Don January won a playoff on this date in 1967 to take the PGA Championship at Columbine Country Club in Columbine Valley, Colorado, a suburb south of Denver. January defeated Don Massengale in an 18-hole playoff, 69-71.
The Open Championship ended on this date in 1989 in the first four-hole aggregate playoff ever contested for golf’s oldest major, held for the 118th time, at Royal Troon in Scotland. Mark Calcavecchia won over Wayne Grady and Greg Norman.
In a remarkable battle of titans, Seve Ballesteros won the Open Championship on this date in 1984 after making a birdie on the 18th hole, just ahead of Tom Watson, who made a disheartening bogey from the fairway on The Road Hole 17th. Some speculate the outcome contributed to Watson’s inability to win another major in his prime years.
On this date 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.
On this date in 1958, history was made for the PGA Championship and Dow Finsterwald. It was the first year the PGA was competed at stroke play after previously at match play. Finsterwald, a close friend of Arnold Palmer’s who was almost exactly the same age, won by two shots over Billy Casper at Llanerch Country Club in Havertown, Pennsylvania. It was also the first PGA played by Palmer and he tied for 40th.
On this date in 1981, The 110th Open Championship was won by Bill Rogers at Royal St. George's Golf Club in Sandwich, England. Rogers’ only major championship was won by four strokes over runner-up Bernhard Langer.
On this date in 1988, Seve Ballesteros won his third Open Championship, edging Nick Price by two at Royal Lytham and St. Annes. Seve shot 65 to beat the 54-hole leader Price. The championship was forced to finish on a Monday for the first time ever due to heavy rain on Saturday.
On this date in 1983, Tom Watson won his final major, his fifth Open Championship, at the age of 33. The victory came at Birkdale by one shot. Watson could have won the next year at St. Andrews but was edged out by Seve Ballesteros.
It’s been six years already since Australian Adam Scott, he of the picture-perfect swing, won the Masters for his first major victory. He is running out of prime years to win more. On this date he celebrates his 39th birthday. Flawless as a ball striker, Scott has been held back in his career with inconsistent putting. Perhaps the slower greens at the Open Championship this week will help him.
At age 21, Bobby Jones won his first of four U.S. Opens on this date in 1923 when he beat Bobby Cruickshank in a playoff, 76-78, at Inwood Country Club in New York.
On this date in 1973, Tom Weiskopf won his only major, the Open Championship, in a 12-under-par performance at Troon Golf Club, three ahead of Johnny Miller and four up on Jack Nicklaus.
On this date in 1937, Charles Coody was born in Stamford, Texas. The 6-foot-2 Texan won the 1971 Masters, winning while occasionally tugging on his socks, a nervous habit of his.
On this day in 1969, Tony Jacklin ended an 18-year drought by an English golfer when he won the Open Championship by two shots at Royal Lytham & St. Annes. Jacklin shot four under par to beat Bob Charles. of New Zealand.
The 35th U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship began on this date in 1960 in Honolulu, Hawaii, on the Ala Wai Golf Course, making it the first USGA championship played outside the continental U.S.
On this day in 1971, Lee Trevino won an exciting Open Championship, shooting 278, one shot better than Taiwan’s Lu Liang-Huan and two better than English favorite Tony Jacklin. Mr. Lu was a unique crowd favorite who doffed his hat constantly in recognition of the applause he received for a spirited run at Royal Birkdale in Southport, England. The victory gave Trevino both the U.S. and Open titles in the summer of 1971, just the sixth person in golf history to win both in the same year.
On this date in 1965, Australian great Peter Thomson won his fifth Open Championship, winning at Birkdale with a score of 285, two ahead of Brian Huggett and Christy O’Connor Sr.
On this date in 1933, Denny Shute won the Open Championship, at St. Andrews’ Old Course, winning a 36-hole playoff with fellow Yank Craig Wood by five shots.
On this date, English golf great Tony Jacklin turns three-quarters of a century, having been born in 1944. The World Golf Hall of Famer won two majors and was an influential figure in the Ryder Cup.
On this date in the 1931 U.S. Open, history was made when the longest playoff in championship history came to an end when Billy Burke won a playoff at Inverness. He and George Von Elm were tied after the then 36-hole playoff on July 5, and then played 36 more on this day. Burke barely won, 148-149. The 72 holes were the most playoff holes ever.
On this date in 1970, Donna Caponi won her second straight U.S. Women’s Open. Her 287 total of one-under-par overall was one better than two players at Muskogee Country Club in Oklahoma.