On this date in 1975, Kathy Whitworth won the LPGA Championship at Pine Ridge Golf Club, by one shot over Sandra Haynie. It was Whitworth’s third LPGA.
On this date in 1930, Bobby Jones won the Open Amateur (British) to take the first step in winning his fabled Grand Slam. He won at St. Andrews in a 7 & 6 victory against England’s Roger Wethered.
The 1937 PGA Championship ended on this date at the Pittsburgh Field Club. The defending champion Denny Shute won over Harold (Jug) McSpaden in 37 holes.
On this date in 2011, Tom Watson won the Senior PGA Championship, at Valhalla Golf Club, for the second time. It was his sixth and final senior major victory.
Julius Boros, the man whose record as the oldest winner of a major was just broken by Phil Mickelson, died on this date in 1994 of a heart attack at age 74. Boros had won three majors, the 1952 and 1963 U.S. Open and the 1968 PGA when he was age 48-plus.
Phil Mickelson’s major victory Sunday notwithstanding, the greatest “old golfer” in history was born on this date in 1912. Sam Snead, winner of seven majors, was born in Ashwood, Virginia. He died in 2002, just six days shy of 90 years old.
On this date in 2013, Koki Idoki won the Senior PGA Championship at Bellerive Country Club near St. Louis by two strokes over Jay Haas and Kenny Perry.
On this date in 1948, the great Ben Hogan won the PGA Championship at Norwood Hills C.C. by a dominate 7-and-6 victory over Mike Turnesa.
Two UK stars of yesteryear died on this date, May 24. Old Tom Morris, four-time Open champion and iconic St. Andrews figure, died in 1908 at age 86. And Englishman Jim Barnes died in 1966 at 80. He won four majors, including the first PGA in 1916, and like Morris is a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame.
With Phil Mickelson trying to make age history today at the PGA, the greatest “old” player, Sam Snead, died on this date in 2002, four days short of his 90th birthday. Some of his age records include oldest player to be credited with winning a PGA Tour event at age 52 years, 10 months, 8 days at the 1965 Greater Greensboro Open and oldest player to make the cut at a major at age 67 years, 2 months, 7 days at the 1979 PGA Championship. Mickelson will be 51 on June 16.
Horton Smith, winner of the first Masters in 1934 and the third, was born on this date in 1908 in Springfield, Missouri. Smith also served as PGA of America president, 1952-1954, and developed a reputation as a great instructor, writing one of the best putting books “The Secret of Holing Putts!” and contributing articles to Golf Digest.
The first Curtis Cup Match between women amateur teams from the U.S. and Great Britain was held on this date in 1932 at Wentworth Golf Club’s East Course, in Surrey, England. Just a one-day event, the highlight was seeing each side’s star go against the other: Glenna Collett Vare for the U.S. and Joyce Wethered for G.B. The Americans won overall, 5.5 to 3.5, but in the marquee matches, Wethered beat Vare, 6 and 4, in singles, but Vare and partner Opal Hill beat Wethered and Wanda Morgan, 1 up, in Foursomes.
The 37th Open Championship ended on this date in 1897 with English amateur Harold Hilton winning for the second time, by one shot over Scotland’s James Braid, at Royal Liverpool Golf Club.
Brooks Koepka stumbled home with five bogeys in the last eight holes but still won the 2019 PGA Championship on this date on the Black Course at Bethpage State Park, by two shots over Dustin Johnson.
This week the men’s PGA Championship is being played at Kiawah Island. But the women’s LPGA was played in May during its history as well. On this date in 1997, Chris Johnson won over Leta Lindley at DuPont C.C. on the second hole of a sudden-death playoff.
Se Ri Pak, at just 20 years old, was a wire-to-wire winner on this date of the 1998 LPGA Championship at DuPont Country club. She finished three shots in front of Donna Andrews and Lisa Hackney.
On this date in 2019, the first round of the 101st PGA was played on the Black Course at Bethpage State Park on Long Island with Brooks Koepka shooting a 7-under-par 63 to lead by one shot. The 63 tied the championship record.
Ken Venturi, the miracle man who survived brutal heat in 1964 to win the U.S. Open, and who then went on to have a long career as a TV golf analyst, was born on this date in 1931 in San Francisco.
A pair of major champions died on this date nine years apart. In 2009, 1959 PGA champion Bob Rosburg, also well known for his TV work, died at age 82. In 2018, Doug Ford died at age 95, at the time the oldest former major champion in the world. He won the 1955 PGA and 1957 Masters. As the latter, he had the honor of putting the green jacket on Arnold Palmer for his first of four Masters titles.
Gene Sarazen, who had seen all the great golfers from Harry Vardon to Tiger Woods, died on this date in 1999 at age 97 in Naples, Florida. Sarazen was the first golfer to win the career Grand Slam.