Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1954-12-09
The TumuIt and The Shouting
HugenHodNoE quu|in Mm-to-MonPIoy
-AP Wirephoto.

possible shot. From the wheat,
the ball rocketed out and finally
stopped Is inches from the cup.
I looked at Walter. He looked
like man who had just been
bludgeoned. He then popped his
short approach into the trap at
his feet, and Sarazen won.
But this I'll say for Hagen.
He had won five PGA matches
going into that final in the 1928
PGA. He then proceeded to
win in 1924. 1925, 1926 and 1927,
and he went to the final round
in 1928. That means that Hagen
won "a of So matches from the
greatest golfers in the world
20 OF those matches in success
sion. Hagen was the match
play king, and that goes for all
time. He had no equal when it
was man-to-man.
Hagen i'm Paris.
My old friend Tommy Web
ster, sports cartoonist for Lon
don's Daily Mail and one of
Hagen's dearest pals, likes to
tell a Hagen in Paris" anec-
dote. At this particular exhibit
ton match at st. Cloud, Walter
threaded his way toward the
first tee amid the "ohs." "ahs,"
and ''magnifiques" Of the
French gallery. Walter had
been out on the town all night,
and his head was bigger than
pumpkin.
well, SIR" related Tommy,
"the Haig finally gets his ball
teed up, addresses it a bit shak-
ily-and whiffs! That French
crowd is as silent as one of
their cathedrals. Shocked, an
official then announces, "Mees-
taire Hagen -. he Is indisposed
he is a seeck mani"
eve took Walter back to the
clubhouse, wrung him out and
ordered a jug of black coffee
as long as your arm. After
pouring a quart of it down his
gullet, Hagen was quite sober.
He then went out before that
French gallery and shot a 66!"
One night-it was in 1895,
during the Masters Tournament
in Augusta, Ga.-Hagen, push
ing As, and I got into an old
fashioned tanning bee. We found
the sun shining in our eyes and
Hagen was due to tee off in
about two hours.
He went to his room, show
cred and shaved with the
straight razor he'd been using
for at least 80 years. (Inci-
dentally, that razor is another
testimony to Hagen's uneanny
touch. To handle the straight
edge as Hagen does when the
boat is rocking badly, after a
long night-well, the average
fellow would cut his throat.)
Walter butchered exactly IA
shots - hooks, slices, topped
balls, the works on the first
nine that morning. But he was
out in exact par, SO. How was
that again? He had seven one
putt green's.
Incident Shows Poise.
Before World War II, during
the Open at Canterbury, cleve-
land. gathered such golfers as
Ben Hogan. Sam Snead, Byron
Nelson, Jimmy Demaret and
others for a dinner. wanted
Hagen-matter of fact, he was
the star attraction. I asked
Freddie Corcoran, the energetic
manager of the PGA's circuit
swing, to pick up Walter at a
nearby club. The anecdote is
Freddie,s.
II arrived and spotted Hagen
in the bar" Corcoran relates.
Walter was wearing a hand
some white sharkskin suit, silk
shirt, purple tie and the inevita-
BILE carnation in his buttonhole.
He was immaculate. AS we were
leaving, Hagen decided we had
to have one for the road, While
We waited for our drink, some
old grad spotted Walter and
commenced to make a fuss over
him. He had a tall rum drink
with fruit in it. In his eenthu-
siasm. he jostled Walter, spill
ing the drink and fruit salad all
over him. Hagen never batted
an eye. Instead he called to the
bartender, Wee here, this fellow
needs drink! NIX him another,
will you"
tCopyright, 1854, by A. 8. Barnes and
Co., Incl
distributed By The Bell Syndicate, Incl
I'm his merit article, Rice
tells of his close friendship |