Randy Walker - On This Day In Golf History: A Day-by-Day Anthology of Anecdotes and Historical Happenings

New Chapter Press

On This Day In Golf History is published by New Chapter Press

( www.NewChapterMedia.com ) and is distributed by the Independent Publishers Group ( www.IPGBook.com ).

Randy Walker, 2017

The cover photos are courtesy of Keith Allison via Foter.com (Tiger Woods), WikiCommons (Bobby Jones), Dreamstime (Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus), Wikicommons/TourProGolfClubs/Mark Schierbecker (Rory McIlroy)

Also get the On This Day In Golf History mobile app and look for our ebook and audio book!

For more information on this title or New Chapter Press contact:

Randy Walker

Managing Partner

New Chapter Press

1175 York Ave

Suite #3s

New York, NY 10065

Dedic ated to my father, Ewing Walker, who stoked my love of golf with trips to many golf events, starting with the 1982 Westchester Classic and the 1983 U.S. Open at Oakmont

Contents

From The Author

Tennis is my first love but golf was a close second. Golf actually inspired me to write my first book On This Day In Tennis History when I was working for the U.S. Tennis Association. While watching the Masters, I remember CBS frequently showcasing historic moments at Augusta in a On This Day In Masters History feature. I thought this should be something that needed to be implemented at the U.S. Open tennis championships, which I promptly researched and created. Through the years, my On This Day In U.S. Open History was added onto my On This Day In U.S. Davis Cup Team History and then into a On This Day In Tennis History compilation that I published as a book in 2008 and then as an annually updated mobile app ( www.TennisHistoryApp.com ) and an audio book. Now, in the spirit of my creation in tennis, I have done the same in golf with On This Day In Golf History. I hope you enjoy my work!

Randy Walker
New York, N.Y., 2017

January 1

1969 Paul Stewart Lawrie, the winner of the 1999 Open Championship, is born in Aberdeen, Scotland. Lawrie wins a dramatic Open Championship at Carnoustie in a playoff with Jean van de Velde and Justin Leonard, overcoming the largest third-round deficit ever faced by a major championship winner, trailing van de Velde by 10 shots entering the final round. Lawrie, curiously, was never the leader or co-leader in the tournament until van de Velde blows a three-shot lead on the final hole of the championship, forcing the playoff.

1932 The United States Golf Association standardizes the golf ball, stating that the ball could weigh no more than 1.62 ounces and measure no less than 1.68 inches in diameter.

January 2

1974 Defending champion Jack Nicklaus is a late arrival to the first PGA tournament of the year, the Bing Crosby National Pro-Am at Pebble Beach, Calif., and declares he hasnt picked up a golf club in exactly a month. I havent touched a club since the last round of the Disney, says Nicklaus the afternoon before the start of the new season of his victory that closed out his seven-win 1973 season. I just havent played any at all since then not seriously, not in fun. I havent touched a club. Now Ive got to get in a months practice in two hours. Nicklaus goes on to finish in a tie for 24 th at the event, 10 shots behind winner Johnny Miller, who wins by four shots over runner-up Grier Jones.

2002 Sergio Garcia meets with the media prior to competing in the Mercedes Championships in Maui, Hawaii for the first time and answers more questions about Tiger Woods than his own game. Garcia is asked, Are players less intimidated by Tiger now? Do you see any similarities between yourself now at 22 and when Tiger was at 22? Tiger seems to motivate you. Is that a correct read? Answers Garcia of Woods, Ill say hes capable of doing some things that some of us cant do, like hitting a two-iron 270 yards straight up in the air and things like that. But I also think that were able to do some things that maybe he cant do. I think that we can be as good as him. I mean, me, as I see myself almost 22 years old, you know, hes 26, I think that I can be as good as he is at 26 when Im 26, or hopefully sooner. Five days later, Garcia wins the event, his third career PGA Tour title, beating David Toms in a playoff.

January 3

2014 Derek Ernst hits the first tee shot of 2014 on the PGA Tour at the Hyundai Tournament of Championship in Maui, Hawaii, which, for the first time is not the opening event of the PGA Tour season. The event is the seventh tournament of the season, as, for the first time, the PGA Tour kicks off its season in October at the Frys.com Open in San Martin, Calif. Ernst qualifies for the Tournament of Champions, a field that only features tournament winners from the previous year, by winning the Wells Fargo Championship in Charlotte in May as the No. 1,207-ranked player in the world.

1982 Chief Petty Officer Kevin Murray of Chicago, Ill., makes the longest albatross (double eagle) on record when he makes a two on the 647-yard par-5 second hole at the Guam Navy Golf Club. Playing after a typhoon passed through the area, with a 40 mph wind at his back, Murray hits a 387-yard drive, followed with a 260-yard four-iron which rolls into the hole. His effort, however, is eclipsed on the 663-yard 18th hole at the Kapalua Plantation course in Hawaii by professional Andy Bean in 1991 and by amateur Brett Stowkowy in 2010.

January 4

1962 Jack Nicklaus tees it up in his first round as a professional player in the first round of the Los Angeles Open at the Rancho Park golf course in West Los Angeles. The 21-year-old Nicklaus shoots a three-over par 74 in his first round as a pro.

1974 One day after rain washed away the opening day of the PGA Tour season, unheralded Gary McCord takes the surprising first-round lead at the Bing Crosby National Pro-Am shooting a seven-under-par 65 at Cypress Point. Writes United Press International, Gary McCord had to pinch himself twice to believe it. A year ago this time, he was trying to borrow $4,500 as a stake for the mini-tour. Today hes the leader after one round in the $185,000 Bing Crosby National Pro-Am. McCord follows his impressive opening round with a 73 and an 80 to finish in 24th place in the rain-shortened event. McCord, who turned professional in 1971, played 400 PGA Tour events in his career, never winning, but finishing in second place at the Greater Milwaukee Open in 1975 and 1977. However, McCord found greater fame starting in 1986 when he became a charismatic golf commentator for CBS Sports.

January 5

1959 Ken Venturi shoots an eight-under-par round of 63 to win the $35,000 Los Angeles Open by two shots over Art Wall, Jr., at the Rancho Park municipal golf course. Venturi comes back from eight shots back to win the $5,300 first prize.

2013 The start of 2013 PGA Tour season is delayed for a second straight day as winds over 40 mph again prevent play at the Tournament of Champions at Plantation Course at Kapalua on Maui, Hawaii. No player hits a shot due to the wind after 24 players tee off the previous day before the wind cancels the round, negating all the scores of all the players who began their round. Says Slugger White, the PGA Tours vice president of rules and competition, On the 10th hole, we dropped a ball on the back of the green and it rolled 20 yards off the front.

January 6

1950 Eleven months after nearly being killed in a head-on car collision with a Greyhound bus, Ben Hogan returns to tournament golf, teeing it up in the first round of the Los Angeles Open. The Los Angeles Times reports that a record first-day gallery of 9,000 fans watch Hogan shoot a two-over-par 73 at the Riviera Country Club. After 72 holes, Hogan loses the tournament to Sam Snead in a playoff.