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.
On this date in 1963, Arnold Palmer shot 77-74 in the final rounds to fall into three-way U.S. Open playoff, and in 1975, he shot a final-round 73 in U.S. Open to finish T-9 in his final top-10 in the championship. On this day in 2009, Lucas Glover won the U.S. Open at Bethpage Black G.Cse. at four under par, two ahead of Ricky Barnes, Phil Mickelson and David Duval. Rain forced having a Monday finish. It was one of Mickelson’s record six runner-up U.S. Open finishes. The Ryder Cup will be held at Bethpage this fall.
On this date in 1954, Arnold Palmer finished as low amateur in the Penn Open. In U.S. Open dates, on this date in 1971, Lee Trevino took down Jack Nicklaus in a playoff at Merion Golf Club, 68-71, to win his second U.S. Open. Trevino memorably goofed around with Jack using a rubber snake he had in his golf bag on the first tee and many thought it was a way to psyche out Jack before the playoff began. Lee always maintained it was an innocent goof and it was his great play that carried him through. On this date in 1965, Gary Player of South Africa defeated Australia’s Kel Nagle in an 18-hole playoff at Bellerive to win an 18-hole U.S. Open playoff and at age 29 complete the career Grand Slam.
On this date in 1964, Arnold Palmer shot 75-74 at the U.S. Open to tie for 5th behind Ken Venturi. And in 1966, Palmer lost an 18-hole U.S. Open playoff 69-73 to Billy Casper after his infamous collapse on June 19. On this date in 1982, Missouri/Kansas native Tom Watson hit a tremendous shot on the 17th hole at Pebble Beach, for a birdie, en route to winning the U.S. Open and spoil Jack Nicklaus’ effort at winning a record fifth U.S. Open. Watson had a bad result on this date in the U.S. Open in 1983. In a rain-delayed finish, Larry Nelson edged him by one shot due to holing a 40-foot putt on No. 16 at Oakmont.
On this date in 1955, one of the biggest upsets in golf history took place when Jack Fleck defeated Ben Hogan in an 18-hole playoff at the U.S. Open held on the Olympic Club Lake Course. Fleck shot 69 to Hogan’s 72, cementing his name in golf lore by defeating the mighty Hogan, who was foiled in trying to capture a record fifth U.S. Open, a record. Instead it was Fleck’s only major win. For Arnold Palmer, on this date in 1955, he won his first-ever U.S. Open money, $226.15. And in 1983, he completed his fourth U.S. Open held at Oakmont (T-60), which is where J.J. Spaun just won in dramatic fashion.
One of the special days in all of golf history took place on this day in 1960 when Arnold Palmer played his second 18 of the day, the final round, in 65 to overcome a seven-shot deficit and win his only U.S. Open, at Cherry Hills, in Colorado. View the “this day in golf history” home page photo and you’ll see the first hole at Cherry Hills from that Open, taken one day before Palmer’s final round heroics when he drove the first green and made birdie. He is in this photo, in orange shirt, alongside Cary Middlecoff, watching Jack Fleck tee off. In a generational classic, Ben Hogan had a chance for a fifth title but faltered in the final holes and ended four strokes back.
Will J.J. Spaun’s heroic U.S Open victory Sunday at Oakmont C.C. become as iconic as two other U.S. Opens that ended on this date at Oakmont? It will take some doing. One was the 1962 event that ended in a playoff between Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer, won by Jack, 71-74, for his first major, in his rookie season. The second was in 1973 when Johnny Miller shot a phenomenal final-round 63 to win by one over John Schlee. Nicklaus and Palmer tied for fourth in that one. Another U.S. Open finish on this date was in 1961 when Gene Littler won his only major. Palmer shot 70s in Rounds 3 and 4 that year to finish T-14. In 1966: Palmer shot a second-round 66 at the U.S. Open. Also at Oakmont, in 1994, Palmer finished his U.S. Open career at the 94th championship, missing the 36-hole cut.
Lee Trevino won his first U.S. Open on this date in 1968 on the East Course at Oak Hill C.C. in Rochester, N.Y. He tied the tournament scoring record and finished four shots ahead of second-place Jack Nicklaus. It was also the first PGA Tour win for Trevino, then 28. Also, on today’s date in 1974 was one U.S. Open that will live in golf infamy. Hale Irwin won the championship with a score of seven over par in the famous Massacre at Winged Foot that took down Arnold Palmer and Tom Watson, among others. It was Irwin’s first of three U.S. Open victories, this one by two over runner-up Forrest Fezler. And on this date for Arnold Palmer in the U.S. Open, in 1967 he shot a second-round 68 and would finish second to Nicklaus; in 1974 he shot a final-round 76 for a T-5; in 1977 he shot a first-round 70 and would finish T-19. In 1963 he won the Thunderbird Cl. in a playoff.