Walter Hagen facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Walter Hagen |
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Hagen in 1914
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| Personal information | |
| Full name | Walter Charles Hagen |
| Nickname | Sir Walter, The Haig |
| Born | December 21, 1892 Rochester, New York |
| Died | October 6, 1969 (aged 76) Traverse City, Michigan |
| Height | 5 ft 10.5 in (1.79 m) |
| Weight | 185 lb (84 kg; 13.2 st) |
| Nationality |  United States |
| Residence | Traverse City, Michigan (1958–1969) |
| Spouse | Edna Crosby Straus (m. 1923–37) Margaret Johnson (m. 1917–21) |
| Children | Walter Jr. (1918–82) |
| Career | |
| Turned professional | 1912 |
| Former tour(s) | PGA Tour |
| Professional wins | 58 |
| Number of wins by tour | |
| PGA Tour | 45 (8th all time) |
| Other | 13 |
| Best results in Major Championships (Wins: 11) |
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| The Masters Tournament | T11: 1936 |
| U.S. Open | Won: 1914, 1919 |
| The Open Championship | Won: 1922, 1924, 1928, 1929 |
| PGA Championship | Won: 1921, 1924, 1925, 1926, 1927 |
| Achievements and awards | |
| World Golf Hall of Fame | 1974 |
Walter Charles Hagen (born December 21, 1892 – died October 6, 1969) was an American professional golfer. He was a very important person in golf during the first half of the 1900s. He won 11 major professional golf championships. This is the third-highest number ever, after Jack Nicklaus (18) and Tiger Woods (15).
Walter Hagen is often called the "father of professional golf." He helped make the sport popular and brought in more money for golfers. He is known as one of the greatest golfers of all time. Hagen won the U.S. Open twice. In 1922, he was the first American to win the British Open. He won the British Open three more times after that. He also won the PGA Championship five times, which is a record. He won the Western Open five times too, which was almost as important as a major championship back then. Hagen won 45 PGA events in his career. He was also the captain of the Ryder Cup team six times.
Contents
Early Life and Golf Beginnings
Walter Hagen was born in Rochester, New York. His family was working-class and had German roots. His father, William, worked with railroads. Walter was the only son among five children.
Hagen started playing golf at the Country Club of Rochester. He began as a caddie, carrying golf clubs for players. This helped him earn money for his family. He practiced golf whenever he could, usually when the course was not busy. With help from the club's golf professional, Alfred Ricketts, Walter became a very skilled player by his mid-teens. He even started giving lessons and working in the pro shop.
He played in his first big professional tournament at age 19. This was the 1912 Canadian Open, where he finished 11th. In the 1913 U.S. Open, he finished 4th. He felt that other professional golfers treated him poorly because he was new. He promised himself he would win the next year. He did just that, winning the 1914 U.S. Open.
Hagen was also a very good baseball player. He was a skilled pitcher and shortstop. In 1914, he was supposed to try out for the Philadelphia Phillies baseball team. But he chose to play in a golf tournament instead. That same week, he became the U.S. Open Champion. This decision changed his life forever.
Making Golf Professionals Respected
Hagen played a huge role in making professional golf better. When he started, there was a big difference between amateur and professional golfers. Amateurs were often seen as more important, especially in Great Britain. Professional golfers were sometimes not allowed to use the main clubhouse facilities. They even had to use a different entrance.
At the 1920 British Open, Hagen was not allowed into the clubhouse dressing room. So, he rented a fancy car and used it as his private changing room. He parked the car right in the club's driveway. This surprised many people in Britain, where social classes were very important. Another time, he refused to go into a clubhouse to get his prize because he had been denied entry earlier.
In 1914, at the Midlothian Open, Hagen boldly walked into the clubhouse and talked with the wealthy members. They were happy to meet him, and this event helped open clubhouse doors for other professionals. The 1920 U.S. Open was another important moment. Hagen encouraged players to give a large clock to the host club, the Inverness Club. This was to thank the club for letting professionals use their clubhouse during the tournament.
Early in his career, Hagen represented the Country Club of Rochester. The club's members and leaders supported him in his tournaments. From 1918 to 1919, Walter Hagen was the first club professional at the famous Oakland Hills Country Club in Michigan. After that, he became the first golfer to be a "touring professional." This meant he played in tournaments without being tied to one specific club. He was the only one to do this for several years.
