Golf Central

Today in 1972 Bobby Mitchell defeated Jack Nicklaus in a play off to win the Tournament of Champions. Mitchell birdied the first extra hole to win what would be his second and last PGA Tour victory, adding to his Cleveland Open win the year before. On the very same day, Aussie Bob Shaw was claiming victory at the Centel Classic in Tallahassee with 15-under 273 to finish two strokes ahead of Leonard Thompson.

And, despite President Woodrow Wilson’s best attempts, which had kept his country out of the war for nearly three years, in 1917 the U.S Golf Association announced that the U.S Open would be cancelled because of America’s eventual and reluctant involvement in World War I. And to think they call it the Great War.

Elsewhere on St. George’s day the English can also celebrate the birth of their greatest playwright, one William Shakespeare, in 1564. He also died this very day 52 years later. While Spain’s Cervantes, another who was handy with a quill, died in Madrid on this day in 1616.

A few hundred years later, in 1968, Britain introduced the first decimal coins, with the five and ten pence piece replacing the one and two shilling coins. Canadian snooker player Cliff Thorburn no doubt became well accustomed to British currency on this day in 1983 when he completed the first televised maximum break of 147 during the World Snooker Championships at the Crucible Theatre, in Sheffield.

And finally we say Zorionak! as they say in the Basque country to the winner of the 1990 Players Championship, and only man we were able to get a picture of, Jodie Mudd (48), Aussie LPGA Tour member Rachel Hetherington (36), the Six Million Dollar Man, Lee Majors (68), meddling liberal Michael Moore (53) and Scottish door-slider John Hannah (46).