On this date in 1997, Arnold Palmer took the next step to treating his prostate cancer. With a Carlsbad, California dateline, the Associated Press reported: “Arnold Palmer piloted his private plane to Minnesota [Sunday] and will enter the Mayo Clinic for tests to determine a course of treatment for prostate cancer. Palmer, 67, found out that a biopsy indicated he had cancer. He left the La Costa Resort and Spa [Friday], where he was attending the PGA Tour awards dinner at the Mercedes Championship and returned to his Florida home on Saturday. "His mood is good but he is subdued from his normal demeanor," Doc Giffin, Palmer's spokesman and longtime confidant, said yesterday from Latrobe, Pa. "He feels fine. There is nothing bothering him physically." Giffin said Palmer, an avid pilot, was flying himself to the renowned clinic in Rochester, Minn., and assumed tests would begin today. Palmer was told of the biopsy report Friday.

World Golf Hall of Fame member Ben Crenshaw was born on this date in 1952 in Austin, Texas. His main achievements were two Masters titles in 1984 and 1995 and captain of the miraculous U.S. Ryder Cup team that won in 1999.

One of golf history’s lone major winners, Bob Hamilton, was born on this date in Evansville, Indiana, in 1916. That is the same year the PGA Championship was played for the first time, a major Hamilton won in 1944.

Sergio Garcia, the 2017 Masters Tournament winner, was born on this date in 1980 in Borriol, Castellón.

On this date in 1962, Phil Rodgers won the Los Angeles Open by nine shots with a score of 268 at Rancho Municipal but most notable was the debut of Jack Nicklaus in a pro tour event. He won a tidy $33.33 on a score of 289 and tie for 50th. Nicklaus thereafter loved to tell how he and two others, Billy Maxwell and Don Massengale, tied and had to share $100. He got $33.33 and always wondered who got the extra penny. It was Nicklaus and Massengale who each got $33.33; the $33.34 went to Maxwell.

On this date in 1938, Lou Graham, the 1975 U.S. Open champion at Medinah over John Mahaffey, was born in Nashville, Tennessee.

This is the 100th anniversary of Cary Middecoff’s birth on this date Halls, Tennessee, northeast of Memphis. “Doc” Middlecoff trained to be a dentist but left his practice to play golf professionally. He won three majors, the 1949 and 1956 U.S. Open and 1955 Masters. A notoriously slow player, he was faster in his post-pro career in doing TV work and consulting for Golf Digest.

Shaun Micheel won one PGA Tour event, but it was the 2003 PGA Championship, a major. He was born on January 5, 1969, in Orlando, Florida.

One-time major winner and 13-time PGA Tour winner David Toms was born on this date in 1967 in Monroe, Louisiana. Toms won the 2001 PGA and won the 2018 U.S. Senior Open.

On this date in 1981, Johnny Miller won golf’s first-ever 1-million dollar tournament in a playoff with Seve Ballesteros. It was known as the Million Dollar World Challenge at Sun City, South Africa.

One of America’s finest amateur golfers ever, Marvin (Bud) Ward, winner of the 1939 and 1941 U.S. Amateur, died on this date in 1968 at age 54.

One of golf history’s many one-hit wonders, Paul Lawrie, was born on this date in 1969 in Aberdeen, Scotland. Lawrie won the 1999 Open Championship and played in the 2012 Ryder Cup.

Six-time PGA Tour winner and 10-time winner on the Champions Tour, Bob Gilder was born on this date in 1950 in Corvallis, Oregon.

Time marches on for Tiger Woods. He was born on this date in 1975 in Cypress, California, making the winner of 15 majors turning 45 years old.

The great American course architect Pete Dye, who was one of the notable golf deaths in 2020 on January 9, was born on this date in 1925 in Urbana, Ohio. The TPC Stadium Course in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, is likely his most well known design.

Johnny Goodman, the last amateur to win one of the men’s four majors, was born on this date in 1909 in Omaha, Nebraska. Goodman won the 1933 U.S. Open and also won the 1937 U.S. Amateur.

One of the finest golfer/gentlemen in the game was born on this date in 1933. Dave Marr was born in Houston and had a proficient golf career that included winning the 1965 PGA, captaining the U.S. Ryder Cup team to victory in 1981 and becoming one of the finest — if not the finest — TV golf analysts, mainly working for ABC alongside Jim McKay.

For a second straight day, the history note is a golfer’s passing. On this date in 1916 , Scotsman Willie Smith, the winner of the 1899 U.S. Open, died at age 40 of pneumonia in Mexico City.

There are some dates in golf history that will forever be known for a certain event. An example is St. Patrick’s Day is forever marked as Bobby Jones’ birthday in 1902. Then there’s Christmas Day, which will always be known as the day Young Tom Morris died at just age 24 in 1875, having won four Open championships.

One of the least likely major champions in golf died on this date in 2003 at age 89. Herman Keiser won the 1946 Masters by one shot over Ben Hogan. Keiser won five times on tour, but was not seen as capable of winning a major, but he held off the immortal Hogan in one of golf’s major upsets of all-time.