Webb and Hagen may not have gotten along had they met, but ladies' man Walter probably still would have gone for a birthday snog ...
On December 21, 82 years, thousands of miles and personalities apart, two of golf's greatest champions were born. In 1892, the great Walter Hagen was born in Rochester, New York; and in 1974, fellow Golf Hall of Famer Karrie Webb was born in Ayr, Queensland, Australia.
About the only things the two titans of the game had in common, however, was the game, their Hall of Fame status, and stacks of major championships.
Hagen, golf's superstar of the Roaring '20s, was one of the most flamboyant figures to grace the game. As Stephen Goodwin of
Golf Magazine said, Hagen "made pots of money and spent it with legendary abandon." Hagen, who died in '69, racked up 40 PGA Tour titles and 11 major championships. Hagen's flash clothes, partying lifestyle and playboy reputation would have fit in well with these modern times - however, except for a few very good recent movie portrayals, we still tend to think of him in black-and-white.
Webb, on the other hand, is a modern star with a modern game suited to this technicolour age. She won so often and early on the LPGA Tour that her Hall of Fame status was assured five years before she was eligible by seniority. Webb currently owns 35 LPGA wins, including seven majors, many of them earned in a head-to-head archrivalry with Annika Sorenstam. But unlike Hagen, Webb is not known for typical Aussie candour. She has been called the "Garbo of Golf" due to her and intense privacy and lack of desire for the limelight. "I do have a personality," Webb said. "But I can't be somebody that I'm not." ...