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Thank Hagen for Wanamaker Rule |
Did you notice that in Tiger Woods pre-tournament press conference, that he was asked if he displayed the Wannamaker Trophy for winning the PGA Championship with the rest of his hardware?
Tiger answered that he did not, as they don’t let you take that one with you. Interesting as that may be, Tiger and all others who have hoisted the trophy can likely thank none other than Walter Hagen for the take-it-with-you ban.
During the mid-1920s, Hagen had a vise-like grip on the PGA Championship, winning four in a row. However, he failed to keep such a grip on the event’s trophy.
After his first victory, Hagen was awarded the trophy to enjoy it for the next year as the reigning champion. Another victory meant another year in his possession, and it was sometime during this second stanza that Hagen and the trophy would part ways.
Accounts have it that one night, Hagen paid a cab driver to return the trophy to his hotel, while he continued to enjoy a night on the town. It was the last that Hagen would see of it.
Winning the next two PGA Championships, hardly anyone took notice that Hagen failed to present the trophy at the awards ceremony, assuming that Hagen’s actions were simply a reflection of his supreme confidence and that any concern for the trophy leaving his mantle were misplaced.
Rather, it was the trophy itself that was misplaced, for after being eliminated in the 1928 PGA Championship during the semi-finals, Hagen finally had to admit that he did not have the trophy and had no idea where it was, having not seen it in years.
Faced with the prospect of no visual award, the PGA purchased a new trophy. Years later, the original trophy was found in a dusty old wooden crate that had been stored in Hagen’s business in Florida and later shipped to Chicago.
Apparently, either he forgot, or it had been shipped to him and stored without his knowledge. Once found, it was put back in circulation (and now the replacement has reportedly been lost!).
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posted on 6/3/2008 by |
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