In 1926, Bobby Jones and Walter Hagen famously participated in a 72 hole exhibition match in Florida which was widely promoted as the "Battle of the Century". It was the first-ever match between the two most famous golfers in the game. Hagen, the professional, took the entire purse and Bobby Jones, the amateur, didn't take a dime (though, technically, Hagen did buy Jones an $800 pair of cufflinks). Regardless, the USGA quickly quashed the idea of any future matches between Jones and Hagen and issued a ruling stating that Jones' amateur status would be compromised with any future matches. Because of this harsh ruling, the 1926 "Battle of the Century" would go down as the only-ever match between these two legends.

This match is also famous for another reason. Bobby Jones was seriously considering turning pro during the Winter of 1925/26. By most accounts, the drubbing Walter Hagen gave to Jones during their 72 hole match (well, it didn't make it anywhere near 72 holes, as Hagen won 12 & 11) made up Bobby Jones' mind that he wasn't ready to turn pro. Needless, to say, this decision changed the history of golf forever.

While the "Battle of the Century" has been widely written about, virtually no pieces of memorabilia exist from this historic match. In fact, for as much as we know about the match, only 750 people even attended the event!

This colorized Postcard beautifully depicts that epic match between Bobby Jones and Walter Hagen at Pasadena Country Club in St. Petersburg, FL.