Aug. 15, 1948

Babe Didrikson Zaharias earns $1,200 for winning the third U.S. Open, but she misses out on another $1,000 when she misses a five-foot putt on the final hole.

In winning the tournament by eight strokes over Betty Hicks, the long-driving Zaharias shoots a final-round 78 to finish at an even 300 at the Atlantic City Country Club in Northfield, N.J. A member of the country club had offered a $1,000 prize to any of the 11 pros who scored less than 300.

"That's the kind of game I've played," Babe says. "Couldn't get a putt down. It doesn't make a difference to me because I'd only have to give the $1,000 to the government. I'm in that kind of tax bracket."

Babe will go on to win two more U.S. Opens, in 1950 and 1954.