This Day in Open Ch. History: July 21

On this date in 1995, Arnold Palmer played his final Open Ch., missing the 36-hole cut at The Old Course. In 1985, Sandy Lyle won the Open Championship at Royal St. George’s in Sandwich, England. He shot two over par overall and won by one shot over Payne Stewart, and three years later Lyle would win the Masters. This date in golf history also marks two key events in PGA Championship history. In 1957, Lionel Hebert defeated Dow Finsterwald, 2 and 1, in the final PGA played at match play, at Miami Valley Golf Club. In 1968, 48-year-old Julius Boros won at Pecan Valley, the oldest winner of a major until Phil Mickelson broke it in 2021. If Tom Watson had won the 2009 Open Championship, he would have smashed the age record at 59. And in 1970, 700 people, including Stan Musial, Joseph C. Dey, Dave Marr, Deacon Palmer, and Pa. Governor Raymond Shafer, attended a Pittsburgh dinner to honor Arnold Palmer as the AP Athlete of the Decade.