The 20th Senior PGA Championship finished on this date in 1959 at PGA National GC in Dunedin, Florida. The winner was Willie Goggin, using a borrowed set of woods, by one shot over three players, including major champions Paul Runyan and Denny Shute.
On this date in 2015, New Zealand’s Lydia Ko became the youngest male or female golfer to be ranked No. 1 in the world at age 17.
Two Hall of Fame golfers were born on this date two years apart: Curtis Strange, a two-time U.S. Open winner, in 1955 and Payne Stewart in 1957. Stewart also won two U.S. Opens and a PGA and notably passed away tragically in 1999 in a jet crash.
The oldest living major golf champion turns 98 today. Jack Burke Jr. was born on this date in 1923 in Fort Worth, Texas. Burke, cofounder of Champions Golf Club in Houston with Jimmy Demaret, won the Masters and PGA in 1956.
On this date in 1957, three-time major champion Nick Price was born in Durban, South Africa. A two-time PGA Championship winner, Price’s crowning moment was winning the 1994 Open Championship.
On this date in 1967, Arnold Palmer shot a 64 at Rancho Municipal, one of his best scores ever, in the second round of the Los Angles Open. He shot 67 and 68 the next two rounds to win and collect the $20,000 first-place prize money.
On this date in 1957, Arnold Palmer shot an 80 in the third round of the Thunderbird Invitational. It was a bad round surrounded by good ones. For the week he scored 71-69-80-68—288 and tied for 32nd and received a “whopping” $112.50.
This is the date that tradition says the St. Andrews Golf Club in Scotland in 1764 reduced the number of golf holes for a round from 22 to 18, which is the number today.
World Golf Hall of Fame member Masashi (Jumbo) Ozaki was born on this date in 1947 in the Kaifu District, Tokushima, Japan. He won a record 94 Japan Tour tournaments.
Yani Tseng was born on this date in 1989 in Taiwan. No one’s light burned as bright as hers early on. She was the youngest to win five majors, in July 2011, at age 22 and a half. In March 2012 she won her 15th LPGA Tour event but she hasn’t won one since.
On this date in 1984, Arnold Palmer won the 45th PGA Senior Ch. at Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. It was his second Senior PGA, done with one of the most unusual set of four rounds for a regular or senior event. His middle rounds had a 16-stroke variance: 63 to 79. The good news was that the 63 had put him in the lead by eight (the largest 36-hole lead in 1984 on the senior tour) and the 79 was shot on a blustery day with temperatures in the 40s and the majority of the players scoring high. The weather was gusty for the final round, too, but Palmer steadied himself to win by two over Don January. The 63 would be Palmer’s career low round in senior tour play. Palmer’s scores: 69-63-79-71—282, 1st, $35,000. PGA National/Champion Course (72, 6,520).
Jack Nicklaus, the man recognized as the greatest golfer in history, was born on this date in 1940 in Columbus, Ohio. Nicklaus won 18 major pro titles and two U.S. Amateurs.
One part of a brother tandem that won majors was born on this date in 1928. Lionel Hebert was born in Lafayette, Louisiana, the younger brother of Jay. Lionel won the 1957 PGA, the final time it was played at match play and three years before Jay won the same major. Lionel also played in the 1957 Ryder Cup.
One of the world’s young golf stars was born on this date in 1991. Tommy Fleetwood was born in Southport, England and at age 30 should be ready to make a major breakthrough. He was runner-up in the 2018 U.S. Open and played on that year’s European Ryder Cup team.
On this date in 1950, many newspaper editors were writing the headline "Sam Snead Spoils Storybook End for Ben Hogan" after Snead beat Hogan 72-76 in an 18-hole playoff to win the Los Angeles Open at par-71 Riviera. Hogan was attempting a comeback from his horrific car-bus highway accident in Texas in February 1949.
On this date in 1916, department store owner Rodman Wanamaker organized a lunch at the Martinique Hotel in New York City with interested parties who organized the PGA of America organization for professional golfers and club pros.
On this date in 1938, at Augusta Country Club, adjacent to Augusta National, the LPGA Titleholders Championship was won by Patty Berg by 14 strokes.
Y.E. Yang (Yang Yong-eun), the giant slayer in the 2009 PGA Championship at Hazeltine when he beat Tiger Woods for the title, was born in South Korea on this date in 1972.
On this date in 1971, Arnold Palmer shot a 72 in the Bing Crosby National Pro-Am, not a promising start to contend in a tournament he never won. However, he went 68-69 to get into contention for the final round. But a three-putt on Pebble Beach’s fifth hole hurt his cause and he finished two shots behind winner Tom Shaw’s 278 on January 17.
World Golf Hall of Fame member Mark O’Meara was born on this date in 1957 in Goldsboro, North Carolina. He won the 1979 U.S. Amateur and 1998 Masters and Open Championship.