The pre-Bay Hill version of the Arnold Palmer Invitational was the Florida Citrus Invitational. Arnold Palmer won it on March 14, 1971, at Rio Pinar C.C, by one shot over Julius Boros. It was the 59th of 62 tour victories for A.P. While in Florida, Palmer had played at Bay Hill with Vice President Spiro Agnew. Non-Arnie notes: A pair of one-time major champions were born on this day. In 1929, Bob Goalby, winner of the 1968 Masters, was born in Belleville, Illinois. He was the uncle to Jay Haas. And in 1936, 1963 Open Championship winner Bob Charles was born in Carterton, New Zealand. Also, legendary teacher John Jacobs, who passed away on January 13, 2017, was born on this day in 1925.
On this date in 1960, Arnold Palmer won his third straight event, the Pensacola Open, after shooting rounds of 68-65-73-67 for 273. It was his fourth win of the year; he had won the inaugural Palm Springs Desert Classic (aka The Hope, et al) on February 7, the Texas Open on February 28, and the Baton Rouge Open on March 6 prior to Pensacola. His prize money for those three straight events totaled a “whopping” $6,800. Arnold finished fifth each of the next two weeks, took a week off, then won his second Masters on April 10. And on this date in 1878, it is traditionally believed that the first golf match was held between Oxford and Cambridge universities, with Oxford coming out ahead.
On this date in 1971, the Florida Citrus Invitational played a second round, in which Arnold Palmer shot 68. He would shoot two more 68s and win first prize of $30,000. Also, Mickey Wright won 10 events in 1961, including on this date in the Miami Open at Miami Springs Country Club. She finished at three under par, six shots ahead of three second-place finishers, including Louise Suggs.
On this date in 1956, the LPGA Tour’s Titleholders Championship of Women's Golf was won for the third time by Louise Suggs in a great battle with Patty Berg, winning by one shot at Augusta Country Club. Also on this date in 1945, Byron Nelson's record streak of 11 victories in a row on the PGA Tour began with a win at the Miami 4-Ball Invitational team event with his frequent partner Harold (Jug) McSpaden.
The Pensacola Open ended on this date in 1963, with Arnold Palmer finishing with rounds of 69-68-69-67—273 for first place and $3,500. Also, Chandler Harper's full name was John Chandler Harper but the professional golfer born on this date in 1914 in Portsmouth, Virginia, had one of the greatest monikers for a pro golfer just as Chandler Harper. It befit the distinguished golf career he led in the 1940s and 1950s, topped by winning the PGA Championship in 1950. He won seven times on the PGA Tour and played in the Ryder Cup in 1955. Nicknamed "Old Bones," he died in Portsmouth on November 8, 2004, age 90.
The Arnold Palmer Invitational concluded yesterday, but on today’s date in 1967, the tournament’s earlier incarnation, the Florida Citrus Open, began with the first round. Arnold would shoot 67-69-71-68—275 to tie for second and earn $11,212.50. Also, on this date in golf in 1963, Arnold Palmer shot a third-round 69 in the Pensacola Open. He shot 67 in the final round to win the $3,500 first-place money. It was his third victory of 1963, having already won in Los Angeles and Phoenix.
The Arnold Palmer Invitational ends today. In 1970 it was called the Florida Citrus Invitational, and on this date Arnold finished the tournament shooting 64-72-64-72—272 to tie for second with Bob Stanton, earning $13,875 each. Bob Lunn won at 17-under 271. However, in 1971, Palmer won the tournament and he got to the figure he needed in 1970, 18 under par, winning by one over Julius Boros. Also, Raymond Floyd won the Doral Open in Miami in 1992 on this date, setting up a first on the PGA Tour. After he turned 50 in early September later that year, he won the senior tour's GTE North Classic, becoming the first player to win on both tours in the same year.
On this date in 1963, Arnold Palmer shot a 69 in the first round of the Pensacola Open, a second-tier tour event he played several times as an example of how he supported lesser-known tournaments. He went on to win with four rounds in the 60s. Also, on this date in 1993, Greg Norman wowed the golf world by finishing off a 15-under-par 273 total to win the Doral-Ryder Open on the Blue Monster course in Miami. It set a course record at the time, later to be eclipsed by Tiger Woods' 264 in 2005 prior to the tournament becoming a World Golf Championship event.
On this date in 1955, Arnold Palmer finished a PGA Tour event on a March 6 for the first time when he completed play in the Baton Rouge Open with scores 70-73-73-72—288. Bo Wininger, Billy Maxwell and Jimmy Clark went into a playoff the next day, won by Wininger. Arnold tied for 40th and finished out of the money. It was the era on tour when not everyone who made the cut went home with any money, Also for Arnold, he shot a final-round 68 on this day in 1960 in the Baton Rouge Open, to win the first-prize money of $2,000. It was the middle victory of a three-in-a-row stretch in his incredible season of 1960 when he won eight times total, including the Masters and U.S. Open.
On this date in 1964, Arnold Palmer was playing well en route to winning his final major, at the Masters. He shot a first-round 69 in the Pensacola Open and a few days later would lose a playoff and tie for second. Also, the great Mickey Wright got her first LPGA Tour victory on this date in 1956. Her career total of 82 started for the San Diegoan when she won the Jacksonville Open at Jacksonville Country Club, shooting 294 to beat Joyce Ziske by one stroke and win the $900 first-place money. The total purse was $4,500!
