It Was Tournament of Palmer’s Career

At the time, some called it one of the greatest tournament performances in history.

And why not? When Arnold Palmer won the Phoenix Open 37 years ago today by 12 strokes, it was the largest winning margin in a PGA event in seven years and fourth on the all-time list. Only Johnny Miller’s 14-stroke win at Phoenix in 1975 has since surpassed it.

Palmer’s tournament: 64-68-71-66--269. He was 15 under par.

Palmer, 32, had a five-stroke lead over Billy Casper to start the last day and pulled away with birdies on the first two holes.

Palmer won $5,300, boosting his career tour earnings to $275,754.76. In 1962, only Cary Middlecoff and Doug Ford had earned more.

Also on this date: In 1963, ex-Columbia basketball player Jack Molinas was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment on charges he was “the Master Fixer” in a sports gambling ring that involved 50 players from 27 colleges and more than $100,000 in paid bribes. . . . In 1963, the Dodgers’ Sandy Koufax agreed to a $33,000 contract after a season in which he won 14 games, threw a no-hitter and struck out 18 in a game before a finger ailment sidelined him for two months. . . . In 1949, two of boxing’s greatest featherweights, Willie Pep and Sandy Saddler, battled before the first Madison Square Garden boxing sellout, 19,097, in two years. Pep won a 15-round decision. . . . In 1998, golfer Casey Martin won in court the right to ride a cart while competing in PGA Tour events.