Marlene Bauer Hagge, a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame, was born on this date in 1934. She won 26 LPGA events, including the 1956 LPGA Championship. She and sister, Alice, were golf prodigies who appeared on the cover of Golf Digest in the '50s en route to pro careers as founders of the LPGA.

Every so often, Chi Chi Rodriguez would show how well he could play as well as entertain. On this date in 1987, he rebounded from a third-round 76 and shot a five-under-par 67 to overtake a faltering Dale Douglass and win the 48th Senior PGA Championship at PGA National's Champion Course.

There has always been a great deal of love shown to the golf great born on this date, Mickey Wright, who would have turned 87 today. Referred to by many, including Ben Hogan, as having the finest swing, man or woman, she is generally regarded as the greatest woman player. The San Diego native won 13 majors, including four U.S. Women's Opens and four LPGAs. She was born in 1935 and died in 2020.

104 years ago on this date, one of the greatest golfers, and one of the game's greatest ambassadors, was born in Minneapolis. Patty Berg, who played football in her neighborhood growing up, became a golf superstar and was a popular draw in the early days of the LPGA Tour. She had a great catchphrase at her clinics, which I first saw in the 1980s at Bloomington Country Club in Illinois; she always reminded attendees to "swing to the finish," which she would then do in a flourish.

The modern Big Three of Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player finished 1-2-3 three times on the PGA Tour. The first was on this date in 1963 at the Phoenix Open at Arizona Country Club, where the finish was twice delayed by near hurricane-force winds and rain. The order was oldest to youngest: Palmer was first with scores of 68-67-68-70—273, a 15-under total, and $5,300 prize money. Player finished one stroke back, and Nicklaus was third at 275.

On this date in 1962, Arnold Palmer won the Phoenix Open after some of the best scoring of his career. He had rounds of 64-68-71-66 for 269, winning by 12 shots at Phoenix Country Club.

On this date in 1951, Al Bosch is credited with shooting the first round of 60 on the PGA Tour in the Texas Open during the third round. Also on today's date, it's World Golf Hall of Fame member Greg Norman's 67th birthday.

This is the traditional date in golf history, in 1834, that the St. Andrews Club was christened the Royal & Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews, with King William IV as its patron.

Australian star Jan Stephenson won 16 times on the LPGA Tour, the first coming on this date in 1976. She finished at two-over-par 218 in the Sarah Coventry Naples Classic on Lely Country Club to edge both Judy Meister and Sandra Haynie by one shot.

As Golf Year 1960 began, Arnold Palmer had 13 tour wins, including one major, the Masters of 1958. He was not yet viewed as the icon he would become. By the end of the year, though, he would well be on his way to immortality. On this date in 1960, he won the Palm Springs Desert Classic, his fifth event of 1960, with a final-round 65; by 1965 the event was renamed the Bob Hope Desert Classic. The 1960 Classic was the tournament debut, which Arnie would win five times, the final time in 1973.

Today is a celebration of the moon shot: The one Alan Shepard hit with a makeshift 6-iron on the moon on this date in 1971 as part of the Apollo 14 space mission, and the incredible moon-shot artist, Babe Ruth, who was born on this date in 1895. The former longtime holder of the home-run record with 714 had 11 seasons of hitting 40 or more homers in his career, and in keeping with a golf theme, he was an avid golfer.

Playoffs are a common event on the PGA Tour. On this date in 1966, Arnold Palmer shot his best score of the Bob Hope Desert Classic that year, a 67, in the fourth round, then lost a playoff the next day when he and Doug Sanders tied at 349. Sanders won on the first hole of a sudden-death playoff.

The great Byron Nelson was born on this date in 1912, the same year Ben Hogan and Sam Snead were born. Nelson died on September 26, 2006. To read more about the man they called Lord Byron for his outstanding demeanor and character, go to worldgolfhalloffame.org/byron-nelson/.

Two-time U.S. Open winner Retief Goosen turns 53 today. He is recovering from a health issue and had a solid tournament at the Mitsubishi Electric senior eventn last month. Also born on this date was the World Golf Hall of Famer Carol Mann, born in Buffalo in 1941 and passed away in 2018.

One of the more horrific days in golf history took place on this date in 1949 when Ben Hogan was nearly killed in a car-bus crash on a highway near Van Horn in west Texas, in morning fog. Hogan and wife Valerie's car was struck by an oncoming bus that was trying to pass another vehicle. Hogan's heroic move to throw himself in front of his wife saved his life as the impact forced the car's steering column to run through the driver's seat. Incredibly, a year later, Hogan returned to golf and nearly won the Los Angeles Open in his first tournament.

This is the date that's noted in 1922 that the USGA established the U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship. The first event was held in July 1922 at Ottawa Park Golf Course in Toledo, Ohio, won by Edmund R. Held. The event was discontinued after the 2014 playing.

The Waste Management Phoenix Open is on the PGA Tour schedule February 10-13. On this date in 1957, the first round of the Phoenix Open at Arizona Country Club was held, with Arnold Palmer shooting a four-under-par 66 to share the lead with Billy Maxwell. The tournament was eventually won by Billy Casper at 271; Arnie tied for fifth with scores of 66-70-70-71—277 and earned $787.50.

Today marks what would have been Payne Stewart's 65th birthday. The three-time major champion, whose life was cut short when his private jet malfunctioned in flight and crashed on Oct. 25, 1999, is a member of the World Golf, Missouri Sports, and PGA of America halls of fame.

Today marks the 99th birthday of two-time major champion and World Golf Hall of Fame member Jack Burke Jr. , the oldest living past major champion winner. The oldest-living woman major champion is Betsy Rawls, who will be 94 in May.

On this date in 2007, Tiger Woods was in dominate form by winning the Farmers Insurance Open for his seventh consecutive PGA Tour victory, which is second for longest tour winning streak behind Byron Nelson’s 11 in 1945.