On this date in 1960, Arnold Palmer lost an 18-hole playoff to Bill Collins at the Houston Classic, 69 to 71, to take second place after the two had tied at 280. Legendary singer and the first major entertainer/personality to promote the celebrity pro-am format with his Crosby Clambake at Pebble Beach, Bing Crosby, was born on May 2, 1904, in Tacoma, Wash.
On this date in 1930, Glenna Collett led an American squad against a British team at Sunningdale, England, in a precursor to the first Curtis Cup Match played two years later. The British won the 1930 match. Also, opinionated and insightful Frank Beard, an 11-time PGA Tour winner, was born on May 1, 1939, and Pete Brown, a pioneering African-American golfer who won the Waco Open in 1964 on the PGA Tour, died on this date in 2015 at age 80.
On this date in 1961 and 1962, the great Mickey Wright won the LPGA Titleholders Championship at Augusta Country Club. In 1961 it was by one shot over Patty Berg and Louise Suggs, and in 1962 it was in a playoff with Ruth Jessen. And In the early 1950s, the newly begun LPGA Tour held four 36-hole events over the duration of several weeks, recognizing an overall winner at the conclusion of the 144-hole event. In 1950, the events were held at Pebble Beach, Chicago, Cleveland and New York. Babe Zaharias won the Pebble Beach portion on April 30, and would win later in Cleveland. Louise Suggs won the other two stages, but Zaharias was the overall winner.
Birthday specials today include PGA major winner and present tour player Justin Thomas in 1993, and two-time major winner, TV analyst and World Golf Hall of Famer Johnny Miller in 1947. Miller was born in San Francisco and went on to assemble a Hall of Fame career, highlighted by winning the 1973 U.S. Open and 1976 Open Championship. In retirement he was a golf analyst for NBC Sports. And this date in 1857 is credited as the publishing date for the first golf instruction book, The Golfer's Manual, “A Keen Hand” by H. B. Farnie.
Prodigious hitter and self-proclaimed Wild Thing John Daly was born on this day in 1966. He has won two majors, the 1991 PGA and 1995 Open Championship, but only five PGA Tour events overall, a widely regarded underachieving amount for someone with Daly’s immense talent.
Legendary 36-year Chicago Tribune golf editor Charlie Bartlett was born on this date in 1905. He died on November 6, 1967, and at the next Masters, the Charles Bartlett Lounge was dedicated on April 10, 1968, in the now eliminated press building to honor him. The new media center has the Bartlett Lounge dining area. On this date in 1929, the Ryder Cup Match was played in cold and snow as the Great Britain team beat the United States, 7-5, at Moortown Golf Club.
Using a new putter, Patty Berg shot a 64 in the first round of the 1952 Richmond (Calif.) Open at Richmond Golf Club, to set a women’s record. She would go on to win the tournament by four shots. The 18-hole record now, of course, is the 59 shot by Annika Sorenstam in 2001. On this date in 1964, Marilynn Smith had a huge victory at the LPGA Titleholders Championship played at Augusta Country Club, adjacent to Augusta National, when she defended her title with a one-stroke victory over Mickey Wright, the all-time greatest women’s player.
Birthday milestones on April 25 belong to five-time PGA Tour winner Nick Watney, born in 1981, and one of the most diminutive major championship winners in history, Jerry Barber, born on this date in 1916 in Woodson, Illinois, west of Springfield. Barber was 5-5, 137 pounds, and won the 1961 PGA Championship in a playoff over Don January. Barber made a pair of consecutive monster-length putts to win the PGA; he also holds the record for the oldest to play a tour event; he was 77 years 10 months 9 days when he played in the 1994 Buick Invitational, where he missed the cut.
Some notable birthdays on April 24 include Lee Westwood, born on this date in 1973 at Worksop, Nottinghamshire, England. Westwood has not won a major despite a few close calls, but his biggest international impact has been his fervent play in the Ryder Cup Match. Also born on this day are Jonas Blixt 1984 and Bob Lunn, the 1963 U.S. Public Links champion, was born in 1945. He won back to back on tour at Memphis and Atlanta in 1968.
Prodigious hitter and self-proclaimed Wild Thing John Daly was born on this day in 1966. He has won two majors, the 1991 PGA and 1995 Open Championship, but only five PGA Tour events overall, a widely regarded underachieving amount for someone with Daly’s immense talent.
