War is hell for Bernhard Langer.
On this day, in 1991, the ‘War
on the Shore’ Ryder Cup at Kiawah Island came to an agonising close for
Europe and Bernhard Langer, who slid a six-foot putt past the hole and allowed
Hale Irwin to scrape out a halve, giving the US side a 14½-to-13½ victory.
That little miss led to a
long up-and-down battle with the yips for the unfortunate Langer, plus the
equally unfortunate proliferation of long and belly putters worldwide.
Also on this day in 1946, the
little ball-striking legend Ben Hogan won No. 12 of his 13 PGA Tour titles that
year by taking the Dallas Invitational in his home state of Texas.
Hogan explained himself thus: “When I'm hitting the ball where I want, hard and
crisply, it's a joy that very few people experience.” Do you think so, Ben?
Eight years later, New York
Giants centerfielder Willie Mays made what is still regarded as one of the
finest catches in baseball history, running for what appeared to be miles to
track down a 450-foot drive by Cleveland’s
Vic Wertz in the 1954 World Series.
Pope John Paul I, who was
known as the "Smiling Pope", didn’t have much chance to light up the halls of
the Vatican with his beaming mug, because he died of a heart attack while
reading in bed on this day in 1978, after a mere 33-day papal reign.
Shorter memories will recall
that on Sept. 29, 2006, the
creepy Republican Congressman Mark Foley resigned from office after he was
busted for sending naughty emails and IMs to young male pages in the US House.
And it’s Ois Guade zu Deim Geburdstog! as they say in Langer's native Bavaria to
God-bothering golf pro Kermit Zarley (66), best known for being on the final
biography page in the PGA and Senior PGA Tour media guides for most of 18
years; “Great Balls of Fire” to rock and roll piano pioneer Jerry Lee “The
Killer” Lewis, who celebrates his 72nd at his ranch in Mississippi; bravo
to Frenchy jazz violin man Jean-Luc Ponty (65); and va-va-voom to former Swedish
pin-up Anita Ekberg (76). Admiral Horatio Nelson would have had another
birthday celebration with Lady Hamilton had he been a little less heroic at Trafalgar
in 1805.