Another golfing legend, Gene Sarazen, once said that all professional golfers should give a silent thank you to Walter Hagen every time they held a cheque between their fingers. “Walter Hagen is the one who made professional golf what it is,” Sarazen said.
In fact, he did try to elevate the treatment and status of professional golfers during an era when many clubs would not allow professionals to enter their clubhouses.
One of the more famous anecdotes about Hagen, known as The Haig, referred to his renting a Rolls Royce and parking it outside the clubhouse during a tournament in England, to use as a dressing room after the club refused to allow him to use its own dressing rooms.
It was Hagen who attracted huge crowds to tournaments and who began to receive large amounts of money to take part in exhibition events, and he was also the first sports star to win one million dollars in his career. In addition, he was a pioneer in charging commercial brands for publicising their products. To that end, he charged 500 dollars a year for each club in his bag during tournaments. And Hagen, who was a shrewd businessman, carried 22 clubs in his bag instead of the traditionally accepted 14 – so he collected an extra 4,000 dollars for his astuteness.
Hagen, who was born in 1892 in Rochester (New York) and died in 1969 - at 76 - in Michigan, was, without doubt, one of the greatest golfers in the history of the game. His victories on the US Tour totalled 44 and his Grand Slam wins, 11. Only Jack Nicklaus has won more majors. Hagen won the US Open twice, the first time while still just 21; the British Open four times; and the US PGA Championship on five occasions (four of them consecutively). He was only thwarted in the US Masters. He also won five Western Opens, an event considered at the time to be a major.
As happened often in those days, Hagen left school at 12 and became a caddie at one of the clubs near his home, Rochester Country Club, where years later he was to work as a professional. The young Hagen worked at other jobs until he could, at last, live on golf alone. He was, for example, a taxidermist, and he played baseball as a semi-professional, once receiving an invitation to join one of the major league teams – which he declined so he could compete in a golf tournament. Walter won the tournament: he was 21 and it was nothing less than the US Open.
As well as these sporting successes - Hagen captained the US team in the first six Ryder Cups and entered the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1974 – he was also well known for the glamour he introduced to the world of golf. He was a consummate dandy, always smartly dressed in tournaments. He was, in fact, the first sports star to be included in the list of Best-Dressed Americans.
His life was colourful both on and off the course. He won a lot of money – and squandered handfuls. He stayed in the best hotels, organised stunning parties, and rented amazing limousines to take him to tournaments – parking them next to the first tee. “I never wanted to be a millionaire,” he said. “I just wanted to live like one.”
In spite of his excellent results, he had an inconsistent swing and his drives weren’t the best among his contemporaries. However, his magnificent short game overcame any shortcomings with his long one.
