From Being Lost in a Taxi to Being Used as a Celebration Keg: The Incredible 107-Year-Old History of the PGA Championship’s Wanamaker Trophy

PGA Championship is among the biggest events of the year for the golf world. While the fans eagerly wait for the highly anticipated Major, the players seek to get their hands on the prestigious Wanamaker Trophy. With a history going back more than a hundred years, how iconic is the trophy given to the Major winner?

The PGA Championship has been part of the four Majors of the golf season since 1916. The tournament is always adored by the golf world for its enticing competition and rich history. Nonetheless, the Major has undergone several changes throughout its 107 years of history. While the prize money at the PGA Championship has evolved over the years, the winner’s trophy has been the same for more than a century.

Birth of the Wanamaker Trophy

Along with the inception of the PGA Championship, the Wanamaker Trophy was also founded in 1916. But it was not only the foundation of the Major and its trophy, the year also marked the beginning of the Professional Golfers’ Association of America. The meeting was hosted by Lewis Rodman Wanamaker, an avid golfer and an heir to Wanamaker’s department store empire.

The businessman spent $2,250 from his own pocket to fund the PGA Championship and demanded a great silver trophy. Standing 28 inches high, 10 and a half inches in diameter, 27 inches from handle to handle, and weighing 27 pounds, the trophy was made and given the name Wanamaker Trophy. Jim Barnes got his hands on the then newly made trophy for the first time after defeating Jock Hutchison 1 up in the finals at the Siwanoy Country Club in Bronxville, New York in 1916.

From thereon, the lavish trophy was handed to the winner of the PGA Championship for the next 107 years. While the trophy may be secured at the moment, it wasn’t safe all the time. In fact, nearly a decade after it was made, five-time PGA Championship winner Walter Hagen, announced the world of losing the prestigious trophy.

The Wanamaker Trophy goes missing

Ten years after the inception of the PGA Championship, Walter Hagen became its most illustrious winner. The golfer won the Major for the first time in 1921 and returned to the winner’s list in 1924. He won it again in 1925 and a year later to that. But when Hagen returned to the PGA Championship in 1926, he arrived without the Wanamaker Trophy.

Fortunately for the golfer, he continued his winning streak at the tournament until 1927 but lost to Leo Digel in the Quarterfinals in 1928 (PGA Championship was a match-play event until 1956). After being knocked out, Hagen finally admitted to losing the trophy back in 1925.

According to Walter Hagen, he left the trophy behind in a Taxi during his 1925 PGA Championship victory celebrations and paid the taxi driver to deliver it to his hotel. But the Wanamaker trophy was nowhere to be found at his hotel in Chicago. During its absence, the PGA of America made a duplicate of the Wanamaker Trophy to honor its winners.

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Nonetheless, five years after it was lost, the real trophy was found in an unmarked case in the basement of L.A. Young & Company, the firm that made Hagen’s golf clubs. How the trophy made it from Chicago to Los Angeles is still unknown. Once the real trophy was found, the replica trophy was retired and is currently kept at the PGA Historical Centre in Florida. However, every tournament winner’s name is engraved on both versions.

Wanamaker Trophy in Modern History

Decades have passed, and the PGA Championship has also evolved over the years. From increased prize money to a switch in the format from Match Play to Stroke play, the Major has undergone several changes in the past century. Nonetheless, the trophy for the tournament has remained the same.

After the infamous Walter Hagen incident in 1930, golfers have remained more responsible around the Wanamaker Trophy. However, there have been bloopers surrounding the 107-year-old trophy. Back in 1991, John Daly claimed his maiden Major victory at the PGA Championship at Crooked Stick Golf Club.

Known for his humorous character, Daly decided to use the Wanamaker Trophy as a Keg to store his beverages. While it may have been his choice to use the iconic trophy in his own bizarre style, Collin Morikawa blundered his trophy presentation at the 2020 PGA Championship. After winning his first Major, Morikawa lifted the iconic trophy in great joy.

But as the PGA Tour star raised the 27-pound Trophy, he ended up fumbling the cap of the Wanamaker Trophy. The crowd cheered the moment while a worried Collin Morikawa nervously picked up the fallen cap. Regardless, the class and rich history of the trophy has remained top-class since its inception. No matter whether it’s lost or dropped, the Wanamaker Trophy will always be one of the most prestigious trophies in all of sports.

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