This Day in Golf History: January 8

On this date in 1962, Phil Rodgers won the Los Angeles Open by nine shots with a score of 268 at Rancho Municipal but most notable was the debut of Jack Nicklaus in a pro tour event. He won a tidy $33.33 on a score of 289 and tie for 50th. Nicklaus thereafter would often tell how he and two others, Billy Maxwell and Don Massengale, tied and had to share $100. He got $33.33 and always wondered who got the extra penny. It was Nicklaus and Massengale who each got $33.33; the $33.34 went to Maxwell. It wasn’t long before the Golden Bear started earning the big bucks.