James Braid
James Braid is the
last and perhaps the least-known of the famous
three. Nevertheless, he was the first man to
win the Open five times, which he did between the
years 1901 and 1910. Surprisingly
for a Scot, he established his reputation in
England. He started his career as a club maker at the
Army and Navy Stores in London in 1893, and was for
many years associated with the Walton Heath Golf
Club in Surrey. As well as his Open victories he
also won the first match-play professional
tournament in 1903, a victory he repeated another
three times in the next eight years. He was a modest
and unassuming man, a founder member of the PGA and
an accomplished golf course architect. He designed
the King's Course at Gleneagles.
Walter
Hagin
In the aftermath of
World War I, the centre of golfing excellence passed
from England and Scodand across the water to the
USA. The American approach
to golf was embodied by Walter Hagen (1892-1969) who
turned the whole world of professional golf
upside-down. He was an instinctive showman. The best
story about him was of when he arrived at Deal to
play in the 1920 Open Championship. Professional
golfers were not allowed in the clubhouse, so Hagen
hired a Daimler, together with a chauffeur and
footman, parked it outside the clubhouse front door
and had the footman collect his belongings each day
when he arrived at the 18th hole. Two years later,
in 1922, he won the Open Championship for the first
time and he won again in 1924, 1928 and 1929, was
runner-up to Arthur Havers at Troon in 1923 and
third behind Bobby Jones and Al Watrous at Lytham in
1926. He won the US Open in 1914 and 1919, and the
USPGA five times, including four successive years
from 1924. Hagen's record was truly remarkable. He
was the first international golfer to play in
comfortable, stylish clothing, usually bright
sweaters and plus-fours. Stories about him are
legendary and his prowess is best summed up by the
remark of Bernard Darwin, the great golf writer, "
The difference between Hagen and other players is
that he just wins and they don't.
Golfers - James Braid and Walter Hagin
