The day Walter Hagen made a nine in a tournament at Riviera and simply walked off the course

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When Walter Hagen arrived at Riviera for the 1930 Los Angeles Open, he had already won 11 times at the events we now consider to be the majors.

In fact, Walter Hagen is one of just three male players – along with Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods – to have reached double figures for major wins.

Unfortunately, the 1930 season became the first time Hagen would fail to register what is now considered a PGA Tour win since 1917.

And it would appear that he had something of a nightmare at that year’s Los Angeles Open.

Walter Hagen withdrew after a nightmare start to his round at Riviera

It will be fantastic to see many of the world’s best players teeing off on Riviera’s first hole on Thursday after the Genesis Invitational was moved to Torrey Pines in 2025 due to the fires in Los Angeles.

Hagen, however, got off to such a bad start nearly a century ago that he decided to walk in one hole into his round.

As reported by the LA Times, he supposedly turned to his playing partners after making a nine and simply said, ‘that’s enough’.

Hagen was coming towards the end of his career at the very highest level. However, he had won The Open Championship at Muirfield only the previous year. He would also win the Western Open – one of the most prestigious events at the time – in 1932.

The record set at the 1930 LA Open that stands to this day

Hagen was certainly not the only player to struggle in the difficult weather conditions. Riviera was muddy after having to deal with plenty of rain.

It was also extremely windy in the Pacific Palisades.

With that, Denny Shute won with a score of 12 over par. Shute – who would go on to win three majors in the 1930s – finished four shots clear of Bobby Cruickshank and Horton Smith, the first winner of The Masters.

It unsurprisingly remains the highest winning score in the event’s history.

So Hagen’s nine was certainly not enough on its own to take him out of contention. But perhaps one of golf’s first great entertainers sensed he was going to find it impossible to put on a show in the testing conditions.