This Day in Golf--Oct. 20

Fifty years ago, at a time the United States was regularly bringing Great Britain down in the Ryder Cup, the match began on this date at Champions Golf Club in Houston. This is the match that featured the memorable line by U.S. captain Ben Hogan, who introduced his team in the opening dinner by saying each player's name and then intoning, "Ladies and gentlemen, the United States Ryder Cup team, the finest golfers in the world," and then sitting down. And this was a team without Jack Nicklaus, who was still serving his PGA membership waiting period and couldn't play despite the fact he'd won seven majors by then. Hogan's chutzpah was warranted; the Americans won 23.5 to 8.5.