Walter Hagen

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Walter Hagen

Personal Information
Birth	December 21, 1892 Rochester, New York
Death	October 6, 1969 (age 76) Traverse City, Michigan
Nationality	United States
College	None
Career
Professional wins	52 (PGA Tour: 45, Other: 7)
Best Results in Major Championships Wins: 11
Masters	T11: 1936
U.S. Open	Won 1914, 1919
The Open Championship	Won 1922, 1924, 1928, 1929
PGA Championship	Won 1921, 1924, 1925, 1926, 1927
Awards
World Golf Hall of Fame	1974

Walter Hagen in 1914

Walter Charles Hagen (December 21, 1892 – October 6, 1969) was a major figure in golf in the first half of the 20th century. His tally of eleven majors is third behind Jack Nicklaus (18) and Tiger Woods (13). He won the U.S. Open twice and in 1922 he became the first American to win the British Open, which he went on to win four times in total. He also won the PGA Championship a record-tying five times (1921, '24-'27), the Western Open five times, totalled 45 PGA wins in his career, and was a six time Ryder Cup captain.

Hagen was born in Rochester, New York. He was also very skilled at baseball. He cancelled a tryout for the Philadelphia Phillies in order to play in a golf tournament. Later that week, Hagen was the U.S. Open Champion, and his career was changed forever.

Hagen was a key figure in the development of professional golf. He emerged in an era when the division between amateurs and professionals was often stark, with the amateurs having the upper hand in some sports, golf among them. This was especially true in the United Kingdom, which was the leading country in competitive golf when Hagen began his career. Golf professionals were often not allowed to partake of the facilities of the clubhouse and were sometimes not allowed to enter the clubhouse by the front door. On one occasion he hired a Pierce Arrow to serve as his dressing room because he was refused entrance to the clubhouse dressing room. On another occasion he refused to enter a clubhouse to claim his prize because he had earlier been denied entrance.

Walter Hagen served as the first club professional at the now legendary Oakland Hills Country Club, in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan.

Hagen was a dashing and assertive character who raised the status of professional golfers and improved their earnings as well. He may have been the first sportsman to earn a million dollars in his career. He once stated that he "never wanted to be a millionaire, just to live like one". Hagen once expressed his creed in these words: "Don't hurry don't worry you're only here for a short visit so be sure to smell the flowers along the way." Gene Sarazen, who was ten years Hagen's junior commented, "All the professionals ... should say a silent thanks to Walter Hagen each time they stretch a check between their fingers. It was Walter who made professional golf what it is." On the notion of golf as a financial endeavor, Hagen wrote in his autobiography, "My game was my business and as a business it demanded constant playing in the championship bracket, for a current title was my selling commodity."^[1]

Hagen died in Traverse City, Michigan at the age of 76. He now rests at the Holy Sepulchre Mausoleum, Southfield, Michigan, next to his grandson. At the time of his death, Hagen was well-respected. His pall bearers included some legendary sport figures, Arnold Palmer and George Morris.

In 2000, Hagen was ranked as the seventh greatest golfer of all time by Golf Digest magazine.^[2]

Hagen's major victories were as follows:

• U.S. Open: 1914, 1919.
• British Open: 1922, 1924, 1928, 1929.
• PGA Championship:1921, 1924, 1925, 1926, 1927.

He was past his peak by the time the other major, The Masters Tournament, was established, but finished T13, T15, T11 in 1934-1936.

There is some debate among golf historians as to whether Hagen should actually be credited with sixteen major championships. Hagen captured the Western Open five times (1916, '21, '26, '27, and '32) at a time when the Western Open was considered one of the premier events on the world golf schedule. (The concept of "four majors" wasn't initiated until Arnold Palmer's Masters and U.S. Open wins in 1960.) In Hagen's prime, the Masters had not yet been founded, and the Western Open (the championship of the Western Golf Association) was, by today's definition a "Major": one of four elite tournaments in which all of the top golfers in the world could be counted on to participate each year.

Hagen captained the United States in the first six Ryder Cups and played on the first five: 1927, 1929, 1931, 1933, and 1935.

Walter Hagen has been inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame, in the charter class of 1974.

