Ed:
Here is one instructional school of thought on why a player would favor a fade with a lot of trouble right.
From a physics standpoint, there are seven potential ball flights a player can hit. These assume a right-handed player.
Starts left and curves left (pull hook)
Starts left and stays straight (pull)
Starts left and curves right (fade or slice)
Starts straight/stays straight (the most rare of shots)
Starts right and curves left (draw or hook)
Starts right and stays straight (push)
Starts right and curves right (push slice)
In the case of Scioto with OB right, the last ball flight (push slice) is the only flight that could ever go OB. Jack was probably fairly certain that he'd NEVER hit a push slice, given that his bread and butter started slightly left .
For a good player who knows that his ball will always start left (a la JWN), he can aim his ball so that even if his ball curves TWICE as much as intended, it won't go OB right. However, a player that always starts the ball right and tries to work the ball away from the trouble can hit the ball OB right if it doesn't curve, or if he double crosses it.
Picture a good player standing on the tee of a par 3 with water right of the green and the hole location on the right. The two possibilities are to aim left and work the ball into the hole, or aim at the hazard and work away from it. Most players that can curve the ball both ways will identify early on which way they prefer to play. As a teenager, I read a column by Johnny Miller on exactly this, and that helped me to learn that I was better off as a player that works the ball toward the trouble. For example, in the above scenario, I know that I will RARELY hit a ball that goes too far right into the hazard if I'm trying to cut it (I'm more apt to double cross it that over cut it).
As you can imagine, there is an opposite camp that may suggest working it away from the trouble, but I've never visited that camp!!
All the best,
Doug