Cliff Schrock
GOLF WRITER // GENERAL EDITORIAL SPECIALIST
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This Day in Golf History

A page that will list golf history, and the people and events that comprise it in the form of This Day in Golf or This Week in Golf.

This Day in Golf--Aug. 3

Mentor and student Stan Thirsk and Tom Watson, respectively, shared milestone first rounds on this date in PGA Championship history, but sadly they both ultimately faded from the top spot. In 1972 at Oakland Hills, Thirsk, the Kansas City club pro who was Watson’s teacher, shared the first-round lead with a 68. He fell back into the pack, however, and tied for 72nd. In 1978 at Oakmont, Watson had the first-round lead with a 67, but a poor back nine in Round 4 dropped him into a tie, and he lost in a sudden-death playoff to John Mahaffey. It was the closest Watson ever got to winning the PGA.

Cliff Schrock