On this day in 1969, Tony Jacklin ended an 18-year drought by an English golfer when he won the Open Championship by two shots at Royal Lytham & St. Annes. Jacklin shot four under par to beat Bob Charles. of New Zealand. On this date in 1964, the greatest woman player of all time, Mickey Wright, won the U.S. Women's Open at San Diego C.C. for her fourth title, beating Ruth Jessen in a playoff.
On this date in 1976, JoAnne Carner won the U.S. Women’s Open at Rolling Green Golf Club in a playoff with Sandra Palmer. The 35th U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship began on this date in 1960 in Honolulu, Hawaii, on the Ala Wai Golf Course, making it the first USGA championship played outside the continental U.S.
One of the most lauded performances in Open Championship history concluded on this date in 1953 when Ben Hogan won at Carnoustie in the only Open he played. He won by four shots over four players, including future five-time winner Peter Thomson. Earlier in the year he had won the Masters and U.S. Open. On this day in 1971, Lee Trevino won an exciting Open Championship, shooting 278, one shot better than Taiwan’s Lu Liang-Huan and two better than English favorite Tony Jacklin. Mr. Lu was a unique crowd favorite who doffed his hat constantly in recognition of the applause he received for a spirited run at Royal Birkdale. The victory gave Trevino both the U.S. and Open titles in the summer of 1971, just the sixth person in golf history to win both in the same year.
On this date in 1960, Arnold Palmer, having come to St. Andrews after winning the Masters and U.S. Open earlier in the year, fell one shot short of first place when Kel Nagle of Australia won the Open Championship in the centenary playing of golf’s oldest major. Palmer was bidding to win the Grand Slam of the four majors in one season. On this date in 1965, Australian great Peter Thomson won his fifth Open Championship, winning at Birkdale with a score of 285, two ahead of Brian Huggett and Christy O’Connor, Sr.
On this date in 1933, Denny Shute won the Open Championship, at St. Andrews’ Old Course, winning a 36-hole playoff with fellow Yank Craig Wood by five shots. On this date in 1970, Arnold Palmer shot a first-round 68 at the 99th Open and would finish 12th.
On this date, English golf great Tony Jacklin turns 81, having been born in 1944. The World Golf Hall of Famer won two majors and was an influential figure in the Ryder Cup. Also, four-time Open champion Bobby Locke of South Africa, one of golf’s all-time greatest putters, won the 1950 Open on this date at Royal Troon. In second by two shots was Argentinian great Roberto De Vicenzo, who was the 1967 champion.
On this date in the 1931 U.S. Open, history was made when the longest playoff in championship history came to an end when Billy Burke won a playoff at Inverness. He and George Von Elm were tied after the then 36-hole playoff on July 5, and then played 36 more on this day. Burke barely won, 148-149. The 72 holes were the most playoff holes ever. Peter Thomson, one of four five-time winners of the Open Championship, won his third on this date in 1956 at Royal Liverpool. It was a three-shot victory over Belgian Flory Van Donck. And on this date in 1958, Arnold Palmer shot a third-straight 68 at Firestone in the Rubber City Open for a tie for 12th.
On this date in 1970, Donna Caponi won her second straight U.S. Women’s Open. Her 287 total of one-under-par overall was one better than two players at Muskogee C.C. in Oklahoma. On this date in 1958, Peter Thomson of Australia won his fourth Open Championship when he defeated Dave Thomas of Wales in a 36-hole playoff at Royal Lytham & St. Annes Golf Club.
Happy 4th of July, may government of the people by the people for the people reign supreme…The Open Championship of 1947 ended on this date at Royal Liverpool with Fred Daly winning by one shot over two players, including American amateur Frank Stranahan. Also, the Associated Press lede said it all about the event on this date in 1965: NORTHFIELD, N.J. - Carol Mann of Towson, Maryland., shaking off an attack of the jitters, beat out a rallying Kathy Cornelius by two strokes Sunday and won the Women's National Open Golf Championship with a 290 score that stamped her as the sport's new Mickey Wright. The 24-year-old, 6-foot-3 Maryland girl broke into tears after she ran in a four-foot putt for a birdie on the final for an even-par 72. It was Miss Mann's second tournament victory in as many weeks and made her the leading contender for the throne vacated by the long-hitting Miss Wright.
One of the most stirring results in golf history took place on this date in 1954. Babe Didrikson Zaharias, battling cancer, won the U.S. Women’s Open at Salem C.C. in Peabody, Massachusetts, north of Boston. Her score of 291 won by 12 shots, a little more than a year after colon cancer surgery. Also, on this date in 1971, Arnold Palmer shot a third-round 70 at the Canadian Open to eventually finish T-11.
On this date in 2007, Arnold Palmer and Peter Jacobsen played 18 holes with 18 different local twosomes in the Blackhawk Golf C. Celebrity Charity Challenge. Also, getting a bit of revenge for many past times Jack Nicklaus got the best of him, Tom Weiskopf won the 1995 U.S. Senior Open at Congressional C.C. on this date, four shots ahead of Nicklaus. And amateur Catherine Lacoste shocked the golf world by winning the U.S. Women’s Open on this date in 1967. Her score of 294 at Virginia Hot Springs Golf & Tennis Club won by two shots over Susie Maxwell.
