On this date in 1999, Dottie Pepper won a second Nabisco Championship (now the ANA Inspiration) at Mission Hills CC, six strokes ahead of runner-up Meg Mallon.
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.
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.
The global health pandemic has put life on hold, including suspension of pro tour golf, but we can celebrate golf history, such as the first Masters finishing on this date in 1934. Called the Augusta National Invitation Tournament, it was won by Horton Smith when he holed a 20-foot birdie putt at the 17th hole and finished one shot ahead of Craig Wood. That first year, the nines were reversed, and the 17th was today’s par-5 eighth hole.
World Golf Hall of Fame member Pat Bradley was born on this date in 1951 in Westford, Massachusetts. Bradley won six majors, including three du Maurier titles. Her mother would famously ring a bell outside the family home whenever her daughter did something special.
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.
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.
On this date in 1982, Jerry Pate celebrated winning the first Tournament Players Championship held at the Stadium Course designed by Pete Dye by jumping into the water hazard from the area next to the 18th green.
On this date in 1937, Harry Vardon, the only six-time winner of the Open Championship, was born on Jersey of the Channel Islands. He also won the 1900 U.S. Open. He died in 1937 of a tuberculosis-type disease, age 66. Of his many legacies is the Vardon Grip, aka overlap grip.
On this date in 1950, Babe Didrikson Zaharias won the U.S. Women’s Open (pre USGA run) at Rolling Hills Country Club by nine shots over Betsy Rawls.
On this date in 1951, unheralded Pat O’Sullivan won the LPGA Titleholders Championship at Augusta C.C. by two shots over Beverly Hanson. Both players were amateurs.
On this date in 1902, the great Bobby Jones was born in Atlanta. The lifetime amateur founded Augusta National and the Masters. What would he have made of today’s pandemic and its affect on the world? He surely would have had wise words about how to go forward. He passed away in December 1971.
World Golf Hall of Fame member Hollis Stacy was born on this date in 1954. A Georgia native, Stacy won three U.S. Women’s Opens and 18 LPGA Tour events.
A pair of Titleholders championships concluded on this date. In 1953, Patty Berg won for the fifth time, at Augusta Country Club, by nine shots over Betsy Rawls with a score of 294. And in 1959, Louise Suggs won for the fourth time, with 297, with Rawls second again, this time one stroke behind.
A pair of one-time major champions were born on this day. In 1929, Bob Goalby, winner of the 1968 Masters, was born in Belleville, Illinois. He is the uncle to Jay Haas. And in 1936, 1963 Open Championship winner Bob Charles was born in Carterton, New Zealand.
On this date in 1878, it is traditionally believed that the first golf match was held between Oxford and Cambridge universities, with Oxford coming out ahead.
On this date in 1971, the Florida Citrus Invitational played a second round, in which Arnold Palmer shot 68. He would shoot two more 68s and win first prize of $30,000.
On this date in 1956, the LPGA Tour’s Titleholders Championship of Women's Golf was won for the third time by Louise Suggs in a great battle with Patty Berg, winning by one shot at Augusta Country Club.
The Pensacola Open ended on this date in 1963, with Arnold Palmer finishing with rounds of 69-68-69-67—273 for first place and $3,500.
The Arnold Palmer Invitational concluded yesterday, but on today’s date in 1967, the tournament’s earlier incarnation, the Florida Citrus Open, began with the first round. Arnold shot 67-69-71-68—275 to tie for second and earn $11,212.50.