Golf Central

It’s not every day that you get the chance to put the first winner of the Masters, porn actress Annabel Chong, Alexander the Great, George Best and Annika Sorenstam in the same few paragraphs, but we’ve managed it. They have almost nothing in common, of course, except this day in history – but that’s enough for us.

Horton Smith was born on this day in 1908 and if his name rings a vague bell but you’re not sure why, it’s because he won the first ever Masters, in 1934. He did it again in 1936, book-ending the 1935 moment that put the Masters on the map – thanks to Gene Sarazen holing ‘the shot heard around the world’.

Annabel Chong, the porn actress famous for having sex 251 times in a day, was born in 1972. The list of her film credits include the Oscar-winning Sergeant Pecker’s Lonely Hearts Club and critically acclaimed I Can’t Believe I Did The Whole Team.

In 334 BC Alexander the Great’s Greek army defeated the Persians in the Battle of the Granicus, an event we celebrate because it indirectly led to the greatest single sports quote of all time. It was uttered by Sid Waddell on the occasion of Eric Bristow winning his third world darts title. Waddell said: ‘At the age of 30 Alexander the Great of Macedonia cried bitter, salt water tears of frustration because there were no more worlds to conquer. Eric Bristow is 27.’ Poetry.

In 2003 at Fort Worth, Texas, Annika Sorenstam became the first woman in more than half a century to play in a men’s US Tour event. In the week after she announced her intention to retire at the end of the 2008 season, it seems appropriate to salute one of the greatest women golfers there has ever been. A superb and consistently straight driver of the ball, who probably mastered distance control and accuracy with her irons better than anyone who has ever lived, she was a formidable opponent and for a time was virtually unbeatable. We suspect, however, that behind that glacial exterior beats the passionate heart of a naughty little minx. Well, we can but dream.

In 1936, the Irish national airline, Aer Lingus, was founded, subsequently giving generations of grubby schoolboys the opportunity to make smutty jokes about its name.

In 1964, President Lyndon Johnson announced his social reform package that would ‘bring an end to poverty and racial injustice’ in America. How’s it gone so far, Lyndon?

Luxembourgers cry out: ‘Vill Gleck fir daei Geburtsdaag!’ which seems a bit of a mouthful in comparison to our ‘Happy Birthday’ to:-

Andrew Magee (46). Golfer.
Naomi Campbell (38). Gobshite.
Morrissey (49). Gladioli lover.
Dale Winton (53). Get your own punchline.

It would have been George Best's 62nd birthday had he not joined the great 24-hour drinking club in the sky in 2005.