[edit] PGA Tour wins (45)

• 1914 (1) U.S. Open
• 1916 (3) Metropolitan Open, Shawnee Open, Western Open
• 1918 (1) North and South Open
• 1919 (2) U.S. Open, Metropolitan Open
• 1920 (3) Florida West Coast Open, Metropolitan Open, Bellevue C.C. Open
• 1921 (2) Western Open, PGA Championship
• 1922 (4) Deland Open Championship, Florida West Coast Open, White Sulphur Springs Open, British Open
• 1923 (5) Texas Open, Florida West Coast Open, Asheville-Biltmore Open Championship, North and South Open, Kansas Mid-Continent Pro Championship (tie with Joe Kirkwood, Sr.)
• 1924 (5) North and South Open, Metropolitan PGA, British Open, PGA Championship, Princess Anne C.C. Open
• 1925 (1) PGA Championship
• 1926 (4) Florida West Coast Open, Eastern Open Championship, Western Open, PGA Championship
• 1927 (2) Western Open, PGA Championship
• 1928 (1) British Open
• 1929 (4) Long Beach Open, Miami International Four-Ball (with Leo Diegel), British Open, Great Lakes Open
• 1931 (2) Coral Gables Open (tie with Henri Ciuci), Canadian Open
• 1932 (2) Western Open, St. Louis Open
• 1933 (1) Tournament of the Gardens Open
• 1935 (1) Gasparilla Open-Tampa
• 1936 (1) Inverness Invitational Four-Ball (with Ky Laffoon)

Major championships are shown in bold.

[edit] Other wins

(This list is probably incomplete)

• 1915 Massachusetts Open, California State Open
• 1920 French Open
• 1921 Michigan Open
• 1924 Belgian Open
• 1930 Michigan PGA Championship
• 1931 Michigan PGA Championship

[edit] Major Championships

[edit] Wins (11)

Year	Championship	54 Holes	Winning Score	Margin	Runner Up
1914	U.S. Open	2 shot lead	+2 (68-74-75-73=290)	1 stroke	Chick Evans
1919	U.S. Open (2)	5 shot deficit	+17 (78-73-75-75=301)	Playoff 1	Mike Brady
1921	PGA Championship	N/A	3 & 2	3 strokes	Jim Barnes
1922	The Open Championship	2 shot deficit	76-73-79-72=300	1 stroke	Jim Barnes
1924	The Open Championship (2)	Tied for lead	77-73-74-77=301	1 stroke	Ernest Whitcombe
1924	PGA Championship (2)	N/A	2 up	2 strokes	Jim Barnes
1925	PGA Championship (3)	N/A	6 & 5	6 strokes	William Mehlhorn
1926	PGA Championship (4)	N/A	5 & 3	5 strokes	Leo Diegel
1927	PGA Championship (5)	N/A	1 up	1 stroke	Joe Turnesa
1928	The Open Championship (3)		75-73-72-72=292	2 strokes	Gene Sarazen
1929	The Open Championship (4)	4 shot lead	75-67-75-75=292	6 strokes	Johnny Farrell

Note: The PGA Championship was match play until 1958
¹ Defeated Mike Brady in 18-hole playoff - Hagen (77), Brady (78)

[edit] Results timeline

NYF = Tournament not yet founded
NT = No tournament
DNP = Did not play
WD = Withdrew
DQ = Disqualified
R64, R32, R16, QF, SF, F = Round in which player lost in PGA Championship match play
"T" indicates a tie for a place
Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-10.

[edit] Summary of major championship performances

• Starts - 54
• Wins - 11
• 2nd place finishes - 3
• Top 3 finishes - 18
• Top 5 finishes - 25
• Top 10 finishes - 33
• Longest streak of top-10s in majors - 15

[edit] See also

Golf Portal

• Golfers with most PGA Tour wins
• Golfers with most major championship wins
• Most wins in one PGA Tour event

[edit] References and suggested reading

• Hagen, Walter; Heck, Margaret Seaton [1956] (Nov 2004). The Walter Hagen Story: By The Haig, Himself. Sports Media Group. ISBN 978-1587261312. 
• Lowe, Stephen R. [2000] (2004-08-30). Sir Walter And Mr. Jones: Walter Hagen, Bobby Jones, And The Rise Of American Golf. Sports Media Group. ISBN 978-1587261879. 
• Clavin, Tom [2005]. Sir Walter: Walter Hagen and the Invention of Professional Golf. New York, New York: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 978-0743204866. 
• Rapoport, Ron [2005-03-16]. The Immortal Bobby: Bobby Jones and the Golden Age of Golf. Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 978-0471473725. 
• Frost, Mark [2004-11-03]. The Grand Slam: Bobby Jones, America, and the Story of Golf. Hyperion. ISBN 978-1401301088. 
• Sampson, Curt (1992). The Eternal Summer: Palmer, Nicklaus, and Hogan in 1960, Golf's Golden Year. Taylor Publishing. ISBN 978-0878337880. 

[edit] External links

• World Golf Hall of Fame
• Walter Hagen's Home
• Profile of Walter Hagen
• Articles on Walter Hagen
• Maestro of Matchplay
• Electronic Resources From SoHG Archives
• Hagen Swing Sequences - Drive and Putt From SoHG Master Classes