Golf Central

On this day in 1977, Tom Watson proved his mastery of Pebble Beach Golf Links by beating Tony Jacklin by a shot to win the Bing Crosby National Pro-Am. ... And just to prove it wasn't a fluke, Watson did it again on this day in 1978, by outlasting Ben Crenshaw on a second playoff hole.

The fact that 1978 was a leap year gave Watson the rare opportunity of winning the Crosby on the same date in back-to-back calendar years. Of course, Watson was no stranger to amazing feats at Pebble Beach, most famously chipping in for birdie on the 17th hole to beat Jack Nicklaus in the 1982 US Open ...

And it was also on this day, in 1954, that the US Golf Association said that it was OK for women golfers to wear shorts in USGA championship events. ... Which was good news for Natalie Gulbis, and all us guys who like to watch her ...

And it was on this amazing day in 1957 that Wham-O toy company in Emeryville, California started mass-producing the plastic flying discs now known as Frisbees (when they first came out of Wham-O's machines, however, they were originally known as Pluto Platters). There is an estimate that more than 200 million Frisbees have been sold over the last 50 years: laid edge to edge, they would circle the earth by more than 5000 miles ... and of course, without, Frisbees, we would not have "Frisbee golf" (and the more than 1200 Frisbee golf courses in the US ...

That said, it's ne gelukkege verjoardach!, as they say in his native Holland, to the creepy-tough guy actor Rutger Hauer (64) from The Hitcher and Blade Runner; to singer Anita Pointer (60) of the Pointer Sisters; to Cheap Trick's spandex-trousered frontman Robin Zander (55); to Princess Caroline of Monaco (51); and to steroid-pumping former Czech tennis star Petr Korda (40), the 1998 Australian Open singles champ.

It also would have been a birthday for the French impressionist artiste Edouard Manet (b. 1832), who grew one hell of a fancy beard and created some saucy pictures like the nude courtesan Olympia (1863), before he painted his final flourish in 1883.

'Til tomorrow ...