On April 8, 1962, Arnold Palmer made birdies on 16 and 17 to tie Gary Player and Dow Finsterwald at 280, then beat them the next day in a playoff with a 68 to Player's 71 and Finsterwald's 77.
This is the day Gene Sarazen made: On April 7, 1935, he made a double eagle on the 15th hole, tied Craig Wood for first, then won in a playoff the next day. On April 7, 1998, the Jack Nicklaus plaque was dedicated; it is attached to the drinking fountain between the 16th and 17th holes.
Arnold Palmer shot a final-round 73 on April 6, 1958, but still won his first Masters by one stroke. On April 6, 1955, the Sarazen Bridge was dedicated; it’s the bridge that players cross up by the green on 15, the hole that Gene Sarazen double-eagled in his 1935 victory.
Amateur Ken Venturi led Round 1 of the Masters on April 5, 1956, with a 66, but by Sunday he shoots 80 to lose to Jack Burke Jr. by one stroke.
Byron Nelson went birdie-eagle on Nos. 12 and 13 on April 4, 1937, en route to a final-round 70 and two-shot victory over Ralph Guldahl. Lord Byron also won in 1942. On April 4, 1995, the Arnold Palmer Plaque behind the 16th tee was dedicated.
Craig Wood shot a 66 in the first round on April 3, 1941, to lead by five. He went on to lead wire to wire and win by three strokes over Byron Nelson.
After finishing as runner-up two years in a row, Ralph Guldahl won the sixth Masters by one shot over Sam Snead on April 2, 1939. Non-Masters notes: Born on this date were: Shane Lowry (1987), J.J. Henry (1975) and World Golf Hall of Fame member Ayako Okamoto (1951)
The 1928 U.S. Open champion, Johnny Farrell, was born on April 1, 1901, one year before Bobby Jones and Gene Sarazen. Farrell was a longtime head professional at Baltusrol Country Club in New Jersey, and won 22 PGA Tour events. He died in June 1988.
Tony Jacklin won the 1968 Greater Jacksonville Open on March 31 to become the first Englishman to win a modern U.S. pro tour event and an important event of any kind since Ted Ray won the 1920 U.S. Open.
The only time the Masters Tournament finished in March was the first year, 1934, on March 25. The Masters had two more March days, the first and second rounds in 1939 on the 30th and 31st. Otherwise, the tournament has always been held during the first two weeks of April.
The LPGA Tour’s ANA Inspiration, the year’s first major, is this weekend at Mission Hills in Rancho Mirage, Calif. For years known as the Dinah Shore with sponsors Colgate and Nabisco, the ANA was won on March 29, 1992, by Dottie Pepper (Mochrie at the time). Pepper, then 26, birdied the 18th hole to tie Juli Inkster, and then won on the first hole of sudden-death, No. 10, with a par-4 to Inkster’s bogey. Pepper, who had been runner-up in 1991, also won the tournament in 1999 when she set the tournament record of 19-under 269.
Five 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. The first of the five occasions was on March 28, 1965, when Dick Hart beat Phil Rodgers at the Azalea Open.
Two months shy of turning 48, Sam Snead won the 1960 De Soto Open Invitational on March 27. It was his 80th of 82 PGA Tour victories, still the most in tour history.
The all-time leader in PGA Tour victories, Sam Snead, had one of his 82 when he won the Greater Greensboro Open at Sedgefield Country Club in Greensboro, N.C., on March 26, 1950. He won the $2,000 first-place prize with rounds of 66-70-66-67—269.
One of the most historical “this day in golf” entries is for March 25, 1934. Horton Smith won the first Masters, shooting an even-par 72 in the final round, beating Craig Wood by a shot thanks to a 20-foot birdie putt on the par-5 17th. The nines were reversed in 1935, so in 1934 the 17th was actually the eighth hole we know it as today.
World Golf Hall of Famer Pat Bradley turns 66 on March 24. One of the greatest winners and mentally tough competitors in golf, Bradley won 31 LPGA Tour events from 1976 to 1995. Her six majors include the 1981 U.S. Women’s Open. Part of golf lore is that her mother would ring a cow bell from the family home in Massachusetts after each Pat victory. (See the Golf Writers from the Heart item on Bradley.)
Amateur champion golfer Dick Chapman was born on March 23, 1911. Not well remembered today, Chapman was an international star, not only winning the U.S. Amateur in 1940 but the British Amateur in 1951 plus the amateur titles of France, Canada and Italy. He played on three U.S. Walker Cup teams in 1947, 1951 and 1953. He died in 1978.
Eventual winner Horton Smith was a coleader with 70 on March 22, 1934, the first round of the inaugural Masters, called the Augusta National Invitation Tournament. Tournament and course creator and huge fan favorite Bobby Jones shot 76.
The first Players Championship held at the TPC Stadium Course concluded 35 years ago on March 21, 1982. Jerry Pate won by two shots with a final-round, five-under 67 and then christened the event during the award ceremony by tossing both Commissioner Deane Beman and course architect Pete Dye into the lake alongside the 18th hole and jumping in himself.
Jerry Pate dives into the 18th-hole lake with Dye and Beman already in it.
Cary Middlecoff won the Jacksonville (Fla.) Open at Hyde Park Golf Club in 1950. He shot a 69 the final day to win the $2,000 first-place money. The World Golf Hall of Fame member won at least one tour event for 10 straight years from 1947 to 1956, and won 36 events overall.