Golf History

October 2, 1876, The Open Golf Championship was held at St Andrews, with Bob Martin ruled the champion when fellow Scotsman Davie Strath refused to take part in a playoff after the two of them finished with a 176 total.  Strath decided against playing because of a dispute with the Royal & Ancient.

September 26, 2016, Arnold Palmer died at age 87. In addition to his seven majors, Palmer is one of the most memorable figures in team golf history and led the Ryder Cup in numerous statistical categories and was a two-time winning captain

 

September 23, a couple of Open Championships ended on this date in the 1800s. In 1868, at Prestwick, Young Tom Morris won the ninth Open by three shots over his father, Tom Morris, Sr., at just age 17 when he shot 154.  In 1892, at Muirfield, Harold Hilton also won by three over John Ball, Hugh Kirkaldy and Sandy Herd.

 

Septemeber 18, 1863, the Open Championship was played with Willie Park, Sr., winning by two shots over Tom Morris, Sr., also known as Old Tom. Park shot 168 in three 12-hole rounds played in one day, beating out the field of 14 players at Prestwick Golf Club. On this date in 1892, the winner of the 1924 U.S. Open, Cyril Walker, was born in Manchester, England. He came to the U.S. in 1914 and was working out of Englewood Country Club when he won the U.S. Open at Oakland Hills. But he died destitute in 1948 in New Jersey at age 55.

 

September 16, 1953, 1976 U.S. Open champion Jerry Pate was born in Macon, Georgia. His victory came as a 22-year-old rookie with great promise for many more majors that never came, partly due to a subsequent shoulder injury.

August 29, 1908, the U.S. Open Championship ended at the Myopia Hunt Golf club in South Hamilton, Massachusetts, when Fred McLeod defeated fellow Scot Willie Smith by six strokes in an 18-hole playoff. It was McLeod’s only major victory.

 

August 28, 1994, Tiger Woods, won his first of three straight U.S. Amateur titles. He won the 94th playing by coming back against Trip Kuehne and winning 2 up at the TPC Stadium Course in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida.

 

August 21, 1920, the third PGA Championship ended Jock Hutchison defeated Douglas Edgar 1-up at Flossmoor Country Club in Chicago in the 36-hole final.

 

August 19, 1984, At age 44, Lee Trevino showed he could still win a major when he held off Gary Player and Lanny Wadkins at Shoal Creek to win the PGA Championship. Trevino shot 69 in the final round and finished 15 under par. The victory was his sixth and final major and came 10 years after he'd won his first PGA.

 

August 13, On this date the PGA Championship was won by Justin Thomas in 2017 at Quail Hollow, by Steve Elkington in 1995 at Riviera, Payne Stewart won in 1989 at Kemper Lakes, and Gene Sarazen won in 1933 at Blue Mound.

 

August 9, 2018,  The 100th playing of the PGA Championship began at St. Louis at Bellerive Country Club. The first time the PGA  began on an August 9 was in 1973 at Canterbury Golf Club in Cleveland. It ended in a milestone result: Jack Nicklaus won by four shots, and it was his 14th major, moving him ahead of Bobby Jones' total, which had been the record for 43 years.

August 1, 1914,  Lloyd Mangrum was born in Trenton, Texas. A decorated World War II Army veteran, Mangrum won 36 tour events and won the 1946 U.S. Open. He finished second twice at the Masters. His distinguished appearance, which made him look like the image of a riverboat gambler, made Mangrum quite notable. He was made a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1998.

July 29, 2007, Tom Watson made a double bogey on the final hole but still won the Senior Open for the third time in five years, by one shot over Stewart Ginn and Mark O’Meara at Muirfield.

 

The PGA Championship moved its date to May in 2019, but it has actually been all around the calendar for much of its history. On July 19, 1964, Bobby Nichols won the 46th playing at Columbus Country Club in Ohio. His nine-under 271 total beat a pair of heavyweights by three, Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer.

 

July 18, 1959, Bill Wright, at age 23, became the first African-American golfer to win a national championship when he won the U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship. He defeated Frank Campbell, 3 and 2, in the 36-hole final in Denver.

 

July 16, 1938, one of the greatest and most mind-boggling results in major championship history happened when diminutive Paul Runyan defeated Sam Snead, 8 and 7, in the final of the PGA Championship at Shawnee Country Club. Runyan’s precise short game and fairway woods overcame Snead’s 30- to 40-yard driving advantage.

