On Sunday, Lydia Ko won her first major in eight years at the AIG Women’s Open at St. Andrews. On this date in 2012, when 15 year-old Ko of New Zealand won the Canadian Open by three shots, she became the youngest winner in LPGA Tour history and was the first amateur winner since JoAnne Carner won the 1969 Burdine’s Invitational. Ko was the fifth amateur winner in tour history. She broke the age record of 16 set by Lexi Thompson at the Navistar Classic in September 2011. Another moment on this day: Marlene Hagge shot 284 at Lakewood Country Club to win the Denver Open in 1956. She took home $800 for first; Fay Crocker was second , six behind.
On this date in 1946, Ben Hogan, at age 34, won his first major championship, winning the PGA at Portland (Ore.) Golf Club in a 6-and-4 decision over Ed Oliver. This is the latest the PGA Championship finished in the month of August. It was the first of two PGAs Hogan won. This PGA was also notable for it being the last time Byron Nelson played in the PGA. He lost to Oliver in the quarterfinals and overall had a 37-8 record.
On this date in 1975, Al Geiberger won the second Tournament Players Championship, finishing three shots ahead of Dave Stockton at Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas. Jose Luis Ballester of Spain recently won the U.S. Amateur at Hazeltine in Minnesota. On this date in 1997, Matt Kuchar won the U.S. Amateur, defeating Joel Kribel, 2 & 1, in the 36-hole final at Cog Hill's Dubsdread course in Lemont, III. Kuchar, 19 at the time, was from Lake Mary, Fla., and a golf team member at Georgia Tech. He was playing in the U.S. Amateur for the first time.
Beth Daniel won the World Championship of Women's Golf on this date in 1981, at Shaker Heights (Ohio) Country Club. She went home with the $50,000 first-place prize money. On this date in 2009, the Solheim Cup wrapped up at Rich Harvest Farms in Sugar Grove, Illinois. The U.S. won a third straight match, 16-12, and won eight of the 12 singles matches held on the final day.
Two influential names in women’s golf history shared the stage on this date in 1976. Kathy Whitworth won the Patty Berg Classic at Keller Golf Course in St. Paul, Minnesota. Whitworth shot a seven-under-par score of 212 to win by two shots over Sandra Post. First prize was $8,000. And on this date in 2010, The Senior Tradition, held at the Crosswater Club, was won by Fred Funk by one shot over Michael Allen and Taiwan's Lu Chien-soon.
The third PGA Championship ended on this date in 1920. Jock Hutchison--who copy editors forever incorrectly changed to Hutchinson--defeated Douglas Edgar 1-up at Flossmoor Country Club in Chicago in the 36-hole final. And on this date in 1914, two of the prominent golfers of the time battled in Round 4 at the Midlothian Country Club in Illinois in the 20th U.S. Open. Walter Hagen, the third-round leader by two shots, shot 73 but held on when those closest to him fell back. Amateur star Chick Evans, who trailed by four, shot 70 to finish a shot back. Hagen shot two-over 290, Evans 291 and third place was back to 297.
The 1944 PGA ended on this date, with Bob Hamilton an upset 1-up winner over Byron Nelson in the final at Manito Golf & Country Club in Spokane, Washington. The much more heralded Nelson could not get the edge on Hamilton; the two finished the first 18 holes tied. Nelson would win the following year, 4&3, versus Sam Byrd.
At age 44, Lee Trevino showed he could still win a major when he held off Gary Player and Lanny Wadkins on this date in 1984 at Shoal Creek to win the PGA Championship. Trevino shot 69 in the final round and finished 15 under par. The victory was his sixth and final major and came 10 years after he'd won his first PGA.
The PGA Championship ended on this date in 2002 as a moment for the Everyman in all of us. Unheralded Rich Beem shot 278 to edge Tiger Woods by one shot at Hazeltine National. Beem could have faltered many times in the final round as Woods came charging at him with a 67, but he had a 68 of his own and won his first and only major. Also on this date in 1946, the Golf Writers Association of America was begun.
One of the memorable conclusions to a PGA Championship was on this date in 1997. Davis Love III won his lone major, holing out on the final hole for a five-shot victory at Winged Foot West over Justin Leonard. The son of a PGA professional and renowned teacher, Davis Love, Jr., Love III finished just as a rainbow appeared in the sky, a heavenly confirmation of a popular victory. Another PGA Championship that ended on this date was in 1969 at NCR Country Club. Raymond Floyd won his first major, one ahead of South Africa’s Gary Player, who was targeted by apartheid protesters.
Today’s date is a popular one in PGA Championship history. On this date, six were won by: 1970, Dave Stockton at Southern Hills; 1976, Stockton at Congressional; 1992, Nick Price at Bellerive; 1998, Vijay Singh at Sahalee; 2009, Y.E. Yang at Hazeltine, and 2015, Jason Day at Whistling Straits. Stockton won the PGA in 1970 and it marked the last good chance Arnold Palmer had of winning the only major he didn't win. Stockton finished two shots ahead of Palmer and Bob Murphy with a winning score of just one-under-par 279 at Southern Hills in Tulsa. Stockton shot 73 in the last round to hang on as Murphy shot 66 and Arnie 70.
