Best Golfer from Every State: New York golf and Walter Hagen
We continue our best golfer series by taking a look at New York golf and one of the best to ever tee it up, Walter Hagen.
Some states, like Alaska, are easy to figure out when it comes to naming the best golfer. When it came to New York golf, I was a bit worried as I knew there were going to be a lot of choices. Then I remembered that one of the five best to ever play the game were born there, and I knew the search was over because of Walter Hagen.
There is always a good segment of fans, regardless of the sport, who just aren’t that familiar with players who played a long time ago. Whether it is Nap Lajoie in baseball (first intentional walk with the bases loaded), Bob Pettit in basketball (first MVP), or Otto Graham in football (seven titles… take that Brady!).
The same can be said in golf. There was a fantastic golden period of golf with Snead, Jones, Sarazen, Nelson, Sarazen, and Walter Hagen.
More from Pro Golf Now
- Golf Rumors: LIV set to sign Masters Champion in stunning deal
- Fantasy Golf: Grant Thornton Invitational DFS Player Selections
- Brutal return leaves Will Zalatoris looking towards 2024
- Stars You Know at World Champions Cup Starts Thursday at Concession
- Fantasy Golf: An Early Look at the 2024 Masters Tournament
When it comes to New York golf, it should be no surprise that Walter Hagen is the best from the state.
With props to the previously mentioned Gene Sarazen, he made a strong case as well. 39 PGA Tour wins and seven majors are nothing to scoff at. However, when you are comparing it to 45 PGA Tour wins, 57 professional wins, and 11 majors, you fall short. Those are Hage’s numbers.
He started off early, with an astonishing 4th place finish at the U.S. Open in 1913 at the age of 20. The other pros on tour treated the youngster poorly, and he was determined to show them how good he was. He would come back the next year and win the event, his first major victory. Not only would he win, but he did it going wire-to-wire, holding the lead after every round.
What’s insane is that we almost didn’t see Hagen as a golfer. He was a talented baseball player and decided to forgo a baseball tryout in order to play the U.S. Open.
One of the important talking points in any argument for who the top golfer of all-time is, revolves around major victories. Whenever we talk about it now, its the Masters, U.S. Open, PGA Championship, and the Open Championship. It wasn’t always this way, and once you look into the golfers of the past, some pretty intense arguments can be drawn up.
The Masters didn’t start until the mid-1930s, past Hagens prime. For golfers of his era, this shouldn’t be a red mark for their career. You should look at the four “major” events of the year. In Hagens’s case, you could make the case that the Western Open should be counted as that fourth major. This would mean that he wouldn’t have 11 major wins… he would have 16. Does it make him the third-best golfer of all-time? That’s an argument for another day.
The first class of the World Golf Hall of Fame would include some incredible golfers. Nicklaus, Snead, Jones, Nelson, Hogan, Sarazen, Palmer, Ouimet, Vardon, Player, and Walter Hagen. Well deserved for each and every one of them.
Next. Best Golfers from Every State: New Mexico Golf and Steve Jones. dark
There aren’t many golfers that have ever teed it up that were better than Walter Hagen. He isn’t just the best of New York golf, but one of the best the golf world has ever seen.