Golf Central

On this day in 1959, a little-known golf pro named David McCampbell was born in Marshall, Indiana. Sadly, he died only 45 years later from cancer, which is probably the only reason you haven't heard of him.

While McCampbell remains obscure to all but the most eagle-eyed of golf watchers, it's a shame that his story isn't better known. So while we tend to relate the stories of all the big names in this space, from the old-timers like Vardon and Hagen to Mickelson and Woods today, January 2nd is David McCampbell's day.

His story is an amazing one ... McCampbell followed in the family tradition of farming soybeans and corn in west-central Indiana, but was so hopelessly hooked on golf - and good at it, too - that he turned professional in '89 at the age of 30. Despite the late start, McCampbell played the mini-tours relentlessly in between farming, and was good enough to win 68 times.

He went to PGA Tour Qualifying School 10 times and failed each time, twice coming agonisingly close to getting his big-tour card. But McCampbell was good enough to play two full seasons on the Nike Tour and Buy.com Tour (now the Nationwide). Fortune was not to be his, however, McCampbell earned only $39,840 on those tours, making 14 cuts in 38 events.

Cancer unfortunately claimed McCampbell's life in 2004 and he left behind a wife, Hope and son, Robert. He was fortunate to live three years after the discovery of the cancer, and his widow Hope says that had McCampbell beaten the disease, he would have continued to chase his PGA Tour dream.

"He was always optimistic, even after 10 trips to tour school. There would have been 11, 12 or 13 because that's just how he was."

McCampbell was overshadowed even in his tragic death, because it was also in 2004 that Bruce Edwards, the long-time caddie for Tom Watson, also died: Edwards lost his battle with ALS and was posthumously awarded the 2004 Ben Hogan Award for courage.

But McCampbell is not completely forgotten: An excellent article about him, and how his story affected Phil and Amy Mickelson, whom he never met, appears on the Augusta.com website, which is operated by the Augusta Chronicle ...

Since Wednesday might be your pub-quiz night, it's our solemn duty to arm you with some meaningless facts to help you through. And believe it or not, not much in history has happened on January 2, probably since everyone is still hungover from New Year's. But, since you asked:

This day is the second day of Hogmanay in Scotland, and as opposed to rest of Britain January 2nd is a bank holiday in Scotland. So the hard-partying Scots will not rest their hangovers nor return to work until Jan. 3 ...

It was on this day in 1879 that the Aussie fast bowler Fred Spofforth became the first man to claim a hat-trick in test cricket against England in Melbourne. The victims on three straight balls? Vernon Royle, Francis MacKinnon and Tom Emmett. And Spofforth's nickname? He was "The Demon Bowler." So there, Mr Quizmaster ...

It was on this day in 1905, that the Russian General Stoessel formally surrended to the Japanese General Nogi, putting an end to the Russo-Japanese War. So, if you get the question "Who won the Russo-Japanese War," your answer is "the Japanese." Got it? Good. ...

On this day in 1935, the man charged with kidnapping and murdering the infant son of aviator Charles Lindbergh and his wife Anne went on trial in New Jersey. The man's name: Bruno Hauptmann. The verdict: guilty. The sentence: death (carried out). So tell your quizmaster to put all that in his pipe and smoke it ...

And on this day in 1946, King Zog of Albania abdicated his throne after being declared unable to resume his rule. However, King Zog retained his claim to the throne and lived out the rest of his life in wealthy exile, reportedly smoking up to 200 cigarettes a day ...

So, it's urime ditelindjen!, as they say in Albania, to the gorgeous actress Kate Bosworth (25), who has one blue eye and one brown eye, is best known for her roles as Lois Lane in Superman Returns and as a surfer chick in Blue Crush, and has been the on-again off-again squeeze of Orlando Bloom; to the stunning model Christy Turlington (39); and to "show me the money" actor Cuba Gooding Jr, who won an Oscar for Jerry Maguire.

It also would have been a birthday for the super-prolific sci-fi author Isaac Asimov (b. 1920), who wrote or edited more than 500 books but took the ultimate fantasy trip in 1992.