Of the many Masters that concluded on this date, the most memorable was in Arnold Palmer’s sensational 1960 season when he won the 24th Masters at Augusta National Golf Club. He birdied the final two holes to win by one shot over Ken Venturi. On this date in 1949, Sam Snead shot a second-straight 67 to win the Masters by three shots over Johnny Bulla and Lloyd Mangrum. This was also the day the green jacket was awarded for the first time in Masters history.
Of the many Masters to finish on this date, a few standouts are Arnold Palmer’s playoff victory in 1962 at the 26th Masters when he won his third of four and Jack Nicklaus’ fourth of six victories in 1972. Jack finished three shots in front of Tom Weiskopf, Bruce Crampton, and Bobby Mitchell. On this date in 1950, Jimmy Demaret shot a 69 while Jim Ferrier fell back with 75 and Demaret became the first three-time Masters winner with a score of 283. Demaret was six under par on the par-5 13th for the week but was one over par for the rest of the course. Of special note, Spanish legend Seve Ballesteros was born on this date in 1957 and would win two Masters, in 1980 and 1983. He died on May 7, 2011.
On this date in 1935, Gene Sarazen, who had made his famous double eagle on 15 the day before, won a 36-hole playoff with Craig Wood to be crowned the 2nd Masters winner. Sarazen shot even-par 144 to Wood’s 149. On this date in 2010, Jack Nicklaus joined Arnold Palmer for the first time on No. 1 tee at 7:41 a.m. as Masters Honorary Starters. And in 2014 on this date, Arnie was with the Big Three group to tee off for the penultimate time as an Honorary Starter with Jack and Gary.
On this date in 1940, Jimmy Demaret shot a 71 to comfortably win the Masters by four shots over Lloyd Mangrum. It was Demaret’s second Masters played and his first of three victories. Also, in one of the biggest shockers in Masters history, the 10th playing was won on this date in 1946 by Herman Keiser by one shot over legendary Ben Hogan. On this date in 1960, in what would be a magical Masters for him, Arnold Palmer shot a first-round 67. And in 1983, Arnie roused his fans with first-round 68 at the 47th Masters but finished 74-76-78 for T-36.
Of the many Masters that ended on this date, the one in 1936 was only the third playing but it gave the tournament its first two-time winner with Horton Smith, who had won the first Masters in 1934. Smith was a shot ahead of Harry Cooper, with defending champion Gene Sarazen third. And on this date in 1978, John Schlee was a surprise first-round leader in the Masters with a 68, over a surprise second-place player Joe Inman, who had 69. But by the end, more familiar names Tom Watson, Hubert Green, Rod Funseth and the winner Gary Player were the top contenders. Player shot 64 to beat the other three by one shot.
On this date in 1948, Arnold Palmer shot a 67 in a college match to beat Michigan. In 1959, Arnie finished third in the Masters. And on this date in 2007, Arnold smacked his first tee shot as Masters Honorary Starter. On this date in 1956, amateur Ken Venturi shot a six-under-par 66 to take a one-shot lead over Cary Middlecoff in the Masters Tournament. A few days later he entered the final round in position to be the first amateur winner but skied to 80 and lost by one shot to Jack Burke Jr.
On this date in 1937, Byron Nelson shot a 70 for a 283 total to win the fourth Masters Tournament by two shots over Ralph Guldahl. Nelson famously made up six shots on Guldahl at Amen Corner, Nelson had 2-3—birdie/eagle—on Nos. 12 and 13 compared with Guldahl’s 5-6 to take command. On this date in 1995, Arnold Palmer Day ceremony was held at Augusta National. The club dedicated a water fountain behind the 16th tee in his honor.
On this date in 1947, Bob Jones shot a 75 in the first round of the Masters Tournament. It was his second-to-last year to play the tournament he started. He finished tied for 55th that year and played the Masters for the final time in 1948. In the Chevron Ch. finish on this date in 1983 when it was called the Nabisco Dinah Shore, Amy Alcott won by two shots over Beth Daniel and Kathy Whitworth at Mission Hills. This was the first year the event was considered a major championship.
On this date in 1939, Ralph Guldahl won the sixth Masters Tournament by one shot over Sam Snead after shooting 70 and 69 in a 36-hole final day due to a Thursday rainout. Guldahl had an overall nine-under score of 279 and stopped a two-year streak of finishing second. With the Dinah Shore, aka ANA Inspiration, aka Chevron Ch. usuallu being played this week, among tournament history moments was Juli Inkster winning the then named Nabisco Dinah Shore in 1989 at Mission Hills C.C. She won by five shots in a wire-to-wire victory.
On this date in 1990, it was no fooling when Jack Nicklaus won his first senior tour event at The Tradition at Desert Mountain, one of his course designs. Nicklaus won by four shots over Gary Player. Born on this date in 1901, one year before Gene Sarazen and Bobby Jones, was Johnny Farrell in White Plains, New York. Farrell was an underappreciated player in the Jones-Sarazen years, winning the 1928 U.S. Open during their reign. Farrell won more than 20 tour events but established himself as a premier club pro, prominently at Baltusrol in New Jersey. And on this date in 2001, Arnold Palmer finished T-11 with partner Jack Nicklaus in the Legends of Golf.
