Today in Sports History: April 10th

(Woods and caddy Steve Williams elate on 16. Photo by Harry How, Getty Images)

4/10/1971 - The Ping Pong Diplomacy

A historic moment in cold war relations occurs as the U.S. Table Tennis Team arrives in Beijing. Over the course of the next week, the Americans played the Chinese national table tennis team in a series of exhibition matches, paving the way for future visits between the nations in what has since been dubbed the "Ping Pong Diplomacy."

The Americans' invitation was extremely significant, as the two countries hadn't traded with or been in contact with each other since the late 40's. The nine American ping pong players were the first U.S. citizens to step forth in China in over two decades. Table tennis was by far the most popular activity among Chinese citizens, and though the U.S. team managed to come away with a few victories, most of them suspected that the superior Chinese players had let them win.

It was an enormous success. With the tensions between the countries loosened considerably, it allowed President Richard M. Nixon to make his famed meeting with Mao Zedong in 1972. On January 1, 1979, the two nations agreed to establish a diplomatic relation with each other.

4/10/1975 - Elder plays at Masters

Lee Elder becomes the first African American to play in the Masters Tournament. Last fall, he had beaten Peter Oosterhuis in a four-hole playoff at the Mansanto Open; it was the first win of his PGA career, and it automatically qualified him to play at August National. Elder's win prompted an enormous amount of coverage from the media, as there had already been a controversy surrounding the lack of diversity at the Masters. In 41 years, no black man had ever competed in the event. In the years before all PGA tour winners were allowed to compete in the Masters, several black men such as Charlie Sifford (who broke the PGA's color line) and Pete Brown won tournaments, but were passed over by the selection committee.

Elder knew that he had a tough task ahead of him. Of the four major golf events, the Masters was easily the toughest and the most prestigious; the only people with an automatic admission to the course were five-star generals, U.S. presidents, and high-ranking members of Congress. It was an elite group to say the least. "It's been on my tail for a year," Lee said just days before the start of the tournament. "Much as I love the opportunity, the heat almost brought me to my knees. Sometimes I felt like crying and screaming, 'Help Me!'"

Elder shot a 74 in the first round and a 78 in the second, shooting plus-4 overall and missing the cut by four strokes. But he handled the pressure well and came away satisfied with his performance. Although he received a disturbing amount of hate mail, he later said that everyone at the tournament treated him with respect. "I didn't hear one negative thing all week," he said. "And the people who worked there, especially the blacks, treated me great. I could sense their pride. I'll never forget that."

By no means did it end the controversy surrounding Augusta, which was still a predominantly white man's course. It wasn't until 1991 that they admitted a black member, and by 1997, when Tiger Woods shot a record-setting minus-18, Augusta's black membership had only doubled.

4/10/2005 - Woods wins Masters over DiMarco

With only three holes to go in the final round of the 2005 Masters, Tiger Woods held a one-shot lead over Chris DiMarco, who had withdrawn from the Masters in 2003 after starting the tournament 16-over. On the par-three 16th, DiMarco was looking at a solid chance for a birdie, while Woods had an impossible 30-foot putt on the fringe of the green. With Woods going first, DiMarco had a phenomenal shot at coming away with a share of the lead. But in one of the vintage putts of his career, Woods' slow-rolling chip slowly curved its way near the hole, stopping on a dime an inch from the cup before dropping in -- to the roar of the crowd -- a few seconds later.

"Under the circumstances, it's one of the best shots I've ever hit, because it's the turning point," Woods said. "If Chris makes the putt, I make bogey, all of a sudden it's a different ballgame. ... It looked pretty good, then really good, then how could it not go in, then it went in."

After Woods' shot, DiMarco missed his birdie opportunity, leaving Woods with a two-stroke lead with two holes to go. But Tiger bogeyed No. 17 and No. 18, opening the door for DiMarco, who parred both holes to force a playoff. In the sudden-death playoff, Tiger Woods sunk a 15-foot birdie attempt on the first hole, ending the tournament in dramatic fashion and giving Woods' his first major since 2002. Afterward, Woods was given the coveted green jacket by Phil Mickelson, his rival, who had won the tournament the year before.

Aside from his putt on No. 16, which many considered his greatest thus far, Woods' win was notable for ending his highly-publicized slump. He had gone ten straight majors without a win, had hired a new hitting instructor (Hank Haney) and had even undergone an entirely new swing. Woods would go on to win the 2005 British Open and won additional majors in 2006, 2007 and 2008 before experiencing a chaotic 2009 season. In 2006, DiMarco would again finish second to Woods in a major, this time at the U.S. Open.

Further reading:

When Elder entered the history books [New York Times]