Walter Charles Hagen was a major figure in golf in the first half of the 20th century. His tally of eleven majors is third behind Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods . He won the U.S. Open twice and in 1922 he became the first American to win the British Open, which he went on to win four times in total. He also won the PGA Championship a record-tying five times , the Western Open five times, totalled 45 PGA wins in his career, and was a six time Ryder Cup captain.

Hagen was born in Rochester, New York. He was also very skilled at baseball. He cancelled a tryout for the Philadelphia Phillies in order to play in a golf tournament. Later that week, Hagen was the U.S. Open Champion, and his career was changed forever.