Of the several PGA Championships that ended on this date, the one in 1965 was supposed to have been Arnold Palmer’s crowning moment. Held at Laurel Valley Golf Club in Ligonier, Pennsylvania, in Arnie’s Latrobe backyard, the winner instead was the very worthy Dave Marr, who won by two shots over Billy Casper and Jack Nicklaus. Marr went on to be arguably the best TV golf analyst, mainly working for ABC. Palmer, who exerted a lot of energy serving as a championship host, only finished tied for 33rd, 14 shots behind, and he never once broke par in four rounds.
One of the years the PGA Championship ended on an August 14 was in 1977, and it had a memorable element to it. Young tour gunslinger Lanny Wadkins, 27, and venerable cancer survivor Gene Littler tied at six-under-par 282 at Pebble Beach at the end of regulation. The PGA had gone to sudden death that year, the first major to do so. Littler was by far the sentimental hope, having led from the start, but he ballooned to 76 in Round 4. Wadkins made a six-foot par putt on the third extra hole to win the playoff. On this date in 2016, 112 years after the last time golf was competed in the Olympics, Justin Rose of Great Britain shot a score of 16 under par to win the gold medal at the Rio de Janeiro Summer Olympics, two ahead of Henrik Stenson. Getting the bronze medal was American Matt Kuchar.
On this date the PGA Championship was won by Justin Thomas in 2017 at Quail Hollow, by Steve Elkington in 1995 at Riviera, Payne Stewart won in 1989 at Kemper Lakes, and Gene Sarazen won in 1933 at Blue Mound. Stewart outlasted Mike Reid to win his first major championship in the PGA. Stewart finished one ahead of Reid, Andy Bean and Curtis Strange. The championship started with Arnold Palmer, nearly 60 years old, shooting 68 and Tom Watson 67; both needed a PGA to complete a career Grand Slam, but neither could keep close to the lead by the end.
On this date in 1973, Jack Nicklaus won the PGA Championship at Canterbury Golf Club, a favorite course of Arnold Palmer’s while stationed at the Coast Guard in Cleveland. It was Jack’s third of five PGA victories, and he won by four shots over Bruce Crampton of Australia. In counting his two U.S. Amateur wins, the victory put Nicklaus one ahead of Bobby Jones for most major championship victories with 14. August 12 has many special occurrences in other PGAs. It was the first day of the event in 1922 (won by Gene Sarazen), 1965 (Dave Marr), 1976 (Dave Stockton), 1993 (Paul Azinger), 1999 (Tiger Woods), 2004 (Vijay Singh), and 2010 (Martin Kaymer). August 12 was the final day not only in 1973 but in 1990 (Wayne Grady), 2007 (Woods), 2012 (Rory McIlroy) and 2018 (Brooks Koepka). For the foreseeable future that will be the last time the PGA ends on an August 12 now that the championship was moved to May in 2019.
The 2013, 1996, 1991, 1986, 1985 and 1974 PGA Championships all ended on August 11 of their year, won by, in order, Jason Dufner, Mark Brooks, John Daly, Bob Tway, Hubert Green and Lee Trevino. Of the five, Daly was the most obscure and unexpected, barely, only getting into the field at the last moment and completely shocking the golf world with his prodigious drives and composure. Trevino had both a good and bad result. In 1985 at Cherry Hills Country Club, Green beat Trevino by two shots, but in 1974 at Tanglewood Park in North Carolina, Trevino won by one stroke over Jack Nicklaus.
In a date coincidence, the final two PGA championships Jack Nicklaus won were on this date, August 10. In 1975, he won his fourth PGA overall on the South Course of Firestone Country Club by two shots from Bruce Crampton. And in 1980 on the East Course at Oak Hill Country Club, Nicklaus won his fifth and final PGA by seven shots over Andy Bean.
The 100th playing of the PGA Championship began on this date in 2018 in St. Louis at Bellerive Country Club. The first time the PGA began on an August 9 was in 1973 at another Midwest spot, Canterbury Golf Club in Cleveland. It ended in a milestone result: Jack Nicklaus won by four shots, and it was his 14th major, moving him ahead of Bobby Jones' total, which had been the record for 43 years. Also, Larry Nelson has an easy time remembering what August 9 means to him in the world of golf. On this date he won both of his PGA victories. In 1981 he won by four strokes over Fuzzy Zoeller at the Atlanta Athletic Club. He won his second major at the 1983 U.S. Open, then in 1987 on this date won the PGA Championship at PGA National in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, beating Lanny Wadkins in a sudden-death playoff.
In the more than 100 playings of the PGA Championship, the PGA of America's showcase event began on this date, August 8, six times: 1933, 1974, 1985, 1991, 1996 and 2013. But it ended on this date just once: in 1982 when Raymond Floyd won by three at Southern Hills in the 64th PGA Championship in Tulsa, Oklahoma, over Lanny Wadkins. It was Floyd’s second PGA victory.
On this date in 1983, Jack Nicklaus had one of his record 19 second-place finishes in a major at the PGA Championship at Riviera Country Club. Hal Sutton shot a par final round to hold off Nicklaus who was six behind with a round to go and shot 66 to fall one shot short. And on this date in 1972, Amy Alcott was the qualifying medalist at the U.S. Girls' Junior at Jefferson City Country Club in Missouri. She had a leading 151 total for two rounds. But she didn't make it past the second round of match play, and the eventual winner was Nancy Lopez, who had shot a qualifying score eight shots higher.