Only a handful of players have won the first PGA Tour event they played, and one of them is Marty Fleckman, who was born on April 23, 1944, in Port Arthur, Texas. Fleckman passed qualifying school in October 1967, and just about a month later he won the first pro event he entered, the Cajun Classic, beating Jack Montgomery in a one-hole playoff with a birdie. Also, on this date in 1937, Don Massengale was born in Jackson, Texas. He was a second-tier player on tour who came close to everlasting golf fame by finishing as runner-up in the 1967 PGA Championship. He won twice on the PGA Tour, and passed away at just age 69 in 2007.
Just three days after the third PGA Tour commissioner in history, Tim Finchem, celebrated a birthday, the second commissioner, Deane Beman, observes a birthday, born in 1938 in Washington, D.C. Before becoming the head of the tour in 1974, Beman was an accomplished player, winning the U.S. Amateur twice, British Amateur in 1959, and four PGA Tour events. He was eventually voted in as a World Golf Hall of Fame member.
April has been a popular time of the year to hold the Senior PGA Championship, which is the oldest of the senior majors, starting in 1937. Stewart Cink just won this year’s playing by six shots on Sunday. On this date in 1991, Jack Nicklaus won his lone Senior PGA, at PGA National in Florida, with a 17-under 271 score, also a winner by six shots, ahead of Australia’s Bruce Crampton.
Kathy Whitworth is the all-time LPGA Tour leader in victories with 88 and is the leader in most career seasons with a victory with 22. She and three others are tied for the most consecutive wins in scheduled events with four. Whitworth’s fourth came on April 20, 1969, in the Lady Carling Open. Also, an incredible talent who never got to show the record he could have accumulated, Young Tom Morris was born on this date in 1851. He won four Open Championships, including three in a row to retire the champion’s belt, but died at just 24 in St. Andrews, Scotland.
In 1968, production of a one-piece, no-cut golf ball was announced, a major change in ball design. Also on this date, in 1947, retired PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem was born. On this date in 1922, amateur legend Billy Joe Patton was born in Morganton, North Carolina. He made a remarkable run at winning the Masters in 1954 that is still captivating to read about. Like his good friend Arnold Palmer, Patton attended Wake Forest College. Patton died in Morganton in 2011.
After finishes of 1st, 2nd, T-3, 2nd, T-34, T-4, T-36 and T-6 to start 1966, Arnold Palmer went into the Masters as a huge favorite. It was expected he’d continue his every-other-year victory streak. But he was off by one week and tied for fourth on April 11 at the Masters. Instead, on April 18, he won an 18-hole playoff with Gay Brewer, 69-73, to capture the Tournament of Champions. Also, on this date in 1993, the PGA Seniors' Championship was won at PGA National by Tom Wargo, who parred the second hole of a playoff to beat Bruce Crampton.
Sam Snead won the Greater Greensboro Open (also known as the Wyndham Ch.) eight times. No. 7 came on April 17, 1960, when Snead shot his fourth-straight round in the 60s and finished two strokes ahead of Dow Finsterwald at Starmount Forest Country Club. Also, on this date in 1994, the PGA Seniors' Championship ended at PGA National with Lee Trevino beating Jim Colbert by one stroke.
This weekend a winner will be crowned at the RBC Heritage who will take home well more than $1 million. Jimmy Demaret won a miniscule $2,000 on this date in 1950 when he won the North Fulton Open at the North Fulton Park Course in Atlanta (held April 13-16, 1950). His scores were 71-69-64-66—270. Also, on this date in 1995, Raymond Floyd won the PGA Seniors' Championship at PGA National, by five shots over Larry Gilbert, Lee Trevino and John Paul Cain.
In what was a disappointment to traditionalists, the Masters, in its 43rd playing, had its first sudden-death playoff on this date in 1979. Fuzzy Zoeller won a two-hole playoff, making a birdie on the incredibly hard 11th hole, beating Ed Sneed and Tom Watson.
A sad day in golf history: In the 1968 Masters, Roberto De Vicenzo signed an incorrect scorecard with a higher score than he actually shot on the 17th hole in the final round and finished one behind Bob Goalby. On this date in 1974, Gary Player won his second of three Masters titles, winning the 38th playing by two shots ahead of Dave Stockton and Tom Weiskopf. Born on this date: 1964 PGA champion Bobby Nichols in 1936…and World Golf Hall of Famer, the late Mr. De Vicenzo himself, in 1923.