This Day in Golf History: January 19

The first round of the first LPGA Tour event was played on this date in 1950. The Tampa Open was held at 6,093-yard Palma Ceia C.C. An amateur, Polly Riley, would win with a 295 score; Louise Suggs was second at 300. The first round was led by Babe Zaharias, who was “clicking off pars like clockwork, led by two strokes at the end of the first round of the Tampa women's open golf tournament today. The walloping pro hit par 70 right on the nose par 35 out, par 35 in. She was even par on 14 of the 18 holes. Twice she was one over, and twice she was one under. Amateur Polly Riley of Fort Worth came second with golf of the opposite brand.” That was the opening paragraph of a national wire-service report on the first round. Also, one of the world’s young golf stars was born on this date in 1991. Tommy Fleetwood was born in Southport, England, and at age 34 should be ready to make a major breakthrough at any time. He was runner-up in the 2018 U.S. Open and played on that year’s European Ryder Cup team. In the 2023 Ryder Cup, he scored the decisive point in his single match win on Sunday, which helped the European Team reclaim the Ryder Cup for the first time since 2018. Overall, he went 3–1–0 in that event.