This week marks the return of the PGA Tour, with the usual first event of January, the Sentry Tournament of Champions, in Hawaii. But there was a time when the Los Angeles Open led things off. On this date in 1959, for instance, the first round of the L.A. Open was played. It was the fourth time Arnold Palmer had played L.A., and he would win there in 1963. In '59, he shot 72 and would tie for ninth. Two-time U.S. Amateur champion Marvin (Bud) Ward (in 1939 and 1941) died on this date in 1968 at age 54 after a cancer illness.
Happy New Year! May your golf game be a source of pleasure in 2024. On this date in 1938, the 14-club limit imposed by the Rules of Golf became effective. Up until then, players carried as many as they wanted. Caddies heaved a sigh of relief with their lighter loads. Also, Jerilyn Britz, the winner of the 1979 U.S. Women's Open, was born on this day in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in 1943.
PGA and Champions Tour golfer Bob Gilder was born on this date in 1950 in Corvallis, Oregon. Gilder attended Arizona State and won six PGA Tour events. Also, the stymie rule officially died on this date in 1951. The rule called for balls to be played as they came to rest on the green; you couldn't mark the ball and pick it up. That meant that if a golfer's ball stopped between the hole and another player's ball, that player had "laid a stymie" and the "stymied" golfer had to putt around the ball or in some instances tried to chip over the ball to hole out. To see an example, there is old newsreel video on online search engines of Paul Runyan chipping over a stymie successfully on the green in his 1938 PGA Championship victory over Sam Snead.
One of a handful of golfers considered the GOAT of the game, Eldrick Tont (Tiger) Woods was born on this date in 1975 in Cypress, California. At age 48, his ability to win has been diminished due to severe injuries but his presence as an elder statesman has remained strong in the invasion of Saudi Arabian-funded LIV Golf as a rival to the other established major world tours.
Renowned golf course architect Pete Dye was born on this date in 1925 in Urbana, Ohio. Among his most notable designs is the Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, venue for the annual Players Championship. The course’s main feature is the island green at the par-3 17th. He died on January 9, 2020, at age 94.
German golf star Martin Kaymer was born on this date in 1984. The one-time No. 1 golfer in the world has won two majors: the 2010 PGA Championship and 2014 U.S. Open.
American golf professional Charley Hoffman is more of a journeyman nowadays on the PGA Tour at age 47. He was born on this date in 1976. The San Diego native has four PGA Tour victories and two top-10s in majors. His highest world ranking was 20th.
On this date in 1993, the Senior PGA Tour, repped by Raymond Floyd, Jack Nicklaus and Chi Chi Rodriguez, won the Wendy’s Three-Tour Challenge at Colleton RIver Plantation at Hilton Head Island, S.C., shooting 11 under par.
This date in golf history will always be observed primarily as the day Young Tom Morris died in 1875 at just age 24. A four-time winner of the Open Championship by then, four months before he died his wife and newborn son had died while she was giving birth. Young Tom was distraught and is commonly believed to have died of a broken heart but in medical chat it was listed as a pulmonary hemorrhage.
Margaret Curtis passed away on this date in 1965. She and sister Harriot were not only excellent players but were very charity minded. They were the ones to donate the cup that is played for in the Curtis Cup biennial competition between women amateurs from the U.S. and Great Britain & Ireland. In 2024 it will be held at Sunningdale in England, August 30 and September 1.
Herman Barron was born on this date in 1909, in Port Chester, New York. He was a club pro at the Fenway Club in Westchester County, New York, and taught for many years but he was successful as a pro player as well. He won the 1963 PGA Seniors Championship and his victory in the 1942 Western Open is credited as the first time a Jewish golfer won a PGA tour event.
In a meeting in New York on this date in 1894, the U.S. Golf Association was born with five charter member clubs.
On this date in 1996, the Lexus Challenge ended at LaQuinta Resort, with Hale Irwin and actor Sean Connery winning at 21 under par. Arnold Palmer and actor Chris O’Donnell shot 68-64—132, to tie for 8th in the team event.
On this date in 1954, Arnold Palmer married Winifred Walzer in Virginia. She was the woman he’d met on a Monday and proposed to on a Friday in September 1954, within a couple weeks of winning the U.S. Amateur, and would be the mother of his two daughters.
On this date in 1976, the Pepsi-Cola Mixed Team Championship ended at Doral in Miami, Florida. The winners were JoAnn Washam & Chi Chi Rodriguez with 275. Tied for seventh were Arnold and Sandra Palmer, not related, with scores of 73-73-67-71—284. The format had the team members tee off from corresponding tees for their normal course length, pick the drive they wanted for best strategy, then play alternate shot from there.
On this date in 1983, Arnold Palmer and Laura Baugh Cole shot a final-round 71 at Monte Carlo Country Club in Fort Pierce, Florida, for a four-round total of 281 and tie for sixth place behind the winners Bobby Clampett and Betsy King at the World Mixed Championship, Dec. 15-18. Arnie and Laura had 145-65-71—281 .
The third James Bond movie, “Goldfinger,” premiered on this date in 1964 in London. Starring Sean Connery as the secret agent Bond, the movie has a memorable golf scene between Bond and the villain Auric Goldfinger, in which Bond memorably foils Goldfinger and his caddie, Oddjob, from trying to cheat with some duplicity of his own. Also a lasting impression: Bond caddie Hawker uttering about Goldfinger’s “found” ball in the rough, “If that’s his original ball I’m Arnold Palmer.”
Tied in with the 26th PNC Championship this weekend, on this date in 2012, Arnold Palmer played for the final time in a PGA Tour-associated event when he and grandson Will Wears shot a second-round 76 for 156 to finish 18th in the PNC Father-Son Challenge at Grande Lakes Resort/Ritz-Carlton Golf Club (72, 7,023), in Orlando, Florida. It was his only tour-related event in 2012 and brought to an end a pro career that began in December 1954 with the Miami Open. The PNC winners were Davis Love III-Dru Love, 60-61—121.
On this date in 1949, Julius Boros turned professional and went on to compile a hall-of-fame career winning two U.S. Opens and a PGA Championship.
On this date in 1975, Jane Blalock won the LPGA Colgate Triple Crown at Mission Hills Country Club in Palm Springs, California, taking home $15,000.