Golf Central

Tom Pernice Jr., who hasn't won on tour since 2001, takes a one stroke lead into the final round of the AT & T National at Congressional CC after three rounds in the 60s, including a blistering 63 on day two. IGWT pick Steve Stricker finds himself one off the pace in outright second, and despite an opening 71, we're confident he's saved his best till last after second and third rounds of 64 and 66, respectively.

It is, however, more than a two horse race, with six players three or less off the pace, including Tommy Armour III and Antony Kim the, er, first? Or just Anthony Kim. Other players to look out for during the final round include Robert Allenby (six under), as well as Hunter Mahan and Jim Furyk (both five under). Should be a good final day, and by good we mean Stricker to shoot a 59 and pocket us some much needed cash to see us through the week.

On this day in 1877, the world said 'bonjour' to the greatest french golfer of all time, Arnaud Massy. The son of a sheep farmer, Massy worked on a sardine boat and worked as a caddie at Biarritz golf course for a bit of extra cash. It was on this very course that many of Britain's finest golfers came to practice during the off-season in the warm climate of southern France.

A natural golfer, Massy learned a lot from these pros and in 1898 he travelled to Scotland to further develop his skills and try his hand at becoming a professional golfer. In 1906, Massy won the first French Open in Paris, a title that he defended successfully, a particularly impressive feat considering the field comprised some of Britain's great players, not least Harry Vardon. His greatest hour, however, came at Hoylake in 1907, when he became the first non-Brit to win the Open.

Thanks to Jean Van De Velde, Massy remains the only French golfer to have won a major. Despite being wounded at Verdun in WW1, Massy still managed to win his fourth French Open in 1925 aged 48. Massy retired in Normandy, where he died in 1950, aged 57.

At Woolton Garden Fête, on this day in 1957, John Lennon and Paul McCartney met for the first time. McCartney's old man told him that Lennon would "get him into trouble," but relented and allowed the Quarrymen to practice in the front room of his house. We could bang on about the respective merits of Sgt Peppers and The White Album, but all you really need to know is, had they not met, we'd have been left with Gerry and the Pacemakers and music would be a very dark and depressing place.

So grab the shisha pipe and sing Tavalodet Mobarak! as they do in Persian to 1993 US Women's Open champion, Lauri Merten (48), the Chinese-baiting Dalai Lama (73),  professional idiot George W. Bush (62), 60-year-old commando Sly Stallone (62), the odious 50 Cent (33) and the pointless Kate Nash (21). And had he not gone for an infinite bout of porridge, Richard Beckinsale would have turned 61 today.

It was on this day in 1975, aged 51 years, 7 months, and 10 days old, that the late Art Wall Jr. beat Gary McCord by one stroke to win the Greater Milwaukee Open. Wall, who won the 1959 Masters, became the second-oldest player ever to win a PGA Tour event. This would be Wall's 14th and final PGA Tour victory.

Five years earlier in 1970, Donna Caponi struggled with a final-round 77, but still managed to win the Women's US Open at Muskogee CC, Oklahoma, seeing off Sandra Haynie and Sandra Spuzich by one stroke. Caponi actually held a 54 hole record score of 210, and became only the second player after Mickey Wright to defend the Championship successfully. 

On a good day for fishermen and people without tastebuds, today in 1937, Spam was launched. InGolfWeTrust still remembers Spam sandwiches in the back of a Ford Cortina on the way to Butlins in Minehead, and we're still angry.

Austin, Minnesota is known as Spam Town as it produces all US Spam (imagine the stench), and 2002 saw the six millionth can sold. Apparently, it is so popular that it is given as a gift more often than chocolate. Poppycock.

Had she not passed away in 1963, three-time US Women's Amateur champion, Beatrix Hoyt, would have been 118 years old. As it is, we cry Grattis pŒ fšdelsedagen as they do in Sweden to Edie 'Carmen Soprano' Falco (45), fat rapper Bizarre (32), over-priced, self-important fashion designer Paul Smith (65), and musical criminal Huey Lewis (58).

Believe it or not, there other sports in this world apart from golf and there is, for that matter, more to the weekend than simply hacking your way around 18 holes or plonking yourself in front of the box and watching the pros do it. This weekend, get yourselves over to Harrah's Casino in Las Vegas for the 2008 World Series Of Poker Main Event.

The highlight of every poker player's year, the WSOP Main Event is a $10,000 buy-in, no-limit hold 'em event. There will be 12,000 players calling, folding and bluffing their way to the coveted gold bracelet, not to forget a winner's cheque worth well over $8 million.

In such a massive field, it's unlikely that reigning champion Jerry Yang will win again, but stranger things have happened. The Main Event started on Thursday and goes on for seven days, with the final table being played, somewhat bizzarely, in November. A few players to look out for that are left in the field include Scotty Nguyen, Bill Gazes, Paul Wasicka and Harry Demetriou.

It's not often that something well and truly inspires us to hit the fairways here at IGWT, but when we learned about the likes of Jack Newton and the British Amputee Golf Association, it was almost impossible not to dust off the clubs and book a tee time.

Jack Newton is an Australian golfer, best known for his playoff performance against Tom Watson in the 1975 Open at Carnoustie. Eight years after losing to Watson, however, Newton was seriously injured after walking into the spinning propeller of a Cessna plane. Remarkably, he still shoots scores in the mid-80s despite losing his right arm.

Equally impressive is the tale of the British Amputee Golf Association, who convene at Bryn Meadows GC, South Wales, this weekend for the most prestigious tournament of the year. 50 golfers from across the world will play in the event, which was first hosted at Bryn Meadows in 1989 and is played at a different course every year. The tournament and association were both founded by golf enthusiast Brian Mayo, who lost both his legs after licking a golf ball contaminated by weed killer.

Mayo sadly passed away in 1999, and his wife, Fay, said, 'I would think he's looking down now with some of his golfing heroes and he would be pretty chuffed with the way it's turned out.' Never a truer word said.