This day in sports: Charles Coody laughs last at the Masters
No one was snickering at Charles Coody, long the butt of one-liners and a golfer who had blown the Masters championship two years before, on this date in 1971 when he shot a two-under-par 70 in the final round to win the major.
The jokes aimed at the 34-year-old Texan around Augusta National that week included “the Masters will be nationally televised in color but Charles Coody will be in black and white.” Coody got the last laugh, though, when he finished two shots ahead of Jack Nicklaus and Johnny Miller with a total of 279.
In games this weekend involving local teams that were either canceled or postponed by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Clippers were scheduled to play Golden State on Saturday at Staples Center. The Clippers beat the Warriors on March 10, the day before the NBA season was suspended.
The Dodgers were scheduled to play the Washington Nationals in the second of three games at Dodger Stadium. The Angels and the Tigers would have met in Game 2 of a three-game series at Detroit.
In Major League Soccer, the Galaxy and LAFC were set to play road matches at Minnesota and Vancouver, respectively.
A look at memorable games and outstanding sports performances on this date:
1953 — On a sun-swept afternoon, USC’s Sim Iness tosses the discus an American record 185 feet 5 ¼ inches to lead the Trojans to an easy 79¾-51¼ victory over Stanford in a dual meet at Palo Alto. Iness improves his record by two inches and misses breaking the world mark of Finland’s Fortune Gordien by 18 inches.
The Dodgers and Angels are not refunding tickets at this time, following the guidance of Major League Baseball. Neither is StubHub. Fans are outraged.
1965 — Nicklaus shoots a record 271 and wins the Masters by nine strokes over Arnold Palmer and Gary Player. Palmer, the defending champion, helps Nicklaus don his second green jacket.
1971 — Guard Keith Erickson undergoes an appendectomy and the injury-riddled Lakers lose a second straight game to the Milwaukee Bucks 91-73 in the Western Conference playoffs. The Lakers started the series without the services of Jerry West and Elgin Baylor. Erickson is replaced by former Kentucky All-American Pat Riley.
1981 — Larry Holmes beats Trevor Berbick in a 15-round unanimous decision to retain his world heavyweight title at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas. It is Holmes’ first fight since stopping Muhammad Ali six months earlier at the same site.
1982 — Craig Stadler beats Dan Pohl in a sudden-death playoff at the Masters when Pohl misses a six-foot par-saving putt on the first extra hole. Stadler, who led by six shots at the turn, has four bogeys on the back nine including one on the final hole to force the playoff.
1989 — Ron Hextall scores his second career goal and is the first goaltender to connect for a playoff goal, firing the puck into an empty net as the Philadelphia Flyers beat the Washington Capitals 8-5 in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
1993 — Bernhard Langer of Germany wraps up his second Masters with a 20-foot eagle putt on No. 13. Langer posts a four-stroke win over Chip Beck with an 11-under 277. Dan Forsman trailed Langer by one shot but puts two balls in the water on the par-three 12th hole for a quadruple-bogey seven.
2004 — Phil Mickelson’s agonizing 12-year pursuit of a major ends at the Masters when he makes an 18-foot birdie putt on the final hole, winning a spectacular back-nine showdown with South African Ernie Els. Mickelson finishes at nine-under 279.
2007 — Goaltender Roberto Luongo sets an NHL record for saves in his first playoff start, making 72 in Vancouver’s 5-4 four-overtime win against Dallas. The sixth-longest playoff game in NHL history ends on a goal by the Canucks’ Henrik Sedin at 18:06 into the final overtime period.
Sources: The Times, Associated Press
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