It’s hard to celebrate being the oldest at something when society/the business world seems to hold an age bias against the experienced set among us. But this is a pretty good “old” honor: Doug Ford turns 95 today; he ranks as the oldest living winner of a major championship. Ford, the winner of the 1955 PGA and 1957 Masters, is nearly six months older than the next oldest, Jack Burke, the 1956 Masters and PGA champion. Many happy returns to them both.
World Golf Hall of Fame member Chick Evans was one of the greatest amateurs in history, never more-so than in his adopted home of Chicago. He won the Chicago City Amateur four times, the first in 1907 as a teenager, and the last on this date in 1944 when he was 54 years old! On the national stage, he was the first player to win the U.S. Open and U.S. Amateur in the same year, 1916.
“Lighthorse” Harry Cooper was born on this date in 1904 in Leatherhead, England. You may have heard him mentioned as one of the alltime “greatest players to never win a major.” That is true, but in his day, he won 31 tour events, including two Los Angeles opens, two Canadian opens, and the Western Open, all three of which were near major status. He was good enough to be elected to the World Golf Hall of Fame.
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.
The second PGA Championship to be played at stroke play ended on this date in 1959. Bob Rosburg scorched Minneapolis Golf Club with a final-round 66, allowing him a one-shot victory over Doug Sanders and Jerry Barber, who would win the title two years later.
On this date in 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.
Two days ago, Paul Runyan’s PGA victories were noted. Today’s date celebrates another compact player, Jerry Barber, a short hitter who played with great accuracy. In the 1961 PGA’s final round at Olympia Fields, Barber one-putted the last three holes from 20, 40 and 60 feet to get into a playoff with Don January. On this date, he won an 18-hole playoff, 67 to 68. Barber had one last moment of golfing notoriety. At the 1994 Buick Invitational, he set the record for being the oldest to play a tour event at age 77 years 10 months 9 days.
In just the second U.S. Junior Amateur, in 1949, Gay Brewer, a future Masters champion, beat future tour player Mason Rudolph, 6 and 4, on this date to win the title at Congressional Country Club. Rudolph made the Junior final the next year and this time won, 2 and 1, over Charles Beville.
The amazing Paul Runyan won the 1934 PGA Championship on this date at Park Club of Buffalo in Williamsville, N.Y. He beat Craig Wood in 38 thrilling holes. The diminutive Runyan was a wizard around the greens and got up and down for a par to win. He would win in 1938 against another taller opponent, Sam Snead, but this time it was a rout, 8 and 7.
In Arnold Palmer’s first full season on tour, 1955, he entered 30 events, won the Canadian Open, earned $7,958 and had a 70.99 scoring average. In 1956, he entered one event less and had a higher average at 71.14, but he doubled his victories, winning the Insurance City Open in a playoff and the Eastern Open. For the latter, he shot 70-66 the first two days, and on this date for Round 3, took total control with a 69. A final-round 72 was good enough to win the $3,800 top prize.
Hall-of-Famer Betsy Rawls won eight major titles, the last coming on this date in 1969 at the LPGA Championship held at Concord Championship Golf Club in Kiameshia Lake, N.Y. Rawls, 41, finished one over par, but that was four strokes better than the runners-up, Carol Mann and Susie Berning.
Sentimentality was rained out on this date in 1987 at the U.S. Women’s Open played at Plainfield (N.J.) Country Club. The final round was scheduled to end on the 26th, but play was postponed into Monday the 27th with JoAnne Carner, a huge fan favorite, bidding for victory in the twilight of her magnificent career. When the final round ended, Carner, England’s Laura Davies and Ayako Okamoto of Japan all tied at 285, forcing a Tuesday playoff, which Davies won with 71 to Okamoto’s 73 and Carner’s 74.
For someone noted for being the first millionaire in PGA Tour history, Arnold Palmer didn't play in the big money era and thus won money in what today would be thought of as dribs and drabs. Just a couple years before his final tour victory in 1973, however, he won a substantial amount for his day. On this date in 1971, Palmer shot a 68 and won the Westchester Classic and what then was being touted as a mammoth amount of money: $50,000. Arnie shot rounds of 64-70–68–68—270.
Jordan Spieth added more than a page of Open Championship lore in winning the tournament yesterday at Birkdale. It was more like a chapter with his epic comeback. Doug Sanders is part of Open lore, but not for a Spieth-like ending. Sanders was born on this date in 1933. He had strong success on the PGA Tour with 20 victories, but he never won a major despite finishing fourth or better in all four majors. He is forever linked to the 1970 Open Championship at St. Andrews, where he missed a short putt to win on the final hole, then lost an 18-hole playoff to Jack Nicklaus the following day.
The 1989 Open ended on this date, with Mark Calcavecchia winning a four-hole playoff over a pair of Australians, Greg Norman and Wayne Grady, at Troon. "Calc" played the four holes in 2 under par, Grady 1 over and Norman was given an "X". Other Sunday Open finishes on July 23 include 1995, 2000 and 2006.
The Open Championship of 1984 ended on this date and I recall it with mixed emotions. I was on the eve of celebrating my first wedding anniversary, and my bride and I were in Mystic, Conn., to have a getaway. The weather was lousy, so we stayed in our hotel room to watch the final round, and I recall the disappointment I had in seeing five-time champion Tom Watson miss early opportunities to take control and then come to ruin on the Road Hole to finish runner-up to Seve Ballesteros, who made a birdie on 18 and struck his iconic celebratory pose. Hard to believe 33 years have passed. Other July 22 Open Sundays include 1990, 2001, 2007 and 2012.
The lore of Seve Ballesteros and the Open Championship began with his runner-up finish to Johnny Miller in 1976 at Royal Birkdale, but his first victory came on this date in 1979. Tom Watson and Jack Nicklaus had just won in 1977 and 1978, respectively, but Ballesteros was in command at Royal Lytham and St. Annes. He was the only player to finish under par for 72 holes, at one under, and he finished three ahead of runners-up Nicklaus and Ben Crenshaw. Seve would win twice more, in 1984 and 1988. Other July 21 Open Sundays include 1985, 1991, 1996, 2002 and 2013.
On this date in 1980, Tom Watson won his third of five Open victories, this one at Muirfield. The performance was one of Watson's finest in his career. He had rounds of 68-70-64-69--271. The only players closer than nine strokes to him at the end were Lee Trevino (four back) and Ben Crenshaw (six). This was the first Open Championship to play single rounds Thursday through Sunday; previously The Open never finished on a Sunday.
On this date in 1981, The Open was won by a golfer who took advantage of his career window of best play to win a major. Bill Rogers won six tour events from 1978 to 1983, the nucleus of his career. At Royal St. George's, he finished at four under par, and won by four over Bernhard Langer. A month later, Rogers won the World Series of Golf. Other July 19 Open Sundays were in 1987, 1992, 1998, 2009.
It's time for The Open! Let's celebrate the next several days with Open history. Today is three-time champion Nick Faldo's 60th birthday. His first Open victory was 30 years ago at Muirfield. The third round was played on his birthday in 1987 and he shot par 71 to enter the final round one shot back of Paul Azinger. In Round 4, Faldo made 18 pars for another 71 and edged 'Zinger by a shot after he faltered down the stretch and scored 73. Faldo also won in 1990 and 1992.