Scheffler wears special PGA Championship shoes honoring Hagen’s lost trophy tale

Scottie Scheffler stepped onto Aronimink Golf Club this week wearing golf shoes that tell one of the sport’s most bizarre stories. The footwear features two words printed on the soles: “lost” on one shoe and “found” on the other. Nike released three special-edition models for the PGA Championship, all sharing the same colorway and the cryptic message. The words pay tribute to Walter Hagen, a five-time PGA Championship winner whose relationship with the Wanamaker Trophy became legendary for all the wrong reasons.

Hagen’s third PGA Championship victory in 1925 sparked a three-year mystery that remains unmatched in major championship history. After winning the match-play tournament at Olympia Fields, Hagen made a decision that would haunt him. He handed the massive Wanamaker Trophy to a cab driver with simple instructions: deliver it to his hotel. The trophy, among the largest in professional sports, never arrived. A major championship trophy had vanished without a trace.

Hagen won twice more while trophy remained missing

The story takes a remarkable turn when considering Hagen’s response to losing the trophy. Rather than immediately confessing, he simply kept winning. Hagen captured the PGA Championship again in 1926 and 1927, meaning he retained possession of the trophy he had already lost. For two consecutive years, officials never asked for the trophy back because Hagen rightfully held onto it as defending champion. The deception worked perfectly until his luck ran out.

When Hagen arrived at the 1928 PGA Championship, officials finally requested the Wanamaker Trophy. His response became the stuff of legend. Hagen told tournament organizers he didn’t bring the trophy because he planned to win it anyway. The confidence proved misplaced when Leo Diegel defeated him in the quarterfinals at Baltimore Country Club. With no trophy to present, officials had to improvise and handed Diegel the Maryland Cup Trophy from the country club’s lobby.

Three years passed before legendary golfer admitted the truth

Only after his quarterfinal loss did Hagen confess the truth. The Wanamaker Trophy had been missing for three full years. No one knew where the prestigious prize had gone after that cab ride in 1925. The admission shocked the golf world and left officials scrambling. The PGA had lost its most important trophy, and no one had any leads on its whereabouts.

• Hagen won the PGA Championship five times during his career
• The 1925 victory was his third championship title
• He successfully defended the trophy in 1926 and 1927
• Leo Diegel defeated him in the 1928 quarterfinals
• The trophy remained missing from 1925 to 1930

The search for the Wanamaker Trophy seemed hopeless. Major championship trophies don’t simply disappear and reappear. Most assumed the trophy was gone forever, likely sold or melted down by someone who didn’t understand its significance. The PGA began making plans for a replacement trophy while accepting that the original had become a permanent casualty of Hagen’s celebration.

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Trophy discovered in trunk during routine search in Detroit

October 1930 brought an unexpected resolution to the five-year mystery. Hagen was going through old trunks in Detroit when he discovered a bulky package he didn’t recognize. Upon opening it, he found the missing Wanamaker Trophy. The New York Evening Journal reported the discovery with appropriate drama in its October 6, 1930 edition. The headline captured the moment: “In Detroit last week, Hagen, while going through some old trunks, unearthed a bulky package. Lo, and behold! It was the P.G.A. trophy which had been lost and was found again.”

The discovery answered some questions while raising others. How did the trophy end up in Hagen’s trunk if the cab driver never delivered it to his hotel? Did the driver eventually return it, and Hagen simply forgot? Did someone place it in storage without telling him? The exact details of how the trophy moved from the cab to Hagen’s trunk remain unclear even today. What matters is that the trophy returned to the PGA, ready to be awarded to future champions.

Nike creates tribute footwear for modern championship competitors

Nike’s decision to commemorate this story through special-edition shoes demonstrates how Hagen’s misadventure has become part of golf lore. The “lost” and “found” message connects modern players to the sport’s colorful history. Scheffler and other Nike-sponsored players wearing these shoes at Aronimink carry forward a tale that perfectly captures golf’s blend of prestige and human fallibility.

The shoes represent more than a marketing campaign. They remind fans that even legendary champions make mistakes. Hagen’s trophy tale has endured for nearly a century because it humanizes a sport often associated with rigid formality. The story shows that major champions can be forgetful, that prestigious trophies can disappear, and that sometimes lost things really do get found. Every step Scheffler takes this week literally walks through one of golf’s greatest stories.