British Open: Ranking the 25 most dominant performances of all time
By Bill Felber
20. Walter Hagen, 1929, -2.85
Hagen was already a three-time British Open champion when the event began at Muirfield, having won in 1922, 1924 and 1928. The 1929 victory thus put him on a par with previous four-time champions Young Tom and Old Tom Morris, as well as Willie Park. Sr.
It was also the last of his 11 major championships, 10 coming in the 1920s.
Hagen began slowly with a 75 that was six strokes off the leader’s pace. Once he got going, however, he proved unstoppable. A Friday 67 moved him up to second, two strokes behind Leo Diegel.
On a brutal Saturday when the field average rose by six strokes from the previous day, all the way to 81.15, his 75 gave Hagen a three-stroke lead over Percy Alliss.
He closed that afternoon with another 75 that afternoon, this time four and one-half strokes better than the 79.59 field average, producing a four-round total of 292. It was six better than reigning U.S. Open champion Johnny Farrell and seven better than reigning PGA champion Diegel.
It was the first time that the holders of the three major professional championships finished 1-2-3 in major.
Hagen’s victory was tarnished only by the absence from the field of Bobby Jones, who did not make the ocean crossing that year. Hagen’s detractors point out that none of Hagen’s 11 major titles came when Jones was in the field. Between them, the two 1920s greats had now won the previous four British Open titles, Jones claiming the 1926 and 1927 events.