One-time major champion Lou Graham, the 1975 U.S. Open winner in a playoff with John Mahaffey at Medinah, was born on this date in 1938 in Nashville, Tennessee.

Today is the 101st birthday anniversary for Cary (Doc) Middlecoff, the three-time major champion who was born in Halls, Tennessee.

Ken Venturi had yet to win a major when he won the Los Angeles Open on this date in 1959. He had won six times in two years when L.A. was played in 1959. He shot 63 in the final round to win by two shots over Art Wall.

The 2001 PGA champion David Toms was born on this date in 1967 in Monroe, Louisiana. Toms also won the 2018 U.S. Senior Open.

Golf’s first $1 million event, the Million Dollar World Challenge at Sun City, South Africa, was won on this date in 1981 by eventual World Golf Hall of Fame golfer Johnny Miller in a playoff with Seve Ballesteros.

Two-time U.S. Amateur champion Marvin “Bud” Ward, one of America’s standout amateur players, died on this date in 1968 at just age 54 from cancer.

Legendary amateur Billy Joe Patton, who had a stirring third-place finish in the 1954 Masters, died on this date, New Year’s Day, in 2011.

The stymie rule officially died on this date in 1951. The rule called for balls to be played as they came to rest on the green; you couldn't mark the ball and pick it up. That meant that if a golfer's ball stopped between the hole and another player's ball, that player had "laid a stymie" and the "stymied" golfer had to putt around the ball or in some instances tried to chip over the ball to hole out. To see an example, there is old newsreel video of Paul Runyan on YouTube chipping over a stymie successfully on the green in his 1938 PGA Championship victory over Sam Snead.

All-time great Tiger Woods, who survived a potentially fatal car crash earlier this year, will have extra reason to celebrate today, his 46th birthday, now that he is mending his body back to golf shape. Woods was born in Cypress, California, and is still attempting to become the all-time winner in tour victories and major championships, if his health allows him.

Renowned golf course architect Pete Dye was born on this date in 1925 in Urbana, Ohio. A member of the World Golf Hall of Fame, Dye’s designs include the Stadium Course (TPC at Sawgrass), Crooked Stick, Kiawah Island, and Harbour Town..

Affable Jimmy Demaret, a three-time Masters winner and good-will golf ambassador, died on this date in 1983 at age 73.

Dave Marr was born on this date in 1933 in Houston. He won the 1965 PGA Championship but more indelibly he was a longtime ABC-TV golf analyst who set the standard for analytics that successors are still trying to achieve. He died in 1997.

Born one year after the death of Young Tom Morris, fellow Scot Willie Smith was born and would develop into one of the game’s best players, along with brothers Alex and MacDonald, and win the 1899 U.S. Open. But like Morris, he would die young, age 40, from pneumonia on this date in 1916 in Mexico City where he had relocated.

Four-time Open champion Young Tom Morris died on Christmas Day, 1875, in St. Andrews, Scotland. It is commonly believed he died, literally, of a broken heart brought on by the death just three months earlier of his wife, Margaret, and child during delivery. But his breathing may have been affected by a match he played in poor weather a few weeks earlier, which may have also compounded his deteriorating health. He was just 24 years old but had already dominated the competition.

At this festive season of the year, today and tomorrow’s day in history will feature a couple of deaths. Today on Christmas Eve, in 2003, Herman Keiser, the surprise 1946 Masters champion and Springfield, Missouri, native, died at age 89 in Akron, Ohio.

Mildly successful tour pro Herman Barron was born on this date in 1909 in Port Chester, New York. Barron played in the 1947 Ryder Cup and finished fourth in the 1946 U.S. Open. His biggest tour victory was the 1942 Western Open.

Five clubs joined together on this date in 1894 in New York to form the United States Golf Association.

The great showman Walter Hagen, winner of 11 majors including five PGAs, was born on this date in Rochester, New York in 1892.

An LPGA Tour member, Hannah Green, the 2019 PGA champion, was born on this date in 1996 in Perth, located in Western Australia.

On this date in 1976, Arnold Palmer wrapped up a tournament partnership in the Pepsi-Cola Mixed Team Championship with scores of 73-73-67-71—284 for a tie for seventh and $2,016.67. His partner? Sandra Palmer. The two weren’t related but had to field questions about being siblings and had fun pairing up in the event.