1972 - The Year in Golf, 1972

Previous Year | Next Year
Golf Timeline Homepage

The European Tour is born. Antonio Garrido wins the first official European Tour tournament, the Spanish Open.

Jack Nicklaus wins The Masters and the U.S. Open, the first two majors of the year, but Lee Trevino edges him for the British Open.

Arnold Palmer goes winless for the first time in 17 years.

With a purse of $110,000, the brand-new Colgate-Dinah Shore Winners Circle is the first LPGA event with a six-figure pot. Renamed the Nabisco in 1982, the event would become one of women's golf's four majors in 1983.

Aldila begins manufacturing graphite shafts, the first attempt at mass-marketing the graphite shaft. The company's sales would explode within a year.

103-year-old Arthur Thompson of Victoria, British Columbia, shoots his age, setting the record for oldest age-shooter.

Spalding introduces the Top-Flite golf ball, destined to become one of golf's most popular brands with recreational players.

Carolyn Cudone wins her fifth consecutive U.S. Senior Women's Amateur, the most wins in a row in any USGA championship.

The Titleholders Championship, a women's major since 1937, is played for the final time. The tournament was an invitational hosted by Augusta National Golf Club. Sandra Palmer wins the last Titleholders.

Burgeoning LPGA star Jane Blalock is accused of cheating by improving her lie in several instances. She is suspended by a players committee, but sues, is reinstated to the tour by the courts, and eventually wins an antitrust settlement. The episode later leads to the creation of the commissioner's position on the LPGA Tour.

• Justin Leonard, 1998 British Open champion
• Rachel Teske, LPGA Tour
• Brandie Burton, LPGA Tour
• Jill McGill, LPGA Tour
• Ignacio Garrido, European Tour
• Notay Begay III, PGA Tour

PGA: Jack Nicklaus, $320,542.26
LPGA: Kathy Whitworth, $65,063
European: Peter Oosterhuis, England, £ 18,525

PGA (Vardon Trophy): Lee Trevino, 70.89
LPGA (Vare Trophy): Kathy Whitworth, 72.38

The Masters: Jack Nicklaus
U.S. Open: Jack Nicklaus
British Open: Lee Trevino
PGA Championship: Gary Player

LPGA: Kathy Ahern
U.S. Open: Susie Maxwell Berning
Titleholders: Sandra Palmer

Amateur Champions
U.S.: Marvin Giles III
British: Trevor Homer
U.S. Women's: Mary Budke
British Women's: Michelle Walker

Previous Year | Next Year
Golf Timeline Homepage