This Day in Golf History: January 12
On this date in 1997, new tour pro Tiger Woods won the Mercedes Championships, his third PGA Tour victory, in a playoff with Tom Lehman. On this date in 1969, pioneering African-American golfer Charlie Sifford won the Los Angeles Open to go with the 1967 Greater Hartford Open as his two PGA Tour victories. He also won the Long Beach Open, but it was not tour-sanctioned. He was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2004 for his lifetime achievement as a player and fighter for civil rights and equal treatment.