As this year’s Masters is just two days and counting away from starting we recall this date in Masters history when in 1935 Gene Sarazen hit the shot heard round the world by making a double eagle on the 15th hole en route to tying Craig Wood after 72 holes. Sarazen won the 36-hole playoff on the following day by five shots. Also, on this date in 1946, the 10th Masters Tournament returned from being off for four years due to World War II and was won by one of the most unlikeliest winners ever, Herman Keiser, by one shot over Ben Hogan, who would win five years later.
Arnold Palmer shot a final-round 73 on April 6, 1958, but still won his first Masters by one stroke. On April 6, 1955, the Sarazen Bridge was dedicated; it’s the bridge that players cross up by the green on the par-5 15th, the hole that Gene Sarazen famously double-eagled in his 1935 victory. On this date in 1936, the Third Masters Tournament ended. After the wild finish the previous year when Sarazen made his double eagle on the 15th hole, this one ended in a second victory for the 1934 inaugural winner Horton Smith, who beat Harry Cooper by one.
Amateur Ken Venturi led Round 1 of the Masters on April 5, 1956, with a 66, but by Sunday he had lost his form and shot 80 to lose to Jack Burke Jr. by one stroke. Also on this date, former Open Championship winner Henrik Stenson turns 50, born on this date in 1976. The entertaining and intense competitor, Stenson, was born in Gothenburg, Sweden. His main triumph was a sensational duel with Phil Mickelson to win the 2016 Open Championship at Troon, Scotland.
On this date in 1937, Byron Nelson won the Fourth Masters Tournament by two shots over Ralph Guldahl en route to a final-round 70. Lord Byron was the first of the Great Triumvirate of him, Sam Snead and Ben Hogan, all born in 1912, to win the tournament. He would win a second in 1942. Snead would not win until 1949 and Hogan 1951. Also at Augusta, on April 4, 1995, the Arnold Palmer Plaque behind the 16th tee was dedicated.
Craig Wood shot a 66 in the first round on April 3, 1941, to lead the Masters by five. He went on to lead wire to wire and win by three strokes over Byron Nelson. Also, on this date in 1994, Raymond Floyd beat Dale Douglass with a birdie on the first hole of a playoff to win The Tradition senior tour event at Desert Mountain in Arizona.
After finishing as runner-up two years in a row, Ralph Guldahl won the Sixth Masters Tournament by one shot over Sam Snead on April 2, 1939. Guldahl shot 279 after a final-round 69, just good enough to beat Snead, who had 68. Non-Masters notes: Born on this date were: Shane Lowry (1987), J.J. Henry (1975) and World Golf Hall of Fame member Ayako Okamoto (1951).
In two events on this day from different eras, in 1930, Bobby Jones won the Southeasternn Open in Atlanta and would go on to win the Grand Slam that year. And more than half a century later in 1984, Fred Couples at age 24 won the Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass by one shot over Lee Trevino. Also, Johnny Farrell, the 1928 U.S. Open champion, was born on April 1, 1901, one year before Bobby Jones and Gene Sarazen. Farrell was a longtime head professional at Baltusrol Country Club in New Jersey, site of numerous majors, and won 22 PGA Tour events. He died in June 1988.
On this date in 1996, Fred Couples shot a final-round 64 to win the Players Championship, for the second time, at the Stadium Course. He was four ahead of Tommy Tolles and Colin Montgomerie. And of special birthday note for a pair of deceased golf stars, the World Golf Hall of Famer Tommy Bolt was born in Haworth, Oklahoma, on this date in 1916, and Miller Barber was born in 1931 in Shreveport, Louisiana. Back on the golf course, Tony Jacklin won the 1968 Greater Jacksonville Open on March 31 to become the first Englishman to win a modern U.S. pro tour event and an important event of any kind since Ted Ray won the 1920 U.S. Open. And Calvin Peete won the 1985 Tournament Players Championship by three shots over D.A. Weibring on the TPC Stadium Course.
The only time the Masters Tournament finished in March was the first year, 1934, on March 25. The Masters had two more March days, the first and second rounds in 1939 on the 30th and 31st. Otherwise, the tournament has always been held during the first two weeks of April. Also, on this date in 1947, Babe Didrikson Zaharias won her first of three Titleholders Championships at Augusta Country Club, heading off runner-up Dorothy Kirby by five shots.
On this date in 1992, Davis Love III won the Players Championship by four strokes ahead of four players in second. Also, the LPGA Tour’s ANA Inspiration, now the Chevron Championship but more widely remembered as the Dinah Shore with sponsors Colgate and Nabisco, was won on March 29, 1992 by Dottie Pepper (Mochrie at the time). Pepper, then 26, birdied the 18th hole to tie Juli Inkster, and then won on the first hole of sudden-death, No. 10, with a par-4 to Inkster’s bogey. Pepper, who had been runner-up in 1991, also won the tournament in 1999 when she set the tournament record of 19-under 269.
Five times a PGA Tour event has been decided after an eight-hole, sudden-death playoff. (Cary Middlecoff and Lloyd Mangrum played 11 holes for the 1949 Motor City Open but were stopped by darkness and declared co-champions.) The first of the eight occasions was on March 28, 1965, when Dick Hart beat Phil Rodgers at the Azalea Open. Also, on this date in 1999, Dottie Pepper won a second Nabisco Championship (now the Chevron Championship) at Mission Hills CC, six strokes ahead of runner-up Meg Mallon.
