Rory McIlroy, Bob Tway and Betsy Rawls were all born on this date. McIlroy, the recent Masters Tournament winner and career Grand Slam achiever, was born in 1989. Tway, who won the 1986 PGA, was born 30 years earlier in 1959. And Rawls was born in 1928 in Spartanburg, South Carolina. The World Golf Hall of Fame member, who won four U.S. Women’s Opens, died October 21, 2023.
On this date in 1964, Pete Brown won the Waco Turner Open in Burneyville, Oklahoma, one of the first African-American victories of a PGA Tour event. Also on this date in 1903, the great entertainer and golf promoter Bing Crosby was born in Tacoma, Washington. Mainly noted for his singing and acting, in golf circles Crosby was a fine player who made the celebrity pro-am famous, on the Monterey Peninsula , and his ambassadorship as a golf promoter earned him a spot in the World Golf Hall of Fame.
On this date in 1960, Arnold Palmer appeared as Time Magazine’s five-page cover story subject. On May 2, 1965, Palmer won the Tournament of Champions. On this date in 1982, Beth Daniel won the Birmingham Classic on the LPGA Tour at 13 under par, four ahead of Patty Sheehan. And on this date in 1965, Marilynn Smith made a 22-foot eagle putt on No. 17 to finish off winning the 13th Annual Betsy Rawls Peach Blossom Open at Spartanburg (S.C.) Country Club for a one-stroke victory over Rawls. Smith had three straight one-under-par 71s in winning the $1,275 top prize. In third place at 216 was Mickey Wright.
Arnold Palmer shot some low scores on May 1. In 1958 it was a first-round 65 in the Colonial Nat’l Inv., and he would finish T-12. In 1970 it was a first-round 66 at the Byron Nelson Cl. In 1972, it was a final-round 68 at the Nelson to finish 6th. And in 1977, Palmer shot a final-round 67 at the Houston Open, finishing T-17. On this date in 1955, golf (and sport) legend Babe Didrikson-Zaharias won the Peach Blossom LPGA Tournament in Spartanburg, S.C., by two shots over Marilynn Smith. It was the Babe’s final LPGA victory before her death in 1956.
During the height of Arnold Palmer at his greatest playing power, he shot a 68 on this date in 1961 to win the Texas Open. Arnie had begun play in the tournament on April 27 and shot 67. He scored 63 in Round 2 before a letdown in Round 3 with 72. His prize for winning was $4,300. Also, one of the great championships of the LPGA from yesteryear ended its playing also on this date in 1961 when Mickey Wright won the Titleholders Championship at Augusta Country Club by one shot over fellow legends Patty Berg and Louise Suggs.
World Golf Hall of Fame member and two-time major champion and former NBC TV-golf analyst Johnny Miller was born in San Francisco on this date in 1947. Known for his hot streaks in winning tournaments in the West, Miller won the 1973 U.S. Open with his legendary final-round 63 at Oakmont, and the 1976 Open Championship at Royal Birkdale.
On this date in 1929, the U.S. was beat 5.5 to 2.5 in eight singles matches on Day 2 of the 2nd Ryder Cup. It was played at Moortown Golf Club in Leeds, England. Walter Hagen captained the American team and played in it, but the match-play legend was trounced, 10 and 8, by George Duncan. Great Britain won by a final score of 7-5. And Jim Thorpe, an African-American star who made his mark before the arrival of Tiger Woods, won the Senior Tradition on this date in 2002 at Superstition Mountain Golf & Country Club. It was Thorpe’s only major victory and he got it in a playoff with John Jacobs, making a birdie on the first extra hole.
Following a 9.5 to 2.5 American victory in the 1st Ryder Cup in 1927, the second finished on this date in 1929 with Great Britain winning 7-5 at Moortown Golf Club in Leeds, England. It was played in harsh cold and snowy conditions and even hail at one time. Just 2,000 fans saw the action, in which the U.S. led by a slim total after Day 1 of 2.5 to 1.5, but on Day 2 GB won the session 5.5 to 2.5 for victory.
On this date in 1952, Patty Berg shot a 10-birdie 30-34—64 in the first round of the Richmond Women’s Open at 6,330-yard Richmond Golf Club in California. The eight-under score was the lowest ever shot by a woman golfer to that point by two shots. It gave her a seven-shot lead and she would go on to win by four over Betty Jameson. On this date in 1968, Arnold Palmer shot a second-round 68 at the Byron Nelson Classic and would go on to a T-6 finish.
Jerry Barber, the 1961 PGA champion, was born on this date in 1916 in Woodson, Illinois, west of the state capitol, Springfield. Barber was just 5-foot-5, but what he lacked in power he made up with accuracy and he also putted very well. Fred McLeod, a Scottish golfer whose record has been obscured in these modern times, was born on this date in 1882 in North Berwick. He notably won the 1908 U.S. Open, but golf fans might recognize the name because it comes up every so often for his role as one of the first Honorary Starters in Masters Tournament history, along with his cohort Jock Hutchison.
