Anniversaries are a dependable Throwback Thursday theme, and with two of golf’s big traditions going on this week, we have a pair worth noting.
Two-time winner of the Humana Challenge and a supporter of the event, Phil Mickelson, gave the Palm Springs-area tournament some early buzz when he committed to playing in it as his first 2015 calendar event. Arnold Palmer, the legend Phil is often compared with in playing style and strategy, is also closely associated with the Humana, but the five-time champion ruled the event during its primo celebrity days with Bob Hope as the marquee leader.
The year 2015 observes 50 years from when Hope attached his name to the event as the Bob Hope Desert Classic (it later was christened the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic). Palmer won in 1965, naturally, and he had won in 1960 when it was held for the first time 55 years …