Golf Central

On this day in 1961, the colourful PGA Tour star Doug Sanders - the "peacock of the fairways" - won the Greater New Orleans Open ... and six years later to the day, Sanders also triumphed at the 1967 Doral Open on the famous Blue Monster.

Sanders, who came from a humble background in backwoods Georgia, was equally known for his flamboyant, multi-coloured combinations on the course; essentially, he was the Ian Poulter of the 1960s. But Sanders also had big-time game, winning 20 times on the PGA Tour and delivering a host of close calls in the majors ...

On this day in 1990, Greg Norman, more known for his final-round collapses than his successes, put together one of the great finishes in recent PGA Tour history with his blinding 62 at the Doral-Ryder Open in Florida.

The Great White Shark, then in his prime at age 35, started the round seven shots behind, fired a blistering 10-under par round to force a four-way playoff with Paul Azinger, Mark Calcavecchia and Tim Simpson. Then Norman finished it off by winning the first extra hole with a chip-in for eagle ... Wow. Pity the Shark couldn't do those sorts of things in the majors ...

On this day in 1920, Julius Boros, who achieved the dreams of most golf addicts by a) winning three major championships, and b) dying on the golf course, was born in Bridgeport, Connecticut, the son of Hungarian immigrants.

Boros didn't turn professional until he was 29, after a stint in the US Army Air Corps medical division, but didn't waste any time after that, getting a reputation as one of golf's fastest players. He won 18 times on the PGA Tour and captured the 1952 and 1963 US Opens, before winning the PGA Championship in San Antonio in 1968 at the age of 48, making him the oldest major winner in history ...

Australian superfox and pro golfer Anna Rawson is a busy-busy girl. She's so busy she's managed somehow to find time to tell everyone how busy she is! Somewhere between managing a modelling career and a life on the LPGA Tour (one of these days, she'll get round to playing on the tour, and we'll let you know how that goes), mega-hot Anna manages to "write a golf tip and journal piece every month in 20 magazines around the world" ...

Get ready, folks in Europe, because your latest golfing stud may be leaving soon for wider, greener and friendlier pastures. Nothing's official yet, but Martin Kaymer - the 23-year-old German ace who is arguably the best young player on the European Tour - could be the next to up sticks for the States.

Kaymer already notched his first European Tour victory this year in Abu Dhabi, he'll be in the field at the Masters, and is a hot tip to make Nick Faldo's European Ryder Cup team. But the easy-going youngster from Düsseldorf credited his form at Abu Dhabi to having spent several months in Arizona over the winter. Kaymer said he turned up with Swedish pro Alex Norne at Troon North, introduced himself, and was amazed at how supportive the American people were.

Said Kaymer: "When I got to the golf course, I said 'I play on the European Tour, is there any chance I can practice here?' And they said, 'of course you can!' ... Germany is so cold, you don’t want to be there (in winter). The facilities in the US are perfect and I really like the American attitude."

Can you see the writing on the Berlin wall? We can. Assuming his form stays good and he qualifies somehow, expect Kaymer to join the likes of Luke Donald and Paul Casey in trying to maintain dual European-PGA Tour status, or at worst case, go the route of Alex Cejka and play mostly in the US.