Very curious things happen in golf. One of them is that in a tournament of the best women’s professional circuit in the world, the LPGA Tour, the winner was a man! And it is not about a woman who has subsequently had a sex change, no, because the event in question happened more than half a century ago, when such surgical operations were not yet practiced.
In 1962 the Ladies PGA Tour included in its calendar the Royal Poinciana Plaza Invitational in Palm Beach and the organization decided to invite one of the greatest golfers of all time, Sam Snead. He was 50 years old and had an unmatched record of victories (he holds the record of victories on the PGA Tour: 82), so his triumph was a foregone conclusion. He ended up winning with a five-stroke lead. Another title, and a very special one, for ‘Slammin Sammy’ as he was known for the power of his strokes and his refined technique. He became the only man to win an event on the LPGA Tour.
Snead pocketed around two thousand dollars for his victory, money that came in handy to pay for the repair of a boat he owned that suffered hull damage when a golfer used it on tournament days.
The 1962 tournament was the second and last edition of the LPGA Tour tournament. Snead and other men also participated in the 1961 tournament, but then none of them were able to beat Louise Suggs.
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