Golf Central

On this day in 1991, Paul Azinger showed his amazing talent for attracting controversy when he was spotted on television moving some stones with his foot as he addressed a shot in a water hazard in the first round of the Doral-Ryder Open.

And alert television viewer phoned in to PGA Tour headquarters in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, and after reviewing the tapes, the tour officials disqualified 'Zinger for signing an incorrect scorecard by not penalising himself two shots under Rule 13-4 (c): touching or moving a loose impediment in a hazard. 'Zinger, who is serving as the US Ryder Cup team's captain this year, claimed to not know anything about the rule, which may be true ... but we'll never know ...

And on this day in 1941, the US War Department ordered a survey of 200 golf courses in the New York City area which could be used as emergency landing fields in case of war ... and on the same day it was business as usual as Sam Snead won the St Petersburg Open with a closing 72 ...

And in the rest of the world: On this day in 1849, the aptly-named steamship California arrived in the port of San Francisco from New York after a four-month, 21-day voyage, carrying a full complement of gold-hunters. The Gold Rush was on, and California would become the most populous state in the US (and yes, NFL fans, the name of the San Francisco '49ers team comes from the Gold Rush days) ... And on this day in 1983, the Irish rockers U2 struck gold when they released their War album ...

And strangely enough: On this day in 1939, the word dord was discovered in the Webster New International Dictionary, causing a panicked investigation. The chemistry editor had submitted an entry slip reading "D or d, cont./density", which for years appeared in the dictionary as dord with a definition of meaning "density" ... Which gives us pause to consider our own density for the typos we occasionally publish on IGWT ...

And in sport: On this day in 1998, Rangers legend Richard Gough managed to get himself sent off twice in the same match. Gough got a red card during a 2-2 draw against Hearts, then was handed another red card after the match in the referees' room ...

That said, it's chuc mung sinh nhat!, as they say in Saigon, to former British Ryder Cup player and ABC Sports commentator Peter Alliss (77); to smooth Italian-American auto racing star Mario Andretti (68); to perky US actress and singer Bernadette Peters (60); to beehived B-52s singer Cindy Wilson (51); to happy-go-lucky British celebrity chef Ainsley Harriott (51); and to dishy Serbian tennis starlet Jelena Janković (23), who may or may not be Jamie Murray's squeeze.

It also would have been a birthday for Brian Jones (b. 1942) founding member of the Rolling Stones, mod icon and multi-instrumentalist and druggie, had he not joined music infamous "27 Club" by snuffing it at age 27, drowned in a swimming pool ... 'Til tomorrow ...