Reputation Was Muddied With a 65 at L.A. Open

No one had ever called Lawson Little a mudder before this date in 1940, but nearly everyone did afterward, after he slogged through the mud to shoot a near-record 65 on the final round to win the Los Angeles Open at L.A. Country Club.

Little, a former Stanford golfer, trailed Clayton Heafner of Linville, N.C., by five shots when the last round began.

A late-afternoon downpour had soaked the grounds, puddling greens, fairways and rough, which scrambling spectators promptly turned into mud.

But Little, the 1936 U.S. Amateur champion from Bretton Woods, N.H., seemed almost to enjoy putting through puddles. He finished the front nine in 32, then birdied the 360-yard 12th with a four-foot putt.

At the par-three 15th, he sank a 20-footer for another birdie, then made a chip shot from the apron at 16.

He gave the fading Heafner an opening when he bogeyed the 17th, but Heafner had an all-par back nine. When Little parred the 18th for his 65, it was the lowest score on that course in five tournaments. It also missed the course record by one stroke.

Little finished at 282, Heafner at 283. Finishing far back that day: Jimmy Demaret, Ben Hogan, Lloyd Mangrum and Ellsworth Vines.

Little won $1,500, Heafner $900.

Also on this date: In 1972, the NCAA announced freshmen would be eligible for varsity football and basketball beginning in the fall of 1972. . . . In 1984, the NCAA men’s basketball tournament was expanded to 64 teams. . . . In 1993, Michael Jordan scored 35 points against Milwaukee to go over 20,000 points for his career.