Golf Central

Today’s the day that in 1951 the world welcomed the arrival of two-time PGA Tour title winner Mac O’Grady, although he wasn’t a two-time PGA Tour title winner when he was born, obviously. Mind you, he wasn’t called Mac O’Grady either. He was called Phil McGleno and changed his name when he was older, first to Phillip McClelland O’Grady and then to Mac O’Grady. Whatever he was called, he was quite handy at golf.

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Today in 1972 Bobby Mitchell defeated Jack Nicklaus in a play off to win the Tournament of Champions. Mitchell birdied the first extra hole to win what would be his second and last PGA Tour victory, adding to his Cleveland Open win the year before. On the very same day, Aussie Bob Shaw was claiming victory at the Centel Classic in Tallahassee with 15-under 273 to finish two strokes ahead of Leonard Thompson.

And, despite President Woodrow Wilson’s best attempts, which had kept his country out of the war for nearly three years, in 1917 the U.S Golf Association announced that the U.S Open would be cancelled because of America’s eventual and reluctant involvement in World War I. And to think they call it the Great War.