ON THIS DATE
1963 — Sonny Liston knocks out Floyd Patterson in 2 minutes, 10 seconds of the first round to retain the world heavyweight title. Liston took the title from Patterson with a first-round knockout in Chicago on Sept. 25, 1962.
1984 — Kathy Whitworth becomes the all-time winner in professional golf tournaments by capturing the Rochester Open. Whitworth, with 85 victories, passes Sam Snead’s total of 84 on the PGA Tour.
1984 — Seve Ballesteros wins the British Open with a four-round 276, breaking the course record set by Ken Nagle in 1960 by two strokes. Tom Watson and Bernhard Langer finish two strokes behind.
1990 — Nick Faldo wins his second British Open crown in four years, defeating Payne Stewart and Mark McNulty by five strokes.
1996 — Naim Suleymanoglu of Turkey becomes first weightlifter in Olympic history to win three gold medals. Suleymanoglu takes the 141pound division by hoisting 413 pounds.
1998 — Jackie Joyner-Kersee ends her brilliant heptathlon career with a victory at the Goodwill Games. It’s her fourth consecutive Goodwill title. Earlier, the 4x400-meter relay world record of 2:54.29, set by the 1993 U.S. World Championship team, comes crashing down. Michael Johnson, the anchor on that 1993 team, anchors this United States 4x400 team, which finishes in a 2 minutes, 54.20 seconds.
2001 — David Duval shoots a 4-under 67 at Royal Lytham & St. Annes to win the British Open title, his first major championship. He finishes at 10-under 274 for a three-stroke victory over Sweden’s Niclas Fasth.