Two years ago on this date, Brian Barnes, an English player, died at age 74. Barnes was one of the great characters in the game and played in the Ryder Cup from 1969 to 1979.
On this date in 1955, PGA Tour rookie Arnold Palmer shot a 78 at the Cavalcade of Golf in the first round then withdrew rather than continue with such a bad score.
It was just a year ago on this date that Dustin Johnson won the Tour Championship at East Lake Golf Club by three shots over Justin Thomas and Xander Schauffele for a FedEx Cup victory.
In the same year that Francis Ouimet won his historic U.S. Open title, 1913, the 19th U.S. Amateur was won on this date by Jerry Travers.
This is the time of year when the U.S. Amateur is played and two past playings ended on this date. In 1925, Bobby Jones won the 29th Amateur and in 1982 Jay Sigel won the 82nd, that one held at The Country Club near Boston.
A pair of Hall of Fame golfers were born on this date. Tom Watson was born in Kansas City in 1949; Raymond Floyd was birthed in Fort Bragg, North Carolina in 1942.
On this date in 1936, the U.S. blanked Great Britain, 9-0, in the Walker Cup held at lauded Pine Valley Golf Club in Clementon, New Jersey.
The 1940 PGA Championship was won on this date at Hershey Country Club by Byron Nelson in a classic 1-up victory over Sam Snead.
The 1893 Open Championship finished on this day at Prestwick Golf Club with Scotland's William Auchterlonie winning by two strokes. In second was amateur Johnny Laidley.
Prior to Hideki Matsuyama winning this year’s Masters, Isao Aoki was the most lauded Japanese player in history, finishing second in the 1980 U.S. Open and winning the 1978 World Match Play Championship. He won once on the PGA Tour but 51 times on the Japanese tour, and was elected to the World Golf Hall of Fame. Aoki was born on this date in 1942 in Abiko, Chiba.
One of golf’s most colorful figures, the quick tempered Tommy (Thunder) Bolt, died at age 92 on this date in 2008 after a Hall of Fame career that included victory in the 1958 U.S. Open.
On this date in 1908, Scotsman Fred McLeod won the 14th U.S. Open at Myopia Hunt Club in South Hamilton, Massachusetts in an 18-hole playoff over Willie Smith.
Lee Janzen, one of the most surprising of multiple major winners in golf history, was born on this date in 1964 in Austin, Minnesota. He won the 1993 and 1998 U.S. Open.
Two-time Masters champion and World Golf Hall of Fame member Bernhard Langer was born on this date in 1957 in Anhausen, Germany.
British golfer Edward (Ted) Ray, who was a notch below the Great Triumvirate of Vardon, Taylor, and Braid, died on this date at age 66 in 1943. He won two majors, the 1912 Open and 1920 U.S. Open.
Ben Hogan broke through as a major champion on this date in 1946 by winning the PGA Championship at Portland Golf Club by defeating Ed (Porky) Oliver, 6 & 4, in the final.
On this date in 1975, Al Geiberger won the second Players Championship (then called the Tournament Players Championship) at Colonial Country Club, by three shots over Dave Stockton.
One of the “most underrated great players” was born on this date in 1929. Peter Thomson, a five-time Open champion, was born in Brunswick, Victoria, Australia. Born just a few weeks before Arnold Palmer, Thomson, a cerebral, tactical player, never got his full acclaim because he did not play in America very much and did not build up a great U.S. regular tour record.
One of the major champions of yesteryear, James Foulis, was born on this date in 1871 in St. Andrews, Scotland. He won the 1896 U.S. Open.
On this date in 1914, Walter Hagen, just 21, won the U.S. Open at Midlothian Country Club near Chicago by just one stroke over amateur star Chick Evans. The victory was Hagen’s of his 2 Open titles.