On this date in 1957, Arnold Palmer won the Azalea Open, but in 1958, during a playoff loss to Howie Johnson at the Azalea, A.P. called a penalty on himself on the 14th when the ball moved while he was preparing to putt. And in 1985, Arnold played 72 holes at Players Ch. for final time; shooting a nine-over 297, T-69. Of special birthday significance, World Golf Hall of Famer Tommy Bolt was born in Haworth, Oklahoma, on this date in 1916, and three-time U.S. Senior Open champion Miller Barber was born on March 31, 1931, in Shreveport, Louisiana. Each had a pair of unique nicknames; Bolt was Terrible Tempered Tommy and Thunder Bolt and Barber was known as Precious and the Mysterious Mr. X. On this date in 1996, Fred Couples had a final-round 64 to win the Players Championship for the second time, four shots in front of Tommy Tolles and Colin Montgomerie.
On this date in 1957, Arnold Palmer shot a 70 in the third round of the Azalea Open and went on to win the following day with a score of 282 to pick up first place and $1,700. And on this date in 1997, the Nabisco Dinah Shore Women's Golf major was won at Mission Hills C.C. by 41-year old Betsy King, a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame. She won it for the third time, this time by two shots over Kris Tschetter and Amy Fruhwirth.
On this date in 1968, Arnold Palmer shot a second-round 65 at Gr. Jacksonville Open, and would finish T-7. On this date in 1992, Dottie Mochrie, aka Dottie Pepper, won the Nabisco Dinah Shore at Rancho Mirage, California, after a sudden-death playoff with Juli Inkster. They had tied at 279, nine-under par. Dottie defeated Inkster on the first hole with a par.
There have been six eight-hole, sudden-death playoffs in PGA Tour history, the most number of holes played to produce a winner. (Cary Middlecoff and Lloyd Mangrum played 11 in the 1949 Motor City Open but they were declared co-winners due to darkness.) On this date in 1965, the first eight-hole playoff was held when Dick Hart defeated Phil Rodgers at the Azalea Open at Cape Fear C.C. in Wilmington, North Carolina. Also on this date in 1993, Nick Price won The Players Championship with a score of 270 and a five-shot victory over Bernhard Langer.
On this date in 1990, Arnold Palmer went to Washington, D.C., to speak to a bipartisan joint meeting of House and Senate on Dwight D. Eisenhower’s 100th birthday. On this date in 1994, Greg Norman finished off a record score of 264, 24 under par, to win the Players Championship by four shots over Fuzzy Zoeller at the Stadium Course in Ponte Vedra Beach. On this day in 1968, the PGA announced that the United States team to compete in the World Cup would be made up of the champions at the U.S. Open and PGA Championship, if American, of course.
On this date in 1954, Arnold Palmer shot a first-round 65 at the Azalea Open for his first-ever lead on tour, and he was still an amateur. On March 26, 2001, Arnie shot a 71 to Jack Nicklaus’ 75 in Shell’s Wonderful World of Golf match at The King/The Bear Course. On this date in 1951, the one-year-old LPGA Tour saw Patty Berg win the Sandhills Women’s Open at Southern Pines Country Club in Pinehurst, North Carolina. Berg shot 221 to win by 10 shots over Babe Zaharias and take home the $750 first prize out of a total prize pot of $3,000. Also, one of the more obscure LPGA major champions won her only major and only tour event on this date in 1995 when Nanci Bowen won the Nabisco Dinah Shore at Mission Hills CC by one shot over Susie Redman.
On this date in 1934, the first Masters concluded, with the then title Augusta National Invitation Tournament. Horton Smith was the winner when he birdied the 17th hole to win by one shot over Craig Wood. The hole is actually the present eighth; the nines were switched the following year so the back nine became the front and front became the back.
On this date in 1951 , the World Golf Hall of Fame member Pat Bradley was born in Westford, Massachusetts. The affable Bradley was also a tenacious competitor. Her nephew is Keegan Bradley, the 2011 PGA Championship winner and upcoming U.S. Ryder Cup captain. Among her six majors won was the 1981 U.S. Women’s Open. On this date in 1991, Arnold Palmer shot a final-round 72 at the Vintage Arco Inv., finishing T-27.
On this date in 1958, Arnold Palmer won the St. Petersburg Open, March 20-23, with scores and first-place money of 70-69-72-65—276, 1st, $2,000. On this date in 1981, Raymond Floyd won the Players Championship (The TPC) at Sawgrass Country Club, beating Curtis Strange and Barry Jaeckel on the first hole of a sudden-death playoff. The tournament finished on a Monday due to rain.
On this date in 1934, the golf world changed substantially. Bobby Jones’ golf tournament, to be known as the Masters, played its first round in its inaugural playing and it was led by Jimmy Hines and Horton Smith with 70s. Smith would go on to win by one shot over Craig Wood. On this date in 1964 Carol Mann won the LPGA Western Open at Scenic Hills C.C. in Pensacola, Florida, a two-shot victory over Ruth Jessen and Judy Kimball. On this date in 1965, Arnold Palmer lost 67-68 to Gary Player in an exhibition match at Lake Region G.Cse.