 

July 11, 1960, the playing of U.S. Amateur Public Links began on this date at Ala Wai Golf Course in Honolulu. Verne Callison of Sacramento, Calif., was the champion, handily defeating Tyler Caplin of East Lansing, Mich., 7 and 6.

 

July 8 , 1938, at Royal St. George's Golf Club in Sandwich, England, Reg Whitcombe survived in rough weather to win the Open Championship by two strokes over Jimmy Adams and three over defender Henry Cotton. The weather was even more diabolical than normal in 1938. The championship was supposed to be played in Deal at Royal Cinque Ports, but unusual high tides in February had damaged the course with flooding, forcing a switch to St. George's. The 36-hole final day was played in gale-force winds, which tore apart the exhibition tent. Whitcombe managed the mayhem the best, shooting 75-78.

 

July 1, 1967, Mickey Wright, the greatest women's golfer of all-time, won her third U.S. Women's Open. The San Diego native won at Baltusrol Golf Club by six shots over Betsy Rawls, shooting 72-80-69-72-293.

June 27, 1903, Willie Anderson finished the U.S Open in a tie for first and then on the next day won the first of three in a row, defeating David Brown in an 18-hole playoff, 82-84. Anderson is still the lone golfer to have won three in a row.

 

June 25, 1926, the 61st Open Championship ended on this date with Bobby Jones winning his first Open title, at Royal Lytham and St. Annes, two strokes ahead of Al Watrous.

 

Ben Hogan has one of the greatest records in the U.S. Open. He impressingly tied for the most victories with four. That does not count the Hale America National Open in 1942, which the USGA doesn't include. Hogan's fourth victory came on June 13, 1953, when he won by six over Sam Snead at Oakmont. During the next seven years, Hogan had finishes of 7th, 2nd, 2nd, 10th, 8th and 9th, but never did win the National Open again. A couple other legendary figures in golf won majors on this date. In 1895, J.H. Taylor won a second straight Open Championship, this at St. Andrews, beating Sandy Herd by four shots. The following year, Taylor had a third straight title halted by Harry Vardon, who won at Muirfield in a 36-hole playoff.

 

June 11, 1938, Ralph Guldahl became the fourth person to win back-to-back U.S. Opens, following Willie Anderson, John McDermott and Bobby Jones. Guldahl shot a 69 at Cherry Hills to finish six shots ahead of Dick Metz. In 1937 he had finished two shots ahead of Sam Snead at Oakland Hills.

 

June 10, 1904, The Open Championship ended at Royal St. George’s Golf club with Jack White the winner by one shot over the legendary twosome and future five-time winners James Braid and J.H. Taylor.

 

June 5, 1925, Willie MacFarlane defeated Bobby Jones in a 36-hole playoff by one stroke at the U.S. Open at Worcester (Mass.).  MacFarlane shot 75-72 to Jones' 75-73. Jones had won in 1923, and would win again in 1926, 1929 and 1930.

 

June 3, 1945, Three time U.S. Open winner Hale Irwin was born in Joplin, Missouri.  The hall-of-fame golfer won the U.S. Open in 1974, 1979 and 1990, plus the U.S. Senior Open in 1998 and 2000. He won the “Massacre at Winged Foot” in the 1974 U.S. Open with a 7-over-par score

May 30, If you count Jim Barnes winning in 1916 and 1919 with the two middle years taken off for World War I, the PGA Championship has been won in consecutive years eight times. Tiger Woods did it twice, and Walter Hagen won four in a row, 1924-1927!

 

May 23, 2002, with days of turning 90, Sam Snead passed away in Hot Springs, VA.  He was born on May 27, 1912, the same year as Ben Hogan and Byron Nelson.  1912 was a pretty good year for Golf!

 

May 16, 1930, In the sixth Walker Cup Match that started May 15, 1930, and ended on the 16th, U.S. captain and player Bobby Jones led the Americans to a 10-2 victory over Great Britain & Ireland at Royal St. George’s Golf Club in Sandwich, England.

 

May 15, 1931, Ken Venturi was born.  After retiring from the Tour in 1967 with a total of 14 career wins, Venturi spent the next 35 years working as a color commentator and lead analyst for CBS Sports – the longest lead analyst stint in sports broadcasting history, made remarkable by the fact that he had a stutter, which he was able to manage in his adult years. He retired from broadcasting at age 71 in June 2002

 

May 14, 1995, Kelly Robbins won the only major of her career by one shot over Laura Davies at DuPont Country Club in the LPGA Championship. 

