |author-link2=Bud Shrake |title=The Wisdom of Harvey Penick |publisher=Simon & Schuster |year=1997 |isbn=978-0684845081 |url=https://archive.org/details/wisdomofharveype00peni }}</ref> One hustle of his was to beat a golfer playing [[right-handed]], and then offer [[double or nothing]] to play the course again [[left-handed]] as an apparent concession. One thing his opponent usually did not know was that Thomas was naturally left-handed.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=http://www.cigaraficionado.com/Cigar/CA_Archives/CA_Show_Article/0,2322,146,00.html |title=All Bets Are On |first=Michael |last=Kaplan |magazine=[[Cigar Aficionado]] |date=July–August 2002 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100204134148/http://www.cigaraficionado.com/Cigar/CA_Archives/CA_Show_Article/0,2322,146,00.html |archive-date=February 4, 2010 }}</ref> Thomas' genius was in figuring out the odds on almost any [[proposition bet|proposition]] and heavily betting that way. He also had to perform under pressure, and most often did.

As he aged, Thompson liked to pick promising young players as his golf partners. Several of these who went on to later [[PGA Tour]] stardom included young and unknown Ben Hogan, [[Ky Laffoon]], [[Herman Keiser]] and [[Lee Elder]]. Other well-known golfers who left behind first-hand documented accounts of their dealings and matches with Thompson included [[Harvey Penick]], [[Paul Runyan]], [[Byron Nelson]] and [[Sam Snead]], all of whom were inducted into the [[World Golf Hall of Fame]].<ref name=cook/>