The Spanish boy wonder, Sergio Garcia, was born on this date in 1980, making him the ripe age of 44. At one time seen as a surefire multiple major winner, it took until 2017 for Garcia to break through and win a major at the Masters. He’s now part of the LIV golf tour. And I would be remiss if I, as a Packer fan, did not make note that today is also the birthday of the great Bart Starr, the Packers' iconic quarterback during the Vince Lombardi Era. Starr was born 90 years ago in Montgomery, Alabama; he died in 2019. Go Pack Go!
On this date in 1962, Jack Nicklaus won his first money as a professional on tour. The Los Angeles Open finished at Rancho Municipal, with Nicklaus in a tie for 50th, earning $33.33, on rounds totaling 289. The winner was Phil Rodgers with 268. Arnold Palmer had 283 for T-18. Whenever Nicklaus would comment on this first PGA event in the following years, he would joke he always wondered where the extra penny went. Because he was one of three players at 50th, with Billy Maxwell and Don Massengale, and they had to share $100 among them, one person got an extra penny. Nicklaus and Massengale each got $33.33; the $33.34 went to Maxwell.
On this date in 1938, the 1975 U.S. Open winner Lou Graham was born in Nashville, Tennessee, and in 1983, Natalie Gulbis was born in Sacramento, California. Perceived as one of the LPGA’s glamour players, she famously broke through after six years as a pro by winning her lone victory, the 2007 Evian Masters. Graham was born on this date in 1938, putting him at the Big 8-5. The Nashville native was the improbable winner of the 1975 U.S. Open at Medinah, a topsy-turvy championship that had Tom Watson looking strong after 36, but had Graham tie John Mahaffey after 72 and winning an 18-hole playoff.
Three of America’s most accomplished golfers were born on this date. In 1921 it was three-time major winner Cary “Doc” Middlecoff in Halls, Tennessee; in 1957, Nancy Lopez was born in Torrance, California; she won 48 LPGA Tour titles and three majors; like Phil Mickelson, she was snakebit in the National Open. She finished runner-up four times. And in 1960, Paul Azinger, the 1993 PGA Champion and 12-time tour winner, was born in Holyoke, Massachusetts.
A major champion in professional golf was born on this date in 1969. Shaun Micheel, winner of the 2003 PGA Championship, was born in Orlando, Florida. He is that rare major winner whose only tour victory was the major. Also, 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.
A couple major birthdays are being held today. The 2001 PGA Championship winner David Toms, now mainly focused on the Champions Tour, was born on this date in 1967 in Monroe, Louisiana. He won the U.S. Senior Open in 2018. And one of America's finest amateur golfers was born on this date but you might not even be that familiar with him. Marvin (Vinny) Giles III was born Jan. 4, 1943. The 1966 University of Georgia graduate was a three-time All-American. Giles was second in the U.S. Amateur three times before finally winning in 1972. He also won the 1975 British Amateur. He was on four Walker Cup teams, was low amateur in the 1968 Masters and 1973 U.S. Open, and won the 2009 U.S. Senior Amateur. He went on to run a successful player-agent business.
U.S. golf pro Fred Haas, Jr., was born on this date in 1916 in Portland, Arkansas. Haas was a five-time PGA Tour winner but one of his lesser known claims to fame is that he was grouped with Arnold Palmer in Arnie’s second-ever PGA Tour event, the 1948 Dapper Dan Invitational at Alcoma Golf Club in Pittsburgh. We also know that PGA Tour events this time of year are played on the West Coast or Hawaii. On this date in 1988 and 1993, a couple journeymen won on the Monterey Peninsula. In 1988, Lennie Clements won the Spalding Invitational Pro-Am in a four-man playoff, and in 1993, Mark Brooks had an easier time of it, winning by five shots over Bob May in the Pebble Beach Invitational.
This week marks the return of the PGA Tour, with the usual first event of January, the Sentry Tournament of Champions, in Hawaii. But there was a time when the Los Angeles Open led things off. On this date in 1959, for instance, the first round of the L.A. Open was played. It was the fourth time Arnold Palmer had played L.A., and he would win there in 1963. In '59, he shot 72 and would tie for ninth. Two-time U.S. Amateur champion Marvin (Bud) Ward (in 1939 and 1941) died on this date in 1968 at age 54 after a cancer illness.
Happy New Year! May your golf game be a source of pleasure in 2024. On this date in 1938, the 14-club limit imposed by the Rules of Golf became effective. Up until then, players carried as many as they wanted. Caddies heaved a sigh of relief with their lighter loads. Also, Jerilyn Britz, the winner of the 1979 U.S. Women's Open, was born on this day in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in 1943.
PGA and Champions Tour golfer Bob Gilder was born on this date in 1950 in Corvallis, Oregon. Gilder attended Arizona State and won six PGA Tour events. Also, 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 on online search engines of Paul Runyan chipping over a stymie successfully on the green in his 1938 PGA Championship victory over Sam Snead.
One of a handful of golfers considered the GOAT of the game, Eldrick Tont (Tiger) Woods was born on this date in 1975 in Cypress, California. At age 48, his ability to win has been diminished due to severe injuries but his presence as an elder statesman has remained strong in the invasion of Saudi Arabian-funded LIV Golf as a rival to the other established major world tours.
Renowned golf course architect Pete Dye was born on this date in 1925 in Urbana, Ohio. Among his most notable designs is the Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, venue for the annual Players Championship. The course’s main feature is the island green at the par-3 17th. He died on January 9, 2020, at age 94.
German golf star Martin Kaymer was born on this date in 1984. The one-time No. 1 golfer in the world has won two majors: the 2010 PGA Championship and 2014 U.S. Open.
American golf professional Charley Hoffman is more of a journeyman nowadays on the PGA Tour at age 47. He was born on this date in 1976. The San Diego native has four PGA Tour victories and two top-10s in majors. His highest world ranking was 20th.
On this date in 1993, the Senior PGA Tour, repped by Raymond Floyd, Jack Nicklaus and Chi Chi Rodriguez, won the Wendy’s Three-Tour Challenge at Colleton RIver Plantation at Hilton Head Island, S.C., shooting 11 under par.
This date in golf history will always be observed primarily as the day Young Tom Morris died in 1875 at just age 24. A four-time winner of the Open Championship by then, four months before he died his wife and newborn son had died while she was giving birth. Young Tom was distraught and is commonly believed to have died of a broken heart but in medical chat it was listed as a pulmonary hemorrhage.
Margaret Curtis passed away on this date in 1965. She and sister Harriot were not only excellent players but were very charity minded. They were the ones to donate the cup that is played for in the Curtis Cup biennial competition between women amateurs from the U.S. and Great Britain & Ireland. In 2024 it will be held at Sunningdale in England, August 30 and September 1.
Herman Barron was born on this date in 1909, in Port Chester, New York. He was a club pro at the Fenway Club in Westchester County, New York, and taught for many years but he was successful as a pro player as well. He won the 1963 PGA Seniors Championship and his victory in the 1942 Western Open is credited as the first time a Jewish golfer won a PGA tour event.
In a meeting in New York on this date in 1894, the U.S. Golf Association was born with five charter member clubs.
On this date in 1996, the Lexus Challenge ended at LaQuinta Resort, with Hale Irwin and actor Sean Connery winning at 21 under par. Arnold Palmer and actor Chris O’Donnell shot 68-64—132, to tie for 8th in the team event.