On this date in 1981, Arnold Palmer and Dow Finsterwald shot a second-round 63 in the Legends of Golf and eventually tied for third. On this date in 1960, Louise Suggs outdueled her great rival Mickey Wright to win the Dallas Civitan Open at Glen Lakes Country Club at four under par, winning $1,662. Wright finished in second at one over par. And today is the birthdate of a pair of accomplished golfers who both are trying to achieve their own measure of success but at greatly different ages. Lydia Ko, who set records at a young age, was born in 1997 in Seoul, South Korea, but grew up in New Zealand. One of her major wins was the ANA Inspiration in 2016. Englishman Lee Westwood was born in 1973. He has not won a major but won on five continents and was a big European presence in the Ryder Cup. He presently plays the LIV Golf tour.
Happy 81st birthday to a PGA Tour record maker. Marty Fleckman was born on this date in 1944 in Port Arthur, Texas. On December 3, 1967, at age 24, Fleckman made a 30-foot birdie putt to beat Jack Montgomery on the first hole of a sudden-death playoff to win the Cajun Classic. He became the first player in tour history to win a tournament in his first official start. The playoff birdie was Fleckman’s third straight bird. He had made two to finish regulation play, a 23-footer on 18 tied Montgomery for the lead. Three others have since also won their first tour start. On this date in 1989, the Chrysler Cup, a Ryder Cup-style event for senior tour players on United States and International teams, concluded at the TPC at Prestancia course in Sarasota, Florida. Arnold Palmer was the U.S. captain for the five years it was played, 1986-1990, and had a 4-1 record. This year the U.S. won 71-29 and on the final day, Captain Palmer defeated Bruce Devlin, 70-74.
On this date in 1973, Arnold Palmer shot a 75 in the final round of the Tournament of Champions on the PGA Tour. He had gained entry into the elite field by winning the Bob Hope tournament in February, which was his last regular tour victory. In Palmer’s final T of C, he tied for 19th. And born on this date in 1938 in Washington, D.C., was World Golf Hall of Fame member Deane Beman, who was a lauded amateur before becoming modestly successful as a tour pro. His main claim to fame was as the PGA Tour Commissioner from 1974 to 1994.
On this date in 1991, Jack Nicklaus had one of his most dominating victories when he won the 52nd Senior PGA Championship by six shots over Bruce Crampton at PGA National Golf Club in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. It was the fifth time Nicklaus had won a major tournament at the expense of Crampton finishing runner-up. On this date in 1948, Arnold Palmer won two matches in the North & South Amateur, over Doug Ford and Frank Souchak.
It was one of the most unlikely results to see Jack Nicklaus finish second by 12 shots but that he and Dale Douglass did when Hale Irwin won the 1997 58th PGA Seniors’ Championship at PGA National Golf Club’s Champion Course, which Nicklaus had redesigned. Irwin shot 274 to win the middle of three straight titles.
On this date in 1975, Arnold Palmer won the Spanish Open, to complete scores of 72-69-69-73—283, and receive top prize of $9,000. Also, one of the mythical amateurs in American golf was born on this date in 1922. Billy Joe Patton was born in Morganton, North Carolina. Among his achievements wasn’t a victory but a legendary third-place finish in the 1954 Masters. He finished one shot out of a playoff with Ben Hogan and Sam Snead, which Snead won, 70-71.
On this date in 1993, one of the unheralded success stories on the senior tour, Tom Wargo, won the 54th Senior PGA Championship at PGA National. The more established Bruce Crampton charged home in Round 4 with a 66 to tie Wargo at 13 under par, but Wargo won a two-hole playoff. Wargo was from a small club in Centralia, Illinois, and didn’t have notable pro success until turning 50. In 1994 he would win the Senior Open for two major titles.
On this date in 1994, Lee Trevino took advantage of Ray Floyd’s stumble and won the 55th Senior PGA Championship at PGA National on the Champion Course. Trevino shot a 70 and beat Jim Colbert by one and Floyd and Dave Stockton by two. Floyd shot a 75 in the fourth round after three straight 69s.
On this date in 1959, Arnold Palmer shot a first-round 66 at the Houston Classic and would finish T-3. In 1967, he shot a final-round 64 at the Tournament of Champions for 2nd. On this day in 1989, Don Bies shot a bogey-free, six-under-par 66 to beat Gary Player by one shot and win The Tradition in its first year as a Senior PGA Tour event, in Scottsdale, Ariz. Bies, who started the final round in a three-way tie for second place with Gene Littler and Bob Erickson, dropped an 8-footer for a critical birdie on the par-5 15th and later finished with a 13-under 275 total to win $90,000.
The 1979 Masters, the 43rd playing, ended on this date with Fuzzy Zoeller beating all kinds of odds to win in a playoff in his first appearance at Augusta National. There shouldn’t have been a playoff. Ed Sneed was three ahead with three to go but bogeyed all three holes. Jack Nicklaus missed the playoff by one. Sneed, Zoeller and Tom Watson went into the first sudden-death playoff in Masters history, with Zoeller winning on the second playoff hole, No. 11, with a birdie.