Golf Central

It was on this day in 1970 that Doug Sanders choked... big time. After fending off Jack Nicklaus for most of the final round, Sanders had reached the 18th green and could almost taste the champagne from the Claret Jug on his lips. Left with only a 30-inch tiddler to win his first major, Sanders, dressed in a fine ensemble of pink garments, missed the putt. That missed sitter set up an 18-hole playoff with the Golden Bear the following day.

Despite a valiant effort from Sanders, Nicklaus holed a putt on the 18th green to hammer the final nail in the coffin. Nicklaus tossed his putter in the air in celebration and, to add insult to injury, the club nearly hit poor Doug on the head. Sanders had 13 top-ten finishes in majors, including four second place finishes, but never actually managed to close the deal. Ah well, at least he was a dapper dresser, something that earned him the nickname Peacock of the Fairways and a spot in Esquire's 1973 Ten Best Dressed Jocks.

The nature of war has led to some fantastically named battles, but how does the War of the Sicilian Vespers grab you? Bizarrely, the 20-year campaign started when a Sicilian woman was harassed by a Frenchman in Palermo, and today in 1282 saw the relatively insignificant Battle of Malta. Essentially a battle between the Knights of Aragon and the Kings of France (who were finally forced to give up Sicilan rule) it ended in 1302 with the signing of the peace treaty of Caltabellota.

So raise a bottle of Singha beer and wail Suk San Wan Keut! as they do in Thailand to two-time Michigan PGA Player of the Year, Randy Erskine (60), shoe-string wizard Dario Gradi (67), Grifter Anjelica Huston (57) the footloose Kevin Bacon (50), and, last but never least, crack-smoking loser Beck (38).