Anecdotes for March 27: On this date in 1994, the Players Championship concluded at TPC Sawgrass Stadium Course with Australia’s Greg Norman setting a record score of 24 under par to win by four over Fuzzy Zoeller…Two months shy of turning 48, Sam Snead won the 1960 De Soto Open Invitational. It was his 80th of 82 PGA Tour victories, tied for the most anyone has won in tour history...In 1968, the PGA announced that the PGA and U.S. Open winners would represent the U.S. in the World Cup...And in 1965, Gene Sarazen was announced as the recipient of the 1964 William D. Richardson Award for outstanding contributions for golf from the Golf Writers Association of America.
The Sunshine Open ended on this date in 1961 at Bayshore Golf Club (72, 6,632) in Miami Beach, Florida. This happy-go-lucky sounding tournament had a dramatic finish. After three rounds, Gary Player, Julius Boros and Gay Brewer were tied at 204 with Arnold Palmer among those four back. Arnold blazed the final round with a 66, coming up a shot short of Player, who posted scores of 69-68-67-69—273. Arnold had 68-70-70-66—274, for second worth $2,300. Also, the all-time coleader in PGA Tour victories, Sam Snead, had one of his 82 when he won the Greater Greensboro Open at Sedgefield Country Club in Greensboro, N.C., on March 26, 1950. He won the $2,000 first-place prize with rounds of 66-70-66-67—269. A record crowd for the winter tour that year of 17,000 was on hand.
One of the greatest “this day in golf” entries for any date is for March 25 in 1934. Horton Smith won the first Masters, shooting an even-par 72 in the final round, beating Craig Wood by a shot. This is the only time the Masters finished in the month of March. Called the Augusta National Invitation Tournament, it was won by Smith when he holed a 20-foot birdie putt at the 17th hole. That first year, the nines were reversed, and the 17th was today’s par-5 eighth hole.
A pair of birthdays highlight today's date in golf: World Golf Hall of Famer Pat Bradley turns 75. One of the greatest winners and mentally tough competitors in golf, Bradley won 31 LPGA Tour events from 1976 to 1995. The World Golf Hall of Fame member was born in 1951 in Westford, Massachusetts. Bradley won six majors, including three du Maurier titles and the 1981 U.S. Women’s Open. Her mother would famously ring a bell outside the family home whenever her daughter did something special.. Also, the 2013 PGA champion Jason Dufner is 49.
On this date in 1911, amateur champion golfer Dick Chapman was born in Greenwich, Conn. Not well remembered today, Chapman was an international star, not only winning the U.S. Amateur in 1940 but the British Amateur in 1951 plus the amateur titles of France, Canada and Italy. He played on three U.S. Walker Cup teams, in 1947, 1951 and 1953. Also on this date in 1958, Arnold Palmer won the St. Petersburg Open, finishing off rounds of 70-69-72-65—276 to earn top money of $2,000. A few weeks later he would win his first of four Masters.
Winter-weary golfers rejoice: Spring temps have to be showing up soon. Today's anecdote celebrates that annual golf rite of spring, the Masters. On March 22, 1934, eventual winner Horton Smith was a coleader with 70 after the first round of the inaugural Masters, then called the Augusta National Invitation Tournament. Tournament and course creator and huge fan favorite Bobby Jones shot 76. On this date in 1964, Carol Mann, age 23, won the LPGA 35th Western Open at Scenic Hills Country Club in Pensacola, Florida. She shot 76 and 74 on the final day for a 72-hole total of 308, two shots better than Judy Kimball and Ruth Jessen. It was Mann’s first tour victory.
The first Players Championship held at the TPC Stadium Course concluded on March 21, 1982. Jerry Pate won by two shots with a final-round, five-under-par 67 and then christened the event during the award ceremony by tossing both Commissioner Deane Beman and course architect Pete Dye into the lake alongside the 18th hole and jumping in himself. The finish of holes 16, 17 and 18 with water all around has become a mesmerizing classic to watch each year.
Harry Vardon, the legendary English great who won the Open Championship six times and has a method of holding the club named after him, among other things, died on this date in 1937, age 66. Vardon is the only six-time winner of the Open and was born on Jersey of the Channel Islands. He also won the 1900 U.S. Open. He died of a tuberculosis-type disease. Of his many legacies is the Vardon Grip, aka overlap grip. Also on this date, Cary Middlecoff won the Jacksonville (Fla.) Open at Hyde Park Golf Club in 1950. He shot a 69 the final day to win the $2,000 first-place money. The World Golf Hall of Fame member won at least one tour event for 10 straight years from 1947 to 1956, and won 36 events overall.
Today's date holds great meaning for Arnold Palmer in Bay Hill/Arnold Palmer Invitational history. On March 19, 2004, he played his final round as a competitor in the tournament so dear to him, shooting 79 to miss the 36-hole cut. He had shot 88 in Round 1. In 1993, on another March 19, he shot 76 but still made the cut for the final time in the event. Also on this date, the great J.H. Taylor, five-time Open champion, was born on this day in 1871. On this date in 1950, Babe Didrikson Zaharias won the U.S. Women’s Open (pre USGA run) at Rolling Hills C.C. by nine shots over Betsy Rawls.