Today's date in 1957 is traditionally thought of as when the Masters announced it would institute a 36-hole cut with that year's tournament. From 1957 to 1961, it was low 40 and ties. From 1962-2012 it was low 44 and ties and any player within 10 shots of the leader. In 2013 it changed to low 50 and ties and any player within 10 shots of the lead.

Golf in Texas this time of year wouldn't seem the ideal place to hold a PGA Tour event, but on this date in 1957, the Houston Open concluded and it was won by Arnold Palmer. The tour that year left Arizona on February 10, played the Texas Open February 14-17 and went to Houston. Palmer posted scores of 67-72-71-69—279 to win $7,500.

Iowa City native Zach Johnson, rumored to be the next U.S. Ryder Cup captain, was born on this date in 1976. The two-time major winner is a grinder and has 12 PGA Tour victories including the 2007 Masters and the 2015 Open Championship at the home of golf, The Old Course at St. Andrews.

Victorious 2021 U.S. Ryder Cup Captain and 12-time PGA Tour winner and 7-time Champions Tour winner Steve Stricker celebrates his 55th birthday today. The great short-game expert has been recovering from a horrifying and mysterious illness and is still not 100 percent.

A notorious murder took place on this date in 1831, and a famous golf course got its name from the murder victim. Dutchman Baltus Roll, 61, was murdered on his farm, in his farmhouse on Watchung Mountain, in the area of Springfield, New Jersey. Roll was murdered at night by two would-be robbers who thought he had gold coins in the house--which he did not. Over time, Roll's name remained in local lore, and was adapted when Baltusrol Golf Club came into existence on Baltus Roll's farmland.

Arnold Palmer started the Houston Classic off in Round 1 on this date in 1957 with a 67, giving him control of the tournament and he went on to win and take home top prize of $7,500.

One of the key outsiders who has made an impact on golf majors celebrates his 83rd birthday on this date. Herb Kohler, the leader of the bathroom-fixture company, Kohler, was the force behind Blackwolf Run and Whistling Straits, Wisconsin courses that have been the sites of a few major championships, including the PGA, U.S. Senior Open and Women's Open. Kohler also has ownership of the Old Course Hotel in St. Andrews, Scotland.

The PGA Tour no longer has Tucson as a stop during the beginning of the calendar schedule, but it was a notable locale before the tour would head to Florida. On this date in 1967, Arnold Palmer won the Tucson Open even though he had a poor final round. His 73 was still good enough to win, thanks to a 66-67-67 start at Tucson National. He led by four with a round to go and barely hung on, winning by one over Chuck Courtney; they both drove into the lake on 18, Palmer making a double bogey and Courtney a triple.

The main birthday celebrant today is Judy Rankin, World Golf Hall of Fame member who was born on this date in 1945. The 26-time LPGA Tour winner was born in St. Louis and is most well-known to today's golf fans for her splendid TV golf commentary.

Before the 58 and 59s shot on the PGA Tour, there were several 60s. One was shot on this date at the Texas Open in 1955 when Mike Souchak had the first-round lead at Brackenridge Park in San Antonio. His 60 tied the then all-time record for 18 holes set in 1951 by Al Brosch in the Texas Open, then tied in 1952 by Bill Nary at El Paso, Tex.; by Ted Kroll in the 1954 Texas Open, and by Tommy Bolt at Hartford, Conn., in 1954. Souchak also had a back-nine score of 27, which broke the previous nine-hole score of 28.

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.