On this date in 1935, Gene Sarazen beat Craig Wood in a 36-hole playoff, 144-149, to win the Masters one day after their great duel that featured Sarazen’s famous double eagle on the 15th hole. Also, on April 8, 1962, Arnold Palmer made birdies on 16 and 17 to tie Gary Player and Dow Finsterwald at 280 at the end of regulation, then beat them the next day in a playoff with a 68 to Player's 71 and Finsterwald's 77. Also on this day in 1886, English golfer Jim Barnes was born. He won four majors, the 1916 and 1919 PGA, 1921 U.S. Open and 1925 Open Championship.
On this date in 1946, the Masters Tournament returned from being off for four years of World War II and in its 10th playing was won by one of the most unlikeliest winners ever, Herman Keiser, by one shot over Ben Hogan, who would win five years later.
On this date in 1936, the Third Masters Tournament ended. After the wild finish the previous year when Gene Sarazen made his double eagle on the 15th hole, this one ended in a second victory for the 1934 inaugural winner Horton Smith, who beat Harry Cooper by one. Other April 6 Masters moments: Arnold Palmer shot a final-round 73 in 1958, but still won his first Masters by one stroke. In 1955, the Sarazen Bridge was dedicated; it’s the bridge that players cross up by the green on the par-5 15th, the hole that Sarazen famously double-eagled.
On this date in 1956, amateur Ken Venturi led Round 1 of the Masters with a 66, but by Sunday he had lost his form and shot 80 to lose to Jack Burke, Jr., by one stroke. Also on this date in 1976, former Open Championship winner Henrik Stenson, the entertaining and intense competitor, was born in Gothenburg, Sweden. His main triumph was a sensational duel with Phil Mickelson to win the 2016 Open at Troon, Scotland.
In Masters history, Byron Nelson went birdie-eagle on Nos. 12 and 13 on April 4, 1937, en route to a final-round 70 and two-shot victory over Ralph Guldahl in the 4th Masters. Nelson was the first of the Great Triumvirate of him, Sam Snead and Ben Hogan, all born in 1912, to win the tournament. Lord Byron also won in 1942. Snead would not win until 1949 and Hogan 1951. Also at Augusta, on April 4, 1995, the Arnold Palmer Plaque behind the 16th tee was dedicated.
On this date in 1994, Raymond Floyd beat Dale Douglass with a birdie on the first hole of a playoff to win The Tradition senior tour event at Desert Mountain in Arizona. On April 3, 1941, Craig Wood shot a 66 in the first round to lead the Masters by five. He went on to lead wire to wire and win by three strokes over Byron Nelson.
After finishing as runner-up two years in a row, Ralph Guldahl won the sixth Masters by one shot over Sam Snead on April 2, 1939. Non-Masters notes: Born on this date were Shane Lowry (1987), J.J. Henry (1975) and World Golf Hall of Fame member Ayako Okamoto (1951).
In two events on this day from different eras, in 1930, Bobby Jones won the Southeastern Open in Atlanta and would go on to win the Grand Slam that year. And more than half a century later in 1984, Fred Couples at age 24 won the Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass by one shot over Lee Trevino. Of a birthday for a vintage golfer, Johnny Farrell, the 1928 U.S. Open champion, was born on April 1, 1901, one year before Bobby Jones and Gene Sarazen. Farrell was a longtime head professional at Baltusrol Country Club in New Jersey, site of numerous majors, and won 22 PGA Tour events. He died in June 1988.
On this date in 1996, Fred Couples shot a final-round 64 to win the Players Championship, for the second time, at the Stadium Course. He finished four ahead of Tommy Tolles and Colin Montgomerie. Of special birthday notes, World Golf Hall of Famer Tommy Bolt was born in Haworth, Oklahoma, on this date in 1916, and Miller Barber was born in 1931 in Shreveport, Louisiana. On the golf course, Tony Jacklin won the 1968 Greater Jacksonville Open on March 31 to become the first Englishman to win a modern U.S. pro tour event and an important event of any kind since Ted Ray won the 1920 U.S. Open. And Calvin Peete won the 1985 Tournament Players Championship by three shots over D.A. Weibring on the TPC Stadium Course.
On this date in 1947, Babe Didrikson Zaharias won her first of three Titleholders Championships at Augusta Country Club, heading off runner-up Dorothy Kirby by five shots. And the only time the Masters Tournament finished in March was the first year, 1934, on March 25. The Masters had two more March days, the first and second rounds in 1939 on the 30th and 31st. Otherwise, the tournament has always been held during the first two weeks of April.
