SARAZEN BEATS HAGEN

Sun (Auckland), Volume 1, Issue 42, 12 May 1927, Page 11

SARAZEN BEATS HAGEN

Gene Sarazen, former American national open golf champion, defeated Walter Hagen, present holder of the American professional title, 2 up and 1 to play, in a special 36-hole match played at White Sulphur Springs on April 3. Hagen was five down on the first eight holes played, but he squared the match on the 28th hole by sinking a 15foot putt for a birdie. Bad iron play caused him to lose the 357-yard twelfth, putting Sarazen one up again. The next hole was halved in birdies, Sarazen dropping a 12-foot putt after Hagen had run down one of 20 feet. Both laid up deadly approach putts to halve the next two holes, and Sarazen became dormie two by sinking a 45-foot putt for a birdie on the 16th. The match ended when the 17th was halved in s’s, Hagen’s excellent chance for a 4 being ruined when his approach shot hit Sarazen’s ball on the green. Sarazen played the last nine holes in 32, four under par. The medal scores for the two courses, par for which is 70, 71—141, were: Sarazen, 72, 70—142; Hagen, 76, 73—149. Longer driving was chiefly responsible for Sarazen’s victory. Only six times all day was Hagen up to Sarazen on wood shots off the tee. This left Hagen under a big disadvantage on his second shots, many of which were full irons because the heavy fairways yielded scant roll on the drives. The victory was the fourth out of five starts that Sarazen has scored over Hagen in America. His last win was in 1923. In their only match since that time, plaved in Florida in February of this year, he defeated Hagen, 8 and 7.