Hagen's Style and Impact
Walter Hagen was a stylish and confident person. He helped make professional golfers more respected and helped them earn more money. Throughout his career, he played hundreds of exhibition matches. These were special golf games played for fun or to show off skills. He played them all over the United States and the world. These tours made golf much more popular.
Hagen was also known for his fancy clothes on the golf course. He wore expensive, colorful, and soft-fabric outfits. As one of the best players, Hagen found that these exhibition matches were much more profitable than most tournaments.
Hagen also made a lot of money by promoting golf equipment. He helped design clubs for Wilson Sports, which had his name on them. His work with Wilson helped create some of the first matching sets of golf irons. This happened around the same time that his rival, Bobby Jones, was doing similar work for the Spalding company. Better equipment made golf more appealing. It also made high-quality clubs affordable for more players. This helped raise the overall standard of play.
Hagen was the first golfer to earn a million dollars in his career. He famously said he "never wanted to be a millionaire, just to live like one." He also shared his life motto: "Don't hurry, don't worry, you're only here for a short visit, so be sure to smell the flowers along the way." Another famous golfer, Gene Sarazen, said that all professional golfers should thank Walter Hagen every time they get paid. He said Hagen made professional golf what it is today. Hagen wrote in his book that golf was his business. He needed to keep winning titles because his current title was what helped him earn money.
Later Life and Passing
Walter Hagen fought throat cancer for more than four years and had several operations. In August 1967, two years before he passed away, a special dinner was held in his honor in Traverse City, Michigan. Famous golfers like Arnold Palmer and Cary Middlecoff attended. A month before that, at the PGA Championship, Hagen said he was a fan of Palmer.
Hagen passed away in 1969 at age 76 at his home in Traverse City. He is buried at the Holy Sepulchre Mausoleum in Southfield, Michigan, next to his grandson. Arnold Palmer was one of the people who carried his coffin.
Walter Hagen's Legacy
In 2000, Golf Digest magazine named Hagen the seventh greatest golfer of all time. In 2010, Sports Illustrated and Golf Magazine ranked him as the eighth greatest player ever.
His major victories include:
- U.S. Open: 1914, 1919
- British Open: 1922, 1924, 1928, 1929
- PGA Championship: 1921, 1924, 1925, 1926, 1927
Some golf historians believe Hagen might have won 16 major championships. This would place him second only to Jack Nicklaus. This idea comes from counting the Western Open as a major. Hagen won the Western Open five times (1916, 1921, 1926, 1927, and 1932). At that time, the Western Open was considered one of the most important golf events in the world, almost as big as the U.S. and British Opens.
Hagen was the captain for the United States team in the first six Ryder Cup competitions. He also played on the first five U.S. teams: 1927, 1929, 1931, 1933, and 1935.
Walter Hagen was added to the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1974. He was part of the very first group of people to be inducted.
Walter Hagen has been shown in movies. Bruce McGill played him in the 2001 movie The Legend of Bagger Vance. British actor Jeremy Northam played him in the 2004 movie about Bobby Jones, Bobby Jones: Stroke of Genius.
Professional Wins
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 (2) British Open, Long Beach Open (December)
- 1929 (3) Miami International Four-Ball (with Leo Diegel), British Open, Great Lakes Open
- 1931 (2) Coral Gables Open (tie with Henry 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.
Other Wins (13)
- 1914 Professional and Amateur Four Ball Invitational
- 1914 Pinehurst Amateur-Pro
- 1915 Massachusetts Open, California State Open, Panama Exposition Open
- 1920 French Open
- 1921 Michigan Open
- 1922 New York Open
- 1923 Long Beach Open
- 1924 Belgian Open
- 1929 Virginia Beach Open
- 1930 Michigan PGA Championship
- 1931 Michigan PGA Championship
Major Championships Won
Walter Hagen won 11 major championships during his career:
- U.S. Open: 1914, 1919
- British Open: 1922, 1924, 1928, 1929
- PGA Championship: 1921, 1924, 1925, 1926, 1927
See also
In Spanish: Walter Hagen para niños
