On this date in 1984, Arnold Palmer won the 45th PGA Senior Ch. at Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. It was his second Senior PGA, done with one of the most unusual set of four rounds for a regular or senior event. His middle rounds had a 16-stroke variance: 63 to 79. The good news was that the 63 had put him in the lead by eight (the largest 36-hole lead in 1984 on the senior tour) and the 79 was shot on a blustery day with temperatures in the 40s and the majority of the players scoring high. The weather was gusty for the final round, too, but Palmer steadied himself to win by two over Don January. The 63 would be Palmer’s career low round in senior tour play. Palmer’s scores: 69-63-79-71—282, 1st, $35,000. PGA National/Champion Course (72, 6,520).
Jack Nicklaus, the man recognized as the greatest golfer in history, was born on this date in 1940 in Columbus, Ohio. Nicklaus won 18 major pro titles and two U.S. Amateurs.
One part of a brother tandem that won majors was born on this date in 1928. Lionel Hebert was born in Lafayette, Louisiana, the younger brother of Jay. Lionel won the 1957 PGA, the final time it was played at match play and three years before Jay won the same major. Lionel also played in the 1957 Ryder Cup.
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 30 should be ready to make a major breakthrough. He was runner-up in the 2018 U.S. Open and played on that year’s European Ryder Cup team.
On this date in 1950, many newspaper editors were writing the headline "Sam Snead Spoils Storybook End for Ben Hogan" after Snead beat Hogan 72-76 in an 18-hole playoff to win the Los Angeles Open at par-71 Riviera. Hogan was attempting a comeback from his horrific car-bus highway accident in Texas in February 1949.
On this date in 1916, department store owner Rodman Wanamaker organized a lunch at the Martinique Hotel in New York City with interested parties who organized the PGA of America organization for professional golfers and club pros.
On this date in 1938, at Augusta Country Club, adjacent to Augusta National, the LPGA Titleholders Championship was won by Patty Berg by 14 strokes.
Y.E. Yang (Yang Yong-eun), the giant slayer in the 2009 PGA Championship at Hazeltine when he beat Tiger Woods for the title, was born in South Korea on this date in 1972.
On this date in 1971, Arnold Palmer shot a 72 in the Bing Crosby National Pro-Am, not a promising start to contend in a tournament he never won. However, he went 68-69 to get into contention for the final round. But a three-putt on Pebble Beach’s fifth hole hurt his cause and he finished two shots behind winner Tom Shaw’s 278 on January 17.
World Golf Hall of Fame member Mark O’Meara was born on this date in 1957 in Goldsboro, North Carolina. He won the 1979 U.S. Amateur and 1998 Masters and Open Championship.
On this date in 1997, Arnold Palmer took the next step to treating his prostate cancer. With a Carlsbad, California dateline, the Associated Press reported: “Arnold Palmer piloted his private plane to Minnesota [Sunday] and will enter the Mayo Clinic for tests to determine a course of treatment for prostate cancer. Palmer, 67, found out that a biopsy indicated he had cancer. He left the La Costa Resort and Spa [Friday], where he was attending the PGA Tour awards dinner at the Mercedes Championship and returned to his Florida home on Saturday. "His mood is good but he is subdued from his normal demeanor," Doc Giffin, Palmer's spokesman and longtime confidant, said yesterday from Latrobe, Pa. "He feels fine. There is nothing bothering him physically." Giffin said Palmer, an avid pilot, was flying himself to the renowned clinic in Rochester, Minn., and assumed tests would begin today. Palmer was told of the biopsy report Friday.
World Golf Hall of Fame member Ben Crenshaw was born on this date in 1952 in Austin, Texas. His main achievements were two Masters titles in 1984 and 1995 and captain of the miraculous U.S. Ryder Cup team that won in 1999.
One of golf history’s lone major winners, Bob Hamilton, was born on this date in Evansville, Indiana, in 1916. That is the same year the PGA Championship was played for the first time, a major Hamilton won in 1944.
Sergio Garcia, the 2017 Masters Tournament winner, was born on this date in 1980 in Borriol, Castellón.
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 loved to 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.
On this date in 1938, Lou Graham, the 1975 U.S. Open champion at Medinah over John Mahaffey, was born in Nashville, Tennessee.
This is the 100th anniversary of Cary Middecoff’s birth on this date Halls, Tennessee, northeast of Memphis. “Doc” Middlecoff trained to be a dentist but left his practice to play golf professionally. He won three majors, the 1949 and 1956 U.S. Open and 1955 Masters. A notoriously slow player, he was faster in his post-pro career in doing TV work and consulting for Golf Digest.
Shaun Micheel won one PGA Tour event, but it was the 2003 PGA Championship, a major. He was born on January 5, 1969, in Orlando, Florida.
One-time major winner and 13-time PGA Tour winner David Toms was born on this date in 1967 in Monroe, Louisiana. Toms won the 2001 PGA and won the 2018 U.S. Senior Open.
On this date in 1981, Johnny Miller won golf’s first-ever 1-million dollar tournament in a playoff with Seve Ballesteros. It was known as the Million Dollar World Challenge at Sun City, South Africa.