 

May 10, 1929, Walter Hagen won his fourth Open Championship, and 11th and final major championship at Muirfield, Scotland. His winning score was 12 over par, and that shot was 6 over fellow American Johnny Farrell. Known for his outsized personality and colorful wardrobe, Hagen is in the World Golf Hall of Fame.

 

May 6, 1962, the year he won two majors, Arnold Palmer won the Tournament of Champions. He had scores of 69-70-69-68 for 276 and first prize of $11,000.

 

May 3, 1990, Brooks Koepka, five-time major championship winner, was born in West Palm Beach, Florida. Also, on this date in 1964, the late Pete Brown won the Waco Turner Open at Turner Lodge in Burneyville, Oklahoma, becoming the first African-American to win an official PGA Tour event.

April 30, 1961 and 1962, the great Mickey Wright won the LPGA Titleholders Championship at Augusta Country Club. In 1961 it was by one shot over Patty Berg and Louise Suggs, and in 1962 it was in a playoff with Ruth Jessen.

 

April 29, 1857, This date is credited as the publishing date for the first golf instruction book, The Golfer's Manual, “A Keen Hand” by H. B. Farnie.

 

April 18, 1935, Gene Sarazen hit "the shot heard 'round the world" at Augusta National Golf Club on the fifteenth hole in the final round of the Masters Tournament. He struck a spoon (the modern name is four wood) 232 yards into the hole, scoring a double eagle. He was trailing Craig Wood by three shots, which he then tied.  He parred the 16th, 17th and 18th holes to preserve the tie. The following day, the pair played a 36-hole playoff, with Sarazen winning by five shots.

 

April 19, 1994, Lee Trevino won the PGA Seniors' Championship one stroke over Jim Colbert.  This Championship ended at the PGA National Resort.

 

April 16, 1995, Raymond Floyd won the PGA Seniors' Championship by five shots over Larry Gilbert, Lee Trevino & John Paul Cain at the PGA National.

 

April 15, 1979, the 43rd Masters had its first sudden death playoff.  Fuzzy Zoeller won a 2-hole playoff, making a birdie on the 11th hole, beating Ed Sneed & Tom Watson.

 

April 14, 2024, Scottie Scheffler secured his second Masters Tournament victory in three years on Sunday, finishing 11 under and four strokes up on his closest competitors.

 

April 14, 1968, Roberto De Vicenzo signed an incorrect scorecard with a higher score than he actually shot on the 17th hole in the final round and finished one behind Bob Goalby.  Mr. De Vicenzio was also born on this date in 1923.

 

March 28, 2024, six times a PGA Tour event has been decided after an eight-hole, sudden-death playoff, the most holes it has taken to decide a winner. (Cary Middlecoff and Lloyd Mangrum played 11 holes for the 1949 Motor City Open but were stopped by darkness and declared co-champions.) The first of the eight occasions was on March 28, 1965, when Dick Hart beat Phil Rodgers at the Azalea Open. Also on this date, in 1999, Dottie Pepper won the Nabisco Championship (now the ANA Inspiration) for a second time at Mission Hills CC, six strokes ahead of runner-up Meg Mallon.

 

March 25, 1934, the first Masters finished. Then called the Augusta National Invitation Tournament, it was won by Horton Smith when he holed a 20-foot birdie putt at the 17th hole and finished one shot ahead of Craig Wood. That first year, the nines were reversed, and the 17th was today’s par-5 eighth hole. This is the only time the Masters finished in the month of March.

 

March 19, 1950, Babe Didrikson Zaharias won the U.S. Women’s Open (pre USGA run) at Rolling Hills Country Club by nine shots over Betsy Rawls.

 

March 18, 1951, amateur Pat O’Sullivan won the LPGA Titleholders Championship at Augusta C.C. by two shots over Beverly Hanson (also an amateur).

 

March 14, 1936, Bob Charles, 1963 Open Championship winner, was born in Carterton, New Zealand. He is in a select group of the greatest putters ever.

 

March 11, 1956, LPGA Tour’s Titleholders Championship of Women's Golf was won for the third time by Louise Suggs in a close contest with Patty Berg. She secured the win by one shot at Augusta Country Club.

 

March 5, 1956, Mickey Wright (PGA of America, Hall of Famer), got her first LPGA Tour victory on this date. Wright was ranked the 9th greatest golfer of all time and the top woman Golfer by Golf Digest Magazine in 2000.