The Washington herald., 1922-07-14
BY ROBERT EDGREN.

Deen Famous Tor his ability TO come
from behind" in a hard match. He
is a strong fnisher. He has streaks
when his golfing ability wanes. but
after a while he comes back better
than ever.
When Hagen won the British open
championship on June % he put
America squarely on the golf map.
For many years IL has been gem
orally believed that, while Amer
lean amateurs might possibly win
on rare occasions from British anna
teurs. the American-bred profess
sionals never could well compare
with the British pros.
For many years Americans were
outclassed when they visited Eng
land and competed in the British
open championship. and their fall
ure to win or even make a good
showing was ascribed to the high
VT " and hard fairways or the sea-
courses in England. as well as
. the superior brand of golf devel-
oped in England by these bin
ORANGES
Last year Jock Hutchison broke
the hoodoo by winning the British
open. But in England any chagrin
that might have been felt when the
cup travelled across seas was tossed
off with the remark that Hutchison
was born near st. Andrews In Scot
land. even IL he was a nsturalized
citizen of the United States.
But Walter Hagen is American
born, and his golr was developed on
American courses.
His victory was backed by Barnes
and Hutchison. Barnes tied with
George Duncan. OF England. for sec
ond place, and Hutchison took
fourth. so that the American team
took three of the first four places.
The scores were close, being 900,
sol and 302.
Hagen is persistent. This was his
third attempt to win the British
open.
After winning the American open
championship in 1914 and again in
1919. Hagen travelled to England in
1920. as American champion. and
was thought to have a fairly good
chance to win. He played several
brilliant preliminary matches On in
land courses, but when he went
down to the championships at the
Royal Cinque Ports Golf Club at
Deal. where the wind blows so hard
that the natives can't grow whis-
kers, he Topped completely, failed
to break eighty in any of his four
rounds. and finished in fifty-hfth
position. Hagen said at that time
that the heavy winds wrecked his
game. He had no shots in his bag
to offset them.
But here is where Hagen's per-
sistency comes in. Returning to
America he played all over the
Eastern and Southern part of the
country. especially looking for
breezy seaside courses. He studied
every shot that should be played
against and across a heavy wind. a nd
perfected low. hard drives and bras
sic shots and running-up ap-
clubs. His driver weight is I3%
ounces. But he hits tremendous
ball with either wood or iron.
In the Britishr open Hagen played
with perfect confidence. He knew
how to meet the local conditions.
His driving and approaches were
perfect and confidence on the greens
made him putt his best all through
the match. Only once was Hagen
out of the lead for the moment.
when Hutchison shot a 73 in the
third round and passed him. But
Walter came right back with a ~
In the final round. showing that as
usual he could make a fighting fin
ish under pressure
Hagen Is a New Yorker. Brought
up AT Rochester he started as a pro-
fessional in his home town. After
ward he went to Detroit. He won
the national open in 1914 In 1915
he performed one of the startling
feats that made him famous. 1t
was in the Panama Pacific ExposI-
ton international tournament on the
old Ingleside Course. Coming
through to the final, Hagen met
John Black. one of the greatest
Western golfers. and a tremendous
driver. Knowing that Black would
press him hard Hagen started with
apparent recklessness. smashing
into the ball for great distances
from the tee. yet playing every shot
so perfectly that he scored 90 on the
first nine holes of the fnal round,
which gave him a winning lead. AS
Frank Peoples, the famous Coast
professional, described it, Hagen
was a tornado from the first tee,
oo hoehihs CoulQ stdHu IN MS
way"
As professional Walter was al
ways great favorite with the
ladies. not only because of his golf.
but because he Is a classy dresser
Rival professionals call him the
Beau Brummel of the profession"
couple of years ago the cham
pion became sales manager of a
large bond firm. and deciding not to
go on with golf professionally asked
for reinstatement as an amateur
The application was not granted.
and as Hagen received. beside the
British Championship Cup. a purse
of f175 given by Lord Northburne,
ii is likely that he is content to re-
main in the professional class.
: Hagen has already told the Eng
lish people that he hopes to bring
the cup back and defend 1t next
year. He has as good a chance to
repeat as any man that ever won a
championship. Jack Hutchison
came near turning the trick-only
two strokes behind the winner to
3o2.
Hagen is man of medium height,
compactly built. He has neither
the lanky makeup of Long Jim
Barnes nor the beef Of Q vardon
nor array. But he can hitsA travel