On this date in 1956, Arnold Palmer won the Insurance City Open, and in 1963, he won the Cleveland Open in a playoff. And in 1961, Mickey Wright, the greatest women’s player in history, won the U.S. Women’s Open at Baltusrol Golf Club’s Lower Course in Springfield, New Jersey. Her total of 293 was six shots better than runner-up Betsy Rawls, even though she shot an 80 in the second round. It was Wright’s third National Open title.
Before Bobby Jones one of the American amateur stars was Charles (Chick) Evans, Jr. On this date in 1916, he won the U.S. Open by two shots over Jock Hutchison, shooting two under par for four rounds at Minikahda Club in Minnesota. In early September, Evans would win the U.S. Amateur at Merion, making him the first amateur to win the U.S. Open and Amateur in the same year. Also, Padraig Harrington won the U.S. Senior Open on Sunday. On this date in 1985, Arnold Palmer shot a third-straight 76 in the 6th U.S. Senior Open but still nearly finished in the top 10 with a tie for 11th.
On this date in 1980, the inaugural U.S. Senior Open was finished on Winged Foot Golf Club’s East Course with Roberto De Vicenzo of Argentina winning by four over amateur legend Bill Campbell. And on this date in the 1906 U.S. Open, Alex Smith won at the Onwentsia Club in River Forest, Illinois, with a score of 295, seven shots ahead of his brother, Willie. To show the strength of non-Americans in global golf in the early stages of the sport, the first seven finishers were from Scotland and only one American, amateur Chandler Egan, was in the top 10.
On this date in 1949, Arnold Palmer earned the Nat’l Intercollegiate qualifying medal as a Wake Forest golfer, but in 1964 he lost a playoff to Tony Lema in the Cleveland Open, Also, Alf Perry won the 70th playing of the Open Championship on this date in 1935 with a score of five under par for 72 holes at Muirfield, Scotland. The greatest women’s player of all time, Mickey Wright, won her first of four U.S. Opens on this date in 1958 at Forest Lake Country Club . She was six shots ahead of Louise Suggs.
On this date in 1950, Arnold Palmer won the Nat’l Intercollegiate qualifying medal. On this date in 1950, a golfer with one of the coolest-sounding names won the PGA Championship, his only major. Chandler Harper defeated Henry Williams Jr., 4 and 3, at Scioto Country Club in Columbus, Ohio, the course Jack Nicklaus grew up on. And also,. Walter Hagen won the 1924 Open Championship on this date at Royal Liverpool Golf Club. It was his second Open victory.
Arguably the greatest female athlete of all time was born on this date in 1911. Babe Didrikson Zaharias was born in Port Arthur, Texas. Any sport she tried she mastered, beginning with track and field. She was a gold medalist in the 1932 Olympics. Another major sport was golf, where she became a World Golf Hall of Fame member. Also, the first American to win the U.S. Open broke through on this date in 1911 at the Chicago Golf Club. John McDermott, just 19 years old, shot 80 to win a playoff with Mike Brady (82) and George Simpson (85).
On this date in 1961, Arnold Palmer won the Western Open, and in 1989, it was Arnold Palmer Week in Pennsylvania coinciding with the U.S. Senior Open. On this date in 1932, Gene Sarazen won his second U.S. Open, 10 years after he won his first. Played at Fresh Meadow C.C. in Flushing, N.Y., this Open was the 36th played. Sarazen had his best score in the final round with a 66 for a final total of 286, six over par, and a three-shot victory. And on this date in 1909 the U.S. Open champion at Englewood Golf Club in New Jersey was England’s George Sargent, who had a two-over score of 290 to set a record total in the 15th playing. Runner-up by four was American Tom McNamara.
On this date in 1965, the University of Houston won an eighth team title in 10 years in the NCAA Tournament. The team’s Marty Fleckman set a 36-hole record. On this date in 1928 at Olympia Fields Country Club, Johnny Farrell defeated Bobby Jones by a shot to win a 36-hole playoff to win the U.S. Open. On this date in 1965, Arnold Palmer shot a first-round 66 at the St. Paul Open to finish T-7. And in 1984, Palmer finished with 69 in the final round of the Senior TPC to finish 1st.
On this date in 1985, Arnold Palmer shot a final-round 68 to win the Senior TPC. Also, the astounding William Lawson Little, Jr., was born on this date in 1910 in Newport. A member of the World Golf Hall of Fame, he won the U.S. Amateur and (British) Amateur Championship in 1934 and 1935, and later in 1940 won the U.S. Open. His tendency to use as many as 25 or more clubs in his bag was one of the reasons the USGA limited the number of clubs a golfer could use to 14. And a pair of U.S. Open playoffs ended on this date. In 1963, Julius Boros defeated Arnold Palmer and Jacky Cupit at The Country Club in Brookline, Massachusetts, and in 1975, John Mahaffey lost to Lou Graham at Medinah C.C. near Chicago.