On this date in 1992, Davis Love III, who had just suffered a devastating fire at his home on St. Simons Island, Georgia, won the Players Championship by four strokes ahead of four players in second. Also on this date in ’92 at the Nabisco Dinah Shore, Dottie Pepper (Mochrie at the time), then 26, birdied the 18th hole to tie Juli Inkster, and then won on the first hole of sudden-death playoff, No. 10, with a par-4 to Inkster’s bogey. Play was on the Mission Hills course in Rancho Mirage, Calif. Pepper, who had been runner-up in 1991, also won the tournament in 1999 when she set a tournament record of 19-under 269. The Dinah Shore is now called the Chevron Championship and will be played this year on April 18-21 at The Woodlands, Texas.
Six times a PGA Tour event has been decided after an eight-hole, sudden-death playoff, the most holes it has taken to decide a winner. (Cary Middlecoff and Lloyd Mangrum played 11 holes for the 1949 Motor City Open but were stopped by darkness and declared co-champions.) The first of the eight occasions was on March 28, 1965, when Dick Hart beat Phil Rodgers at the Azalea Open. Also on this date, in 1999, Dottie Pepper won the Nabisco Championship (now the ANA Inspiration) for a second time at Mission Hills CC, six strokes ahead of runner-up Meg Mallon.
On this date in 1994, the Players Championship concluded at TPC Sawgrass Stadium Course with Australia’s Greg Norman setting a record score of 24 under par to win by four over Fuzzy Zoeller. Also on this date, in 1960, two months shy of turning 48, Sam Snead won the De Soto Open Invitational. It was his 80th of 82 PGA Tour victories, still at the top for most wins in tour history...And in 1965, Gene Sarazen was announced as the recipient of the 1964 William D. Richardson Award for outstanding contributions for golf from the Golf Writers Association of America.
A tournament relic from the past, the Sunshine Open, ended on this date in 1961 at Bayshore Golf Club (72, 6,632) in Miami Beach, Florida. This happy-go-lucky sounding tournament had a dramatic finish. After three rounds, Gary Player, Julius Boros and Gay Brewer were tied at 204 with Arnold Palmer among those four back. Arnold blazed the final round with a 66, coming up a shot short of Player, who posted scores of 69-68-67-69—273. Arnold had 68-70-70-66—274, for second worth $2,300. Also on this date, in 1950, the all-time coleader in PGA Tour victories, Sam Snead, had one of his 82 when he won the Greater Greensboro Open at Sedgefield Country Club in Greensboro, N.C. He won the $2,000 first-place prize with rounds of 66-70-66-67—269. A record crowd for the winter tour that year of 17,000 was on hand.
The first Masters finished on this date in 1934. Called the Augusta National Invitation Tournament, it was won by Horton Smith when he holed a 20-foot birdie putt at the 17th hole and finished one shot ahead of Craig Wood. That first year, the nines were reversed, and the 17th was today’s par-5 eighth hole. This is the only time the Masters finished in the month of March.
World Golf Hall of Fame member Pat Bradley was born on this date in 1951 in Westford, Massachusetts. Bradley won six majors, including three du Maurier titles. Her mother would ring a bell outside the family home whenever her daughter did something special. Bradley, the aunt of Keegan Bradley, was one of the greatest winners and mentally tough competitors in golf in winning 31 LPGA Tour events from 1976 to 1995. She also won the 1981 U.S. Women’s Open. Also born on this date in 1977 was 2013 PGA champion Jason Dufner.
On this date in 1958, Arnold Palmer won the St. Petersburg Open, finishing off rounds of 70-69-72-65—276 to earn top money of $2,000. A few weeks later he would win his first of four Masters. Also on this date in 1911, amateur champion golfer Dick Chapman was born in Greenwich, Conn. Not well remembered today, Chapman was an international star, not only winning the U.S. Amateur in 1940 but the British Amateur in 1951 plus the amateur titles of France, Canada and Italy. He played on three U.S. Walker Cup teams, in 1947, 1951 and 1953.
Golfers rejoice: Spring weather is not too far down the road. Today's anecdote celebrates that annual golf rite of spring, the Masters. On March 22, 1934, eventual winner Horton Smith was a co-leader with 70 after the first round of the inaugural Masters, called the Augusta National Invitation Tournament. Tournament and course creator and huge fan favorite Bobby Jones shot 76.
Following up to last weekend’s Players Championship, the first Players held at the TPC Stadium Course concluded on March 21, 1982. Jerry Pate won by two shots with a final-round, five-under-par 67 and then christened the event during the award ceremony by tossing both PGA Tour Commissioner Deane Beman and course architect Pete Dye into the lake alongside the 18th hole and jumping in himself.
On this date in 1937, Harry Vardon, the only six-time winner of the Open Championship, was born on Jersey of the Channel Islands. He also won the 1900 U.S. Open. He died in 1937 of a tuberculosis-type disease, age 66. Of his many legacies is the Vardon Grip, aka overlap grip. Also on this date, Cary Middlecoff won the Jacksonville (Fla.) Open at Hyde Park Golf Club in 1950. He shot a 69 the final day to win the $2,000 first-place money. The World Golf Hall of Fame member won at least one tour event for 10 straight years from 1947 to 1956, and won 36 events overall.