The affable and verbally adept Peter Jacobsen was born on this date in 1954. The personable Oregonian won seven times on the PGA Tour and has been doing TV commentary for many years. Also, one of Jacobsen’s dearest friends and team partners on tour, Arnold Palmer, In one of the most glorious seasons in golf history, shot a 71 in the second round of the Baton Rouge Open on this date in 1960. Doesn't sound like a big deal, but he had won the Texas Open on Feb. 28, went on to win in Baton Rouge on March 6, then won the Pensacola Open on March 13 for three in a row in a year he won eight times, including the Masters and U.S. Open.
One of the most laconic but powerful swingers of the golf club, Julius Boros, was born on this date in 1920 in Fairfield, Connecticut. A member of the World Golf Hall of Fame, Boros was nicknamed Moose at 6-foot, 215 pounds. He won three majors, two U.S. Opens and the PGA, and two of the three came at the expense of Arnold Palmer, who Boros would sometimes call "his pigeon." Boros beat Palmer in the 1963 U.S. Open playoff and then nipped him again in the 1968 PGA to keep Arnie shut out in that major.
On this date in 1932, Joe Kirkwood, a famed world golf traveler and trick-shot expert from Australia, is credited with shooting an 83 using only his putter at an 18-hole course in Bellair, Florida. The stunt was part of an exhibition with Babe Ruth and Kirkwood’s feat beat the 84 Ruth scored with a full set. Also, on this date, it's birthday No. 68 for the Wee Welshman, Ian Woosnam. The 1991 Masters winner is an inductee into the World Golf Hall of Fame.
It is traditionally reported that on this date in 1938, the Federal Trade Commission prohibited the PGA of America and eight manufacturers from price fixing in the golf ball industry. And on this date in 1922, standout lifelong amateur Ed Updegraff was born in Boone, Iowa, Updegraff, a urologist by trade, did not win the U.S. Amateur, but he won several prominent events such as the Western Amateur twice and the U.S. Senior Amateur in 1981. A member of the Iowa and Arizona state golf halls of fame, his greatest honor was receiving the Bob Jones Award in 1999. He tied for 44th in the 1966 Masters.
With the Cognizant Classic being played this weekend at PGA National, on this date in 1971 Jack Nicklaus won the PGA Championship at PGA National, leading wire-to-wire to beat Billy Casper by two shots. With the victory, Nicklaus completed his second career grand slam. Nicklaus won despite shooting a 73 in the final round. The PGA was played in February because of the locale: PGA National Golf Club (not the PGA National known today, but a course now called BallenIsles) in Palm Beach Gardens. Officials wanted to avoid the heat and humidity of August and played it in more comfortable February.
Gene Sarazen, was born on this date in 1902 in Harrison, New York. One of just six winners of all four majors in a career, Sarazen was born less than a month before Bobby Jones. Sarazen, known as the Squire, and the first player to win the career Grand Slam, lived into the Tiger Woods years and died on May 13, 1999, age 97. Also, in 1958, Arnold Palmer shot a first-round 67 at Baton Rouge and would finish T-2.. And in 1969, Arnie shot a first-round 68 at Doral and ended 72 holes tied for 10th.
Today's date in 1957 is traditionally thought of as when the Masters announced it would institute a 36-hole cut with that year's tournament. From 1957 to 1961, it was low 40 and ties. From 1962-2012 it was low 44 and ties and any player within 10 shots of the leader. In 2013 it changed to low 50 and ties and any player within 10 shots of the lead. And the event wasn’t golf per se, but on this date in 1956, Margaret (Peggy) Palmer was born to mom and dad Palmer, Winnie and Arnold. They had two daughters, the second, named Amy, was born on August 8, 1958.
Golf in Texas this time of year wouldn't seem the ideal place to hold a PGA Tour event, but on this date in 1957, Arnold Palmer shot a final-round 69 at Memorial Park to win his fourth PGA Tour victory, taking first at the Houston Open. Football icon Bear Bryant was among those watching during the week as Palmer shot rounds of 67-72-71-69—279, earning the richest prize on the winter tour, $7,500. After getting his check, Arnie said, “As of today I have invested [the money] in a house.” The tour that year left Arizona on February 10, played the Texas Open February 14-17 and went to Houston.
On this date in 1961, Arnold Palmer shot a first-round 65 to take control of the Baton Rouge Open, leading to a victory after scores of 65-67-68-66—266, earning $2,800. Also, Iowa City native Zach Johnson, who was the U.S. Ryder Cup captain in a losing effort in 2023 in Rome, was born on this date in 1976. The two-time major winner is a grinder and has 12 PGA Tour victories including the 2007 Masters and the 2015 Open Championship at the home of golf, The Old Course at St. Andrews.
Steve Stricker was born on this date in 1967 in Edgerton, Wisconsin. The low-key Stricker won 12 times on the PGA Tour and is a seven-time Champions Tour winner, including two majors in 2019, one of them the U.S. Senior Open. He was the winning 2021 U.S. Ryder Cup Captain and is recognized as one of the greatest short-game and putting experts.