A pair of Open Championships ended on this date, with the champion on each occasion winning for the fourth time. In 1903 at Prestwick, Harry Vardon won by six shots over his younger brother Tom. And in 1909, J.H. Taylor won at Royal Cinque Ports, also by six shots, over James Braid and Tom Ball. Also, on June 11, 1938, Ralph Guldahl became the fourth person to win back-to-back U.S. Opens, following Willie Anderson, John McDermott and Bobby Jones to that point. Guldahl shot a 69 at Cherry Hills to finish six shots ahead of Dick Metz. In 1937 he had finished two shots ahead of Sam Snead at Oakland Hills.
Sam Snead infamously never won the U.S. Open, and one of his closest misses took place in 1939, at Philadelphia Country Club. Snead had led after the first two rounds, but on June 10, thinking he needed to be aggressive on the final hole, took a triple-bogey 8 when all he needed was a par 5 to win. He finished two behind Byron Nelson, Craig Wood and Denny Shute, who went on to decide a champion in a playoff. Nelson and Wood were tied after 18 holes, with Shute dropping out, then Nelson eventually prevailed in a second playoff round, 70-73. And on this date in 1904, The Open Championship was ended at Royal St. George’s Golf club with Jack White the winner by one shot over the legendary twosome and future five-time winners James Braid and J.H. Taylor.
Four years after Bobby Jones clinched the Grand Slam at Merion in 1930, the iconic club near Philadelphia was site of its first U.S. Open. It ended on June 9, with Olin Dutra winning by one shot over Gene Sarazen. Dutra shot a 72 in the final round to edge Sarazen, who was looking good with 18 to go but struggled to 76. And on this date in 1898, Harry Vardon won his second Open Championship, at Prestwick GC, by one shot over Willie Park, Jr.
On this date a pair of men’s majors ended. The 39th Open Championship ended in 1899 with Harry Vardon winning for the third time, by five shots over Jack White. And the 39th playing of the U.S. Open in 1935 was unlike any other to that point. Finishing on June 8 and played at tough Oakmont (Pa.) Country Club, Sam Parks, Jr., was the surprise winner, beating Jimmy Thomson by two and Walter Hagen by three. Parks was a local favorite who played out of South Hills Country Club in nearby Pittsburgh. Prior to the '35 playing, the championship had first been dominated by foreign players, then American winner Francis Ouimet in 1913 spurred a turnaround by the Yanks. Along came amateur stars Chick Evans and Bobby Jones, plus Hagen and Gene Sarazen.
On this date in 1900, the Open Championship was completed at the Old Course in St. Andrews, won by J.H. Taylor by eight strokes over Harry Vardon. It was Taylor’s third of five Open victories. Also, it took seven tries for the British side to win its first Curtis Cup Match but they finally broke through in 1952. It took place at Muirfield, Scotland, which just nine years ago voted to allow women to become members. The final day was June 7, 1952, and it came down to the final match, where Brit Elizabeth Price beat Grace DeMoss, 3 and 2, to give the British Isles a 5-4 victory.
For the second day in a row, we "observe" a Bobby Jones runner-up finish in the U.S. Open. Jones was 21 when he won in 1923, but on June 6, 1924, a fourth-round 78 allowed Cyril Walker to sneak in to win by three shots at Oakland Hills in Birmingham, Mich. As noted yesterday, June 5, Jones lost in a playoff in 1925, but then he won three of the next five National Opens and lost a playoff in a fourth. From 1920 to 1930, Jones missed the top 10 just one time, and that was by a shot.
Willie MacFarlane forever put himself into golf lore on June 5, 1925, when he defeated Bobby Jones in a 36-hole playoff by one stroke at the U.S. Open at Worcester (Mass.) Country Club. MacFarlane shot 75-72 to Jones' 75-73. Jones had won in 1923, and would win again in 1926, 1929 and 1930. Also, Harry Vardon frittered away a four-shot lead after the first day and lost the 1902 Open Championship on this date to Sandy Herd, who won by a stroke over Vardon and James Braid at Royal Liverpool in Hoylake, England.
On this date in 1927, the first Ryder Cup Match concluded in a United States 9½–2½ victory over Great Britain, held at Worcester Country Club in Worcester, Massachusetts. The U.S. captain Walter Hagen played in two matches and won both his June 3 foursomes match (with Johnny Golden) and his Singles match versus Arthur Havers. The GB captain was Ted Ray, who lost both his matches. The fate of playing this year’s Ryder Cup is still to be determined. And a pair of Sandras was born on this date. Sandra Haynie was born in 1943. The World Golf Hall of Famer won 42 LPGA Tour events, including four majors: the 1974 U.S. Women’s Open, 1965 and 1974 LPGA Championship, and 1982 Peter Jackson Classic. Canadian star Sandra Post was born in 1948. She won nine times on tour, including the 1968 LPGA Championship.
On this date in 1945, three-time U.S. Open winner Hale Irwin was born in Joplin, Missouri. Irwin was an excellent football player, but he transferred that toughness onto the golf course and not only excelled in the U.S. Open but was a great player on tough courses in general. Perhaps his greatest display of toughness was winning the “Massacre at Winged Foot” in the 1974 U.S. Open with a 7-over-par score. The hall-of-fame golfer Irwin was known for playing hard golf courses well, and also won the U.S. Open in 1979 and 1990, plus the U.S. Senior Open in 1998 and 2000.
African-American pioneer and World Golf Hall of Fame member Charlie Sifford was born on this date in 1922, making this his centennial plus four birth year. He won twice on tour: the 1967 Greater Hartford Open and 1969 Los Angeles Open. His lone major victory was the 1975 PGA Seniors’ Championship. Sifford died on Feb. 3, 2015. In 1922 he was the honoree at The Memorial Tournament. Also today, 1982 Masters champion Craig Stadler is 73.
Today brings a baseball-golf hybrid item. On this date in 1925, in a day game against the Washington Senators at Yankee Stadium, the great Iron Horse of baseball, Lou Gehrig, began his streak of 2,130 consecutive games played . Gehrig made an out in pinch-hitting for shortstop Paul (Pee Wee) Wanninger, then started the next game at first base, replacing Wally Pipp, who was in a batting slump. Just 10,000 saw Gehrig’s streak start and the Yankees lose, 5-3. The game only took 1 hour 50 minutes. A golf equivalent to Gehrig’s streak is Tiger Woods’ record of 141 consecutive events without missing the cut, which went from February 1998 to May 2005. Also, on this date in 1975, the LPGA Championship wrapped up at Pine Ridge Golf Course, with Kathy Whitworth winning it for the third time, by one shot over Sandra Haynie.
Bobby Jones got his Grand Slam feat of 90 years ago started on this date in 1930 by winning the British Amateur at St. Andrews. He won a 7-and-6 contest with Englishman Roger Wethered. Also, the PGA Championship is mainly associated with being played in August for many years until it switched to a new date in May, but it’s actually been spread throughout the calendar. On this last-day-in-May date in 1949, Sam Snead won the PGA at the Hermitage in Richmond, Va., beating Johnny Palmer, 3 and 2. Snead, “the ageless one,” was 37 years old and had won the Masters earlier in the year. He also won the PGA in 1942 and 1951.
If you count Jim Barnes winning in 1916 and 1919 with the two middle years taken off for World War I, the PGA Championship has been won in consecutive years eight times. Tiger Woods did it twice, and Walter Hagen won not just two in a row but four. On this date in 1937, Denny Shute won a second straight PGA at the Pittsburgh Field Club in Fox Chapel, Pa. He beat Harold (Jug) McSpaden in 37 holes.
On Sunday, the first Swede to win the Indianapolis 500, Felix Rosenqvist, won the closest finish in race history. On this date in 1960, a Ford won at Indy. Two-time major winner Doug Ford, who passed away in 2018, became the first winner of the 500 Festival Open, held on the Speedway Golf Course during Indy 500 week. Ford shot 66-68-68-68-270, 14 under par, to win the $9,000 first prize. Also, on this date in 2011, Tom Watson made a birdie on the first playoff hole with David Eger to win the 72nd Senior PGA Championship at Valhalla Golf Club. It was his second Senior PGA victory. That is a more golfworthy event on this day than another event for another “TW” who attended Stanford: Tiger Woods was charged with DUI in Jupiter, Florida, in 2017.
Yesterday’s birthday figure, Sam Snead, makes the date entry today, too, for winning the Colonial National Invitation on this date in 1950. It was a second straight tour win for Snead; he won the Western Open on May 21. His combined take-home pay for the wins: $5,600. Also, Julius Boros died on this date in 1994, having won three majors: PGA in 1968, U.S. Open in 1952 and 1963); he died at age 74 of a heart attack.
The PGA Tour’s all-time victory coleader with 82, Sam Snead, was born on this date in 1912, the same year that ushered in Ben Hogan and Byron Nelson. Snead’s swing is often considered the greatest ever, and it’s hard to argue against that since it helped him set longevity records. The big missing element in his record is that he never won the U.S. Open; his four second-place finishes were constructed every way imaginable. Snead won seven majors. He died in 2002 just four days short of his 90th birthday.
With the Indianapolis 500 finishing two days ago on Sunday, TV viewers saw portions of a golf course on the interior and exterior of the racetrack. The course is a reminder that the PGA Tour used to have an event during race week called the “500” Festival Open, held on the Speedway Golf Course (now called Brickyard Crossing) and it was played from 1960 to 1968. May 26, 1960, was the very first round played in the event. Doug Ford shot 66 and went on to win the event. Arnold Palmer, who would be the main man in 1960, shot 70 in Round 1 and would tack on a 71 and 73 to miss the cut. Also, a PGA Tour player from the past who had one of the more entertaining nicknames was born on this date in 1961. Steve Pate, known as Volcano for his explosive manner, kept things in check well enough, using a slow backswing, to win six times on tour.
Ben Hogan ended the 1948 PGA Championship on May 25, with a 7-and-6 victory over Mike Turnesa for his second PGA title. Hogan was 4 up after the first 18 holes at Norwood Hills Country Club in St. Louis, having made six birdies. Hogan had four more birdies in 12 holes of the next round, to easily close out Turnesa.
Old Tom Morris, one of the most iconic Scottish figures in golf history, died on this date in 1908, three weeks shy of 87. Symbolic of St. Andrews, Old Tom was adorned with a long beard that late in life grew gray and became his iconic distinguishing feature. He won the Open Championship four times but was also a course designer, clubmaker and greenkeeper. Also, on this date in 1910, World Golf Hall of Fame member Jimmy Demaret, a three-time Masters winner, was born in Houston, Texas.
Sam Snead entered and departed this world around this date four days apart. He was born in Ashwood, Virginia on May 27, 1912 (the same year as Ben Hogan and Byron Nelson) and died on May 23, 2002, in Hot Springs, Virginia, within view of turning 90. Also, Australian David Graham was born on this date in 1946. A meticulous player, he won two majors on courses that required patience: Merion in the 1981 U.S. Open, and Oak Hill for the 1979 PGA Championship. He also won on the PGA Tour in six other events: the 1972 Cleveland Open, 1976 American Express Westchester Classic and American Golf Classic, the 1980 Memorial Tournament, the 1981 Phoenix Open and 1983 Houston Coca-Cola Open. He